[EN]E-commerce projects — what is needed for a successful launch?
So, why did I decide to write this article anyway? I single out several types of people for whom this article will help you better understand advertising and find your specialist who will help you in the development of your commodity business. Let’s start:
- You are looking for “a specialist who will set up ads with high quality and the price of a click will not exceed $0.01”.
- You know better yourself what and how to start advertising. For example, you have a good website, but you only want Facebook, because “on the Internet, they write that it works and everything needs to be fine-tuned so that I also have sales.”
- You are put off by ROMI, CPA, ROAS, PRR, and other abbreviations that you don’t understand at all, and you think that a specialist is “pouring water” on you here, and you just want traffic that converts.
I did not invent these cases, they are real stories that I personally encountered. And this article will help you understand how to correctly choose a specialist and cooperate with him so that efficiency is at the highest possible level.
Selection of a specialist
Choosing the right specialist is the foundation for your business.
So, specialists are divided into two types (according to my experience):
1) A specialist who knows how to bring traffic, and then “I don’t know, I brought traffic, the page is bad”
2) A specialist who knows “what exactly does not allow us to increase sales, and exactly what problems we need to solve in order to get an increase in results.”
You should understand that defining your target audience, conducting competitor analysis, and setting up ads are not enough to get people to buy your product. The screens of such specialists often contain cabinets with the result “price per click = $0.50” and why they themselves say that the purchase is for 50 cents. And all that is needed for this — is a “comprehensive analysis of the audience and knowledge of where and what to click in the office”
Remember: The price per click is not equal to the price per purchase and the number of conversions is not equal to the sale!
For some entrepreneurs, these things seem obvious, but not for all.
Before starting any actions and achieving something, competent people set a goal and make a strategy. In order for advertising to be really successful, first of all, a strategy for promoting it using various methods is drawn up.
Goal setting
An ideal communication (extremely abbreviated demonstration) consists of the customer describing his objective, which can be measured. This goal is ambitious but realistic — and that’s a common problem if you’re doing it for the first time. However, we are here to learn. Accordingly, your specialist goal must have some historical basis or logical basis. For example, this month I sold 100 units of the product. The next month — is seasonal for my product, and if compared to last year, sales increased by 150% (or if there is no historical data, then set a goal of raising by 150%, for example, and at the end of the period you need to analyze whether the goal is realistic and what precisely prevented it from being achieved).
Set goals that push you to grow, but remember that goals require a new approach, attracting additional resources, etc.
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Therefore, here we have come to the first point: a good specialist will ask you about goals (or you will hear the question “What are our KPIs?” (Key Performance Indicators). And you discuss with him exactly what you expect, and he, in turn, makes a promotion strategy.
Promotion strategy
And so the connoisseurs of all things advertising on Facebook, and “I need a quality setting”, “what Google, don’t make me laugh, I’ve seen better results on Facebook”… and the list can go on forever.
But let’s go back to reality!
Remember once and for all: the Internet, pseudo-bloggers, and other people do not know exactly what is needed for your business. Each business and product is special and unique. It’s not a fact that you need Facebook advertising, how do you know that? And if you “blow the budget”, who is to blame, a specialist? And how did you determine it? The settings are bad, so you mean you’re smarter than Facebook’s AI??? Throw away those stupid questions and save your nerves. Either you are a novice entrepreneur who does not understand anything and blames everyone, or you are a balanced person who understands the current state and trusts the creation of advertising to a person who knows his business.
A strategy is needed as a direction to get from the current point to the final point. The specialist chooses communication channels — this is where it may turn out that, for example, Facebook will not be used as a channel for attracting traffic. For some, it has now become such a kind of shock. Each specialist has his own vision of promotion, and this is absolutely normal. It requires the right communication on certain channels (be it social media, search advertising, or Google advertising). Hypotheses have been created that need to be tested, because one of them, or most or even none of them may be wrong, but this stage is mandatory, as it determines the further adjustment of the strategy in the right direction.
At this stage, you receive from a specialist: the method of communication, communication channels, and attracting customers with communication at each stage of remarketing.
Good offer, bad offer
Well, before you start advertising, you should have a good offer prepared. Ask yourself the question: “Would you buy your product from yourself?” Your true and unbiased answer will give you an answer about the readiness of your business to enter the “white world”. I have a rather special book in my book collection called The Purple Cow by Seth Godin. It will be very useful for those who want to really understand the product and create it not for money, but for people (this is the truth of good sales and high profit, but few people understand it).
Therefore, your product must represent value for the user. And by now there will be a lot of alternatives to your product because the competitors are not sitting idly by either. So:
1) What pain does your product solve?
2) Are there alternatives to the product offered by competitors?
3) Why should a person buy a product from you?
4) What exactly will you offer to the client that the purchase was made from you?
5) What service do you provide to the client, why should he order from you and not from a competitor that offers free delivery?
All questions are extremely important. However, the last question determines customer loyalty. If you prove yourself well — you will get a lifelong customer who will become a permanent customer after only one purchase with impressions. I have many stories from my own life when I became “loyal to one brand” because of their service. Therefore, give the client a good offer that you yourself would not refuse and add a nice letter, or a gift to your order, and be sure to use modern literature to understand exactly how to turn a loyal client into a permanent one devoted only to you.
A cocktail called “Result”
So, you have a set goal, a good strategy, and communication, and you provide the buyer with an offer from which he is able to take a loan from the bank, if only not to miss this purchase. It’s enough? I will add my last comment: ask a specialist what you do not understand.
The reports will contain both good indicators and indicators that indicate weaknesses in the business, product, or other. Weaknesses — This is not the result of your shortcomings or the shortcomings of a specialist. These are growth points where you can further increase your sales. The main thing is, without negativity, to discuss the current situation, weaknesses, and strengths, and the truth is always born in the discussion, and a small company becomes an international corporation, and advertising begins to acquire a completely second character. But that’s a completely different story…
