Continuing the Climb

The negative emotions you feel upon hitting a growth plateau may distract you from how much progress you have actually made. In fact, if you consider what hitting this entails, there is actually a lot to be proud of.

Consider this analogy: picture a mountain in a desert out in the middle of nowhere

Surrounding it is scorching earth where reptiles and other creatures thrive in temperatures humans consider unbearable and cannot tolerate. Water is nowhere in sight, yet there are animals that call this place home

So you make your way through this treacherous desert and find yourself at the bottom of this aforementioned mountain that appears nearly impossible to climb, but you being you, you go for it

You scale that s@$%, and along the way nearly fall all the way down multiple times.

You lost your footing in the mountain’s narrow crevices, but your firm grip made you an immovable object.

Your hands almost slipped off a slender jagged rock, but a couple determined fingers kept you in the fight.

The sun has you beet red and drenched in sweat. 

Despite your mouth feeling as dry as the sweltering desert you are in the middle of, you cannot risk grabbing your water canteen from your backpack, so you feel like you are literally dying of thirst. 

Yet you persevere. 

After overcoming all of these obstacles, you finally reach the top

Deservingly so, you allow yourself to bask in your glory. After all, you did just scale a mountain in a desert few would even consider visiting, let alone try to climb, but you did it. 

Then a certain amount of time passes, and you realize you have been sitting on the mountain’s growth plateau far longer than you anticipated.

You become bored.

You are itching to hit the next mountaintop

You know you can conquer a greater challenge, but you are just unsure as to how you are going to go about doing it.

This is what it feels like when your Business is stuck in cruise control. 

Everything is working, yet you want more. 

You need more. 

You are capable of more.

All you need to do is figure out how to get there

Good Monster is happy to inform you if you apply these seven Ecommerce Strategies to your business, you will not only find the next mountain to climb, but you will conquer it

Authority

The world is a competitive place. It consists of (literally) billions of people fighting to make their way to the top on a daily basis.

That is why it is important for you to recognize there are potentially millions of people out there who are working their asses off to outdo you.

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You must assert yourself to the front of the pack. This is not the time to be shy or humble.

Establishing yourself as the authority in your space starts with ensuring your website tells visitors, “Not only do we know what we are doing, but we are the f@$%&* best at what we do. Here is why.”

Now, of course you cannot be so blunt, but how you design your website can convey this message on behalf of your business:

• Make past and existing clients’ logos visible so visitors know you are legit
• Back up your claim as a credible organization by providing case studies
• Emphasize the driving force behind your business, such as the people who make it go or its purpose

How you illustrate your business as the authority in its space is up to you. 

Just be sure to get the point across the instant people visit your site.

Email Marketing

The amount of resources we have at our disposal (thank you Internet) is unfathomable. Anyone can find anything just by typing a few words in a search engine, and boom, that person has millions of options to choose from

Overwhelming, yes.

Ultracompetitive, yes.

An environment impossible to succeed in, no.

How your company represents itself on the Internet is what will separate it from the competition, and an effective way to go about this is by generating email marketing leads for prospects and updates for existing clients.

Where do you start?

Here are a couple of ideas:

• For prospects, scribe a welcome email from the CEO and/or team with some case studies to reinforce your company is the authority figure in its respective space.
• To both prospects and existing customers, create a monthly email that updates them with the latest industry news and trends, and demonstrate what your company is doing to stay with the times or how it manages to stay ahead of the times.

Tailor your emails to whatever suits your particular business. Just make sure the emails are consistent and memorable, and you will see your clientele expand.

Testimonials

Testimonials help convert on-the-fence prospects into new clients. 

Yes, your site needs to articulate your company is a force to be reckoned with, but prospects need to see validation from a third party, too. When someone else and/or another company can vouch for your company’s services or products, it boosts your reputation, and ultimately, classifies you as a viable solution.

An impactful form of a testimonial is having someone film a short selfie video, but if that is not feasible, a brief write-up will get the job done.

Last tip regarding testimonials, make them easy to find!

They need to be front and center on your website so prospective clients do not have to strain themselves looking for a reason to do business with you like this

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Referral Program

Here is something unconventional:

Offer to pay your customers commission for additional business

Sounds sort of funky on the surface, but here at Good Monster, we have confirmed the biggest clients derive from referrals.

Knowing referrals do not only generate business but generate the highest revenue, this practice is a valuable commodity.

Since existing clients are the ones presenting you with business prospects, the likelihood of bringing the latter aboard increases because your existing clients know both sides and are essentially matchmaking.

People helping people, it is a beautiful thing!

Blogs

As we alluded to above, the Internet presents us with an abundant amount of options. It also offers us a plethora of conflicting viewpoints on the same topic.

Here is a real-life example:

Me on a search engine: “How many ounces of kibble should I feed my 40-pound dog?”

Appearingly Credible Source #1: “2 ¼ cups per day.”

Appearingly Credible Source #2: “Just over 3 cups per day.”

Me: “Well, now I am more confused than when I initially asked the question!”

Aside from using this opportunity to vent, the point is there are several resources on the Internet that appear to know what they are talking about. 

The trick is to be the source that knows what it is talking about.

A constructive way to provide your target audience with useful (and accurate) information is by writing blogs and posting them regularly. There you can cover several topics that relate to your field, and it is a sure way to build trust with your target audience, which means you earned its loyalty and are growing your business.

We will use Good Monster’s blog as an example. Since we specialize in all things related to marketing, we offer free tips on how site visitors can utilize certain tools, platforms, etc. to grow their business, such as:

• Learn How to Rank on the First Page of Google
• How to sell $1 million on Amazon as an SMB
• How Brands Can Take Advantage Of Clubhouse 

Pay attention to the titles of these blogs, too. They entice visitors because they are each offering them benefits. 

What this does is build a rapport with visitors (our target audience), and eventually converts prospects into clients because they correctly deem us as a credible source when it comes to marketing.

Your blog’s topics depend on your line of work, but as long as they include useful information, visitors will return to your site and eventually help your company get off that growth plateau you are beginning to loathe.

If you need further evidence that blogs positively influence their target audience, remind yourself you are reading one right now!

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Social Media Content

A company without quality profiles on all major social media platforms may as well just pack it up and go home because without them, their ecommerce (and business) will be nonexistent!

While at times it may be a burden to maintain a strong presence on so many platforms, always remember it is the ultimate method to remain connected to your target audience. Before social media, interacting with customers and providing them with endless amounts of content was impossible.

But this is a new era.

So take advantage of it!

Create a schedule so your followers know they can count on you for new content on a regular basis. Here is an example of what you can do:

• Post your weekly blog on LinkedIn and Medium
• Upload videos to Instagram that offer customers a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes
• Conduct a weekly poll on Twitter to engage with your followers and further establish your brand’s presence

In summary, social media is advantageous and will enhance your brand’s ecommerce.

Capitalize on it

SEO

Since blogs and social media were the two previous ecommerce strategies we mentioned, we are going to end our list with search engine optimization (SEO).

You can release the best content on the planet, but if your target audience cannot find it, then it is a lost cause

Blogs and social media posts must be SEO-friendly, meaning they must contain keywords your target audience is prone to search. If you have a kick-ass optimization team, your content will appear on search engines your target audience uses, and as you get better at this, your ranking will improve.

Therefore, your business will continue ascending up that higher mountain you know you can climb

Establishing organic SEO practices is essential because search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, so it is imperative to abide by them. 

If you attempt to take shortcuts, such as keyword stuffing, search engines’ bots will catch you and permanently prevent your search ranking from increasing.

That is why it is best to call the professionals in order to guarantee your company’s SEO usage strengthens its ecommerce presence

Evolve Your Ecommerce

By employing these ecommerce strategies, you will take your company off that growth plateau it is stuck on and up that higher mountaintop it is capable of conquering.

Once you get there, come back for more advice on how to keep your trajectory trending upwards

The post Hit A Growth Plateau? Use These 7 Ecommerce Strategies appeared first on The Good Monster.