3. Be more intentional about your target audience
The biggest marketing mistake that businesses make is trying to be all things to all people. When it comes to your marketing audience, it’s important to consider quality over quantity. Try shifting your focus away from the end goal of simply reaching as many people as possible. Instead, try tailoring your messaging to targeted individuals who are likely to convert. Believe it or not, casting a smaller net often yields a larger return.
Action steps: Take a hard look at who your best customers are: those that keep coming back, those who know exactly what they want, or even just the ones that you love working with, who make your job easy. Get to understand what keeps them coming back for more, and double down on that.
Also, keep in mind that you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Successful marketing is a long-term strategy that generally requires a bit of tweaking until you really dial it in. Make sure that you are collecting enough data to really arm yourself with some actionable information. Keep records of everything you do, as well as the results, so you know what works and what doesn’t.
4. Do everything in your power to minimize returns
No matter how you shake it, you will almost always have people that come to you at some point wanting their money back. This isn’t a time to take things personally. Sometimes it just isn’t a good fit for their life, their pocketbook or their mindset at the time. Buyer’s remorse is real! What’s also real is that this costs you more than just lost revenue. Returns leave you to digest shipping costs, time spent processing the order and the logistics of getting products back to where they need to go.
Some businesses charge a restocking fee to recoup some of this expense. That being said, the best way to minimize returns is by being as transparent as possible upfront.
Action steps: Post photos and 3-D models of products so the customer knows exactly what they are getting. If you are a clothing brand, share accurate sizing charts. Additionally, be sure to survey customers about their reasons for returning items. You may notice a trend that you can correct or a step that you can add to the buying process to avoid returns in the future.
5. Negotiate with suppliers
If you sell physical products, it may be time to make some phone calls to your suppliers. This is especially true if you import your products. Ask them:
- Do they offer significant savings if you purchase bulk inventory?
- Can you negotiate a lowered or exempt shipping cost if you up your order?
- Are there alternative options to the products that you already buy?
- Do they have an updated wholesale catalog or new improved items?
- Do they offer discounts for invoices paid early or in another currency?
If you are a long-standing customer, starting this conversation is something you should especially consider. You may be surprised at what suppliers will do to show their appreciation for your business (and to keep you around!).
6. Upgrade your systems
What if we told you that you can actually reduce costs by cutting out stuff you hate doing? Automating tasks is a cost-cutting no-brainer for any business. We live in a world where digital transformation has revolutionized the way people accomplish things. Take a moment to consider: Do your systems communicate among themselves, or are YOU the connector? Here are some common manual chores you may consider letting modern technology take off your plate.
- Accounting: Synchronizing inventory, invoices and tax rates saves duplicated manual data entry. It also promotes accuracy so you can spare yourself a few dirty looks from your accountant. Did you know it is possible to integrate your eCommerce platform with Quickbooks?
- Syncing customer profiles: Consider purchasing software that syncs customer, shipment and payment records so that you can focus more time on business-critical activities. You can also eliminate duplicate data entry between your eCommerce and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
- Handling recurring orders online: If you’re not ready to go full-scale eCommerce, that’s okay. There are still plenty of opportunities for retailers who have recurring orders from their customers. We can help you build a simple online interface, by importing your product data so customers can purchase your goods and services online at any time of day or night.
If you can’t rationalize the cost of some of these systems, consider how much more money you could make if these things were just “handled” instead. Then make that your baseline additional revenue goal once the changes are implemented. This is an important step for any growing business. Unless you’re the really tech-savvy type, the idea of breaking into one of these projects makes you nervous. Everyone has an integration nightmare or experience. You also bear the huge fluctuations in market price for assistance with any of these upgrades, and an even larger gap in technical literacy when trying to choose the right partner to help. Action steps: You don’t have to (and probably shouldn’t try to) go-it-alone. We can recommend some of the most robust systems and some of the most cost-effective solutions on the market. If you need the hands-on support, we’re happy to help with that, too. If you’ve already gotten a quote or would like to get a realistic idea of how much this should cost and what you should expect, let’s have a conversation.
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7 minute read
