You know that when it comes to musical instruments, what you’re selling on your ecommerce store is the best. Maybe you’re a musician yourself, and the reason you got into this business was that you yourself have experienced sticker shock, especially when it comes to what’s available out there. You know the ins and outs of the best instruments out there–including the ability to know exactly how much a used guitar is worth, just by looking at it. We also know that you must have top notch order fulfillment to get orders out.
But one of the problems with selling instruments online is that it isn’t possible for someone to walk into your store, pick up an instrument, and suddenly know: “This is the one.” So if you’re looking to be successful in the ecommerce world, it’s all about getting more traffic, more conversions, and, finally, more sales. If that’s what you want, then follow these tips:
1 – Blog constantly
76 percent of B2B marketers blog, according to ExpressWriters.com, and that’s because it’s one of the best ways to get people on your website in the first place. By becoming an expert in your field–for example, by posting blog posts about how to write a song using just a couple free apps on a smartphone and an acoustic guitar–musicians will trust you and your brand. And anyone completing any Google search is likely to stumble upon your site if they’re first drawn there by a blog post on how to get more popular on Spotify.
In addition to blogging constantly–3 times a week, at least–you’ll also want to use all the right strategies to attract more customers. We’re talking SEO strategies, understanding your audience as well as possible, and other strategies covered in Oberlo’s ebook guides to getting more sales.
2 – Connect with Instagram influencers
Did you know that Instagram had 800 million users as of September 2017, up from 100 million in April of the same year? And it’s one of the most popular ways people get their information these days, up there with Facebook. Considering that it’s so visually attractive, as well, it’s the perfect place to sell products–and the perfect place for influencers to show off your products. Especially since you can find famous musicians to work with, who can vouch for how great your instruments are–and maybe even play them live in a video–it’s perfect for your business.
According to Shopify, you’ll first want to find a popular account through WEBSTA or check the popular page on Instagram, and then write a polite, private DM or email once you’ve found their contact information. For samples of what this message might look like, take a look at samples here.
3 – Get rid of those abandoned carts
Did you know that carts in online stores are abandoned over 69 percent of the time someone’s browsing your site? That’s a huge amount of potential sales that you’re losing out on, which means that you’re farther away than the potential financial success you could actually be experiencing. If you’re already investing time and money into other ways of making your business efficient, such as pest control software and hiring writers for high-fquality content, then you’ll want to tackle this problem.
According to Shopify, “One simple and effective way to reduce the incidence of abandoned carts? An email recovery campaign to convince your customers to complete their purchase. So go ahead. Craft a good email that entices your customer to return to their cart. You can do this directly in the Shopify admin, and we also recommend [the Abandon Aid] app.”
4 – Use conversion rate optimization
If you’ve already got a bit of a customer base, then you’re in luck, because that means that you can start analyzing the behavior of your customers. According to wholedesignstudios.com, “By collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data, you can learn why people are leaving your site without buying.
With insights from UX research, analytics and qualitative data (like surveys and interviews) you can inform design changes to A/B test on your store.”
If you’re not sure how CRO works, then check out this guide from Moz.com, which provides you with all the methods you’d need to understand your customers better. According to WordStream, CRO tools have an average ROI of 223 percent, so it’s worth investing time into this research.
5 – Share on social media
Finally, considering that we’re spending over four hours a day on our phones, and a lot of that time is spent on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, one of the best things you can do for your ecommerce store is to get accounts on all these platforms. Then, any time you’ve got new content, or a sale going on, you can post about it on social media.
For more on how to use social media as strategically as possible, check out this guide for ecommerce stores from SproutSocial.
By following these strategies, your musical instruments ecommerce store will be well on its way to success.
