The pandemic has given many businesses the opportunity to either pivot towards e-commerce or double-down on their current efforts. In order for these e-commerce ventures to be successful, businesses must focus on having the right digital tools, from creating an optimized consumer platform to integrating shipping services.
Roberto Martinez, Los Angeles Grow with Google digital coach, believes the best way to increase online sales is by “optimizing your online presence for clicks.” Business owners can do this by making it as easy as possible for customers to click through their online channels including blogs, social media and web pages.
The reason? “Clicks are currency,” Martinez said.
[Read more: 4 Ways to Consistently Build Your Business with Digital Tools]
Why e-commerce businesses need to focus on traffic
Optimizing an online profile to promote clicks is vital to the growth of a business because clicks ultimately equate to sales. These clicks should be optimized for customers’ experience because their clicks show valuable insights to how customers interact with your business’s website.
“The easier it is and the least amount of steps it takes for the customer to make a purchase, the better,” explained Martinez. “On the web, clicks are ‘steps’ ... so, if we cut down on the steps to buy, the more likely the customer is to buy.”
Amazon, for example, has a one-click option for customers to make their purchase immediately.
“The more clicks a customer has to take to buy on your website, the less likely they are to continue on their journey,” emphasized Martinez.
Additionally, he said, fewer clicks mean less money spent on paid ads that charge per click, depending on the industry. These savings give a business the chance to grow and use the extra money to continue driving online traffic.
“Less is more,” said Martinez. “The less clicks, the more likely you are to sell.”
The more clicks a customer has to take to buy on your website, the less likely they are to continue on their journey.
Roberto Martinez, Grow with Google digital coach
Martinez has taken his own advice to optimize his business, Braven Agency. To do this, he and his team added chat boxes, easy-to-use landing pages and gave easier access to business contact information.
“We optimized our website, social media sites and paid ad campaigns to allow the prospective customer to reach us instantly,” he explained. “The easier it is to reach us, the faster we can help the customer and grow our business.”
[Read more: Thriving in the Modern Business World with Digital Tools]
Beyond digital tools: Finding your mission and market fit
In addition to the right tools and optimization, every entrepreneur needs a strong mission and product-market fit. This means rapid prototyping — or if your business is a service, rapid market validation.
“Fail early and pivot from what you’ve learned to find the ‘fit’ in your space,” said Martinez.
Aside from finding the right market fit, Martinez noted the most challenging part of entrepreneurship — both for himself and many others — is finding a purpose and mission. After going through a life-altering experience, he decided to make the leap to become a full-fledged small business owner.
“After the passing of my family member, I realized life is too short to not devote oneself to a mission-driven life,” he explained. “It’s all about leading a mission-driven business. If you want to make money, great — but if you have a purpose behind it, you’ll go further. Meaning and value will help you through difficult times.”
While it’s important to have general knowledge of digital marketing and the supply chain processes, business owners don’t have to claim mastery over all aspects of their business in order to be successful.
“As entrepreneurs and small business owners, our knowledge base has to be a mile long and an inch deep,” said Martinez. “We should instead focus our energy on knowing enough to make sound business decisions.”
“The only area I would advise to invest time to develop mastery in is accounting and finance,” he added. “Those two areas are vital in helping you scale, especially once you developed your marketing foundation.”
Learn more about the Grow with Google Digital Coaching program here.
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