Before you can start selling online there are things you need to know, how to sell products online and have people interested in your products can be a challenge, you have to get people to your products first. How do you sell a painting when there are millions of paintings online already?
You need to understand your audience, be at the right place at the right time otherwise no one will buy your very precious painting.
When is a customer ready to buy?
The core of Internet marketing is about conversions. This means converting a reader into a buyer. To do this you need to understand your customer, what their needs are, what their problem is and why they are looking for an online solution.
The better you understand your customer, the easier you will find the process of converting them into a customer. One of the factors you need to know is where your customer is in the purchasing cycle at that precise moment.
Understanding where your customers is in the buying cycle
Most people make this process far harder than it needs to be! A lot of it is actually common sense. For instance, if a customer types into Google under the counter “fridges” they simply want to find out what fridges are available.
At that particular moment in time, they are looking for information and information alone. To actually convert this into a sale would take something quite monumental.
You need to have more than one contact if you want to make a sale.
The following phases are followed in the purchase cycle:
The Research Phase
The more expensive a product is, the less likely the consumer will make an impulsive buy. If you are an Amazon buyer and you see a book you fancy for less than $10 you may well just go ahead and click the buy button.
However, some purchasing decisions affect more than one person. For instance, when buying a new television, family members have different specifications.
This is a large purchase hence, it may involve paying off in stages and it may also involve decisions from more than one person.
Therefore taking all of these factors into account someone is not really likely to buy a television on impulse unless another factor comes into play. That factor would be something that would make the offer absolutely compelling so possibly a price reduction may tick all the boxes.
Everybody needs a psychological justification to validate their purchases, especially when it is an expensive purchase.
In the past, many people would have used the reference library but today most people just Google it. The majority of those using Google to seek information are still in the research phase.
The best way you can engage them at this stage is via a mailing list. That way, you can communicate with them continuously as they journey along the path to purchase.
Decision Phase
Some people are conscious about brands. For instance, if they are buying electrical goods, they will go for the popular brands purchased by many people. Others are not that product loyal and they will want to compare several products before deciding.
It may be that one company will have a better customer service department than another. It is here that you can send an email marketing relevant products to better inform them.
During the decision phase, your customers or potential customers will be enquiring about products they want to purchase on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
This is where retargeting ads is very useful because they keep popping up a repeat ad where customers get to see them at all times and keep them in mind for future reference.
When presenting information at this stage a comparison of two products is quite good however never compare more than two because it gives the customer too many options and confuses them and they may not purchase.
By comparing two products it is possible to sway the potential customers mind.
Purchasing/Action Phase
The final stage is when your customer takes action by pressing the “buy now” button. It is only by converting themselves into a customer or buyer that the cycle is complete.
They are more likely to Google specific terms such as buy "the product name", or best price "the product name" or purchase "the product name".
So as you can imagine at this stage of the purchase cycle, the buyer is not likely to change their mind and you're not really likely to lose them at this stage in the buying cycle.
They are at their most receptive in the decision stage. If you are using paid advertisements you definitely do not want to lose them in the research stage because you will be paying for clicks that will never convert to a sale.
How to sell products online conclusion
Always ensure that your products and services are of high value and quality if you want to attract more customers.Before placing any product online, try to think as a potential customer
Before placing any product online, try to think as a potential customer would, what would you type in the search engines if you are looking for information on a certain product? what would you type in the search engines if you wanted
what would you type in the search engines if you wanted to buy a certain product? like if you are looking to buy an ebook online, what would you type in the search engines?
This is how to sell products online, the most important is to type the exact search word (how to find keywords)a potential client will type in when looking to buy a product, this way, you will be able to make more sales as you will have clients at the right stage of a purchase cycle.
l hope l have helped you understand how to sell products online in a way that you will be able to make sales.By thinking as a client would, you will be able to put your products at the right place when the client is at the right phase of making a purchase.
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