The purpose and significance of online shop promotion activities are: maintaining old customers and developing new customers.
Through the interaction with old customers, we can increase the exposure of online stores, tap more potential new customers, promote the sales and vitality of websites, and form a virtuous circle.
Second, the strategic way to promote sales.
There are many ways to promote sales, such as: member discount, RMB 10 (or 1), value-for-money exchange, full gift, gift (buy n get one free), no increase in price, coupons, package discounts, gifts, etc. (See Ma's blog "15 Common Promotion Methods of E-commerce Platforms" for details.
In this regard, Ma suggested that ordinary shops should not try too many ways, and 1-3 is the best. First, too many activities will make the calculation too complicated and make mistakes, increasing losses; The second is to increase the pressure and intensity of customer service, resulting in an increase in the bounce rate.
Generally, the best way is the classic limited-time discount, which combines the product characteristics and excavates the selling points for packaging promotion.
In addition, according to different promotion targets, online promotion strategies can be divided into: consumer promotion, dealer promotion and retailer promotion. Next, Ma mainly focuses on the online promotion strategy for consumers.
1, online discount promotion
Discount, also known as discount and preferential treatment, is the most commonly used online promotion method. At present, netizens' enthusiasm for online shopping is far lower than that of traditional shopping places such as shopping malls and supermarkets, so the prices of online goods are generally lower than those when they are sold in traditional ways to attract people to buy.
Because the goods sold online can't give people a comprehensive and intuitive impression, and they can't be tried or touched, coupled with the complexity of distribution costs and payment methods, the enthusiasm of online shopping and ordering declines, and relatively large discounts can prompt consumers to try online shopping and make purchase decisions. At present, most of the goods sold online have different price discounts, such as Dangdang Bookstore.
Discount coupon is a form of direct price discount. Because some goods are difficult to sell directly on the Internet, we can download and print discount coupons from the Internet or fill in the discount form directly in combination with traditional marketing methods, and enjoy certain discounts when buying goods at designated places.
2. Online disguised discount promotion
Disguised discount promotion refers to improving the quality and quantity of products or services without raising or slightly raising the price, greatly increasing the added value of products or services, and making consumers feel value for money.
Because online direct price discount is likely to lead to the suspicion of reducing quality, it will be easier to gain the trust of consumers by adopting the promotion method of increasing the added value of goods.
3. Online gift promotion
At present, there are not many applications of gift promotion on the Internet. Under normal circumstances, when new products are put on the market for trial use, products are updated, brands are competing against each other, and new markets are opened up, good promotion results can be achieved by using gift promotion.
Advantages of gift promotion: it can enhance the popularity of brands and websites; Encourage people to visit websites frequently to get more preferential information; According to consumers' enthusiasm for additional products, we can summarize and analyze the marketing effect and the reaction of the products themselves.
Pay attention to the choice of gifts in gift promotion: don't choose defective and inferior products as accessories, which will only be counterproductive; Clarify the purpose of promotion and choose the appropriate products or services that can attract consumers; Pay attention to time and opportunity, and pay attention to the timeliness of gifts. For example, you can't give away items that can only be used in summer in winter. In addition, in the case of public relations crisis, you can also consider giving gifts for free to save the public relations crisis.
In addition, Ma reminded everyone to pay attention to the budget and market demand. Gifts should be within the acceptable budget range, and marketing difficulties should not be caused by too many gifts.
4. Online lottery promotion
Lottery promotion is one of the most widely used forms of network promotion and is a promotion method that most websites are willing to adopt.
Lottery promotion means that one or several people get prizes that exceed the cost of participating in activities to promote goods or services. The online lottery mainly depends on investigation, product sales, expanding user groups, celebration and promotion of an activity. Consumers or visitors get lucky draw opportunities by filling out questionnaires, registering, purchasing products or participating in online activities.
Several points should be paid attention to in online lottery promotion activities: prizes should be attractive, and large-value products can be considered to attract people to participate; The way to participate in activities should be simplified, because the current internet access fee is high, the internet speed is not fast enough, and tourists' interests are different. The online lottery should be planned to be interesting and easy to participate, and it is difficult to attract tourists in a short time if it is too complicated and difficult. The fairness and impartiality of the lottery results, due to the virtuality of the network and the universality of the participants' regions, should ensure the authenticity of the lottery results to a certain extent. Notaries should be asked to notarize the whole process in time, and inform the participants of the progress and results of the activities in time through emails, announcements and other forms.
5, integral improvement
Compared with traditional marketing methods, the application of integral promotion on the Internet is simpler and easier to operate. Online integration can be easily realized by programming and database, with high reliability and relatively simple operation.
Generally speaking, points promotion will set higher value prizes, and consumers will increase their points by purchasing or participating in an activity for many times, so as to get prizes.
Integral promotion can increase the number of times users visit websites and participate in certain activities; Can increase the loyalty of netizens to the website; It can increase the popularity of business activities.
Nowadays, the "virtual currency" issued by many e-commerce websites should be another embodiment of integral promotion, such as the cool "cool currency".
The website allows members to "earn money" by holding activities, and at the same time, they can use the "virtual currency" that can only be used on the website to buy the products of this website, which is actually a corresponding discount for the buyers of members.
6. Online joint promotion
The promotion activities jointly carried out by different merchants are called joint promotion, and the products or services jointly promoted can complement each other and enhance their own value.
If used properly, joint promotion can play a very good role in promoting sales. For example, network companies can join hands with traditional businesses to provide services that cannot be realized on the network; Companies that sell cars and lubricants online, etc.
Third, the selection and planning of promotional products
We already know something about the operation mode of e-commerce, but how to choose and plan products? In this regard, Ma has the following suggestions:
1, high profit
Small e-commerce companies do not have the money of big e-commerce, so they must make high profits, because only high profits can pay high costs (production costs, labor costs, housing costs, logistics costs, etc.). ), make money, and have money to further promote advertising, thus forming a virtuous circle.
How much is the high profit? A product with a profit of more than 70% can be called high profit. Many consumers may complain, but it's true.
2. High customer unit price
The customer unit price is high, the profit is high, and the funds are withdrawn quickly. No one wants to sell everyone something for 20 yuan a day, and the whole sales will be thousands of dollars!
I won't elaborate on the differences between products in various industries. The generation of high customer unit price is mainly realized through associated sales and bundled sales.
3. High repeat purchase rate
We should choose products with high repeat purchase rate and promote products with high customer loyalty, because the market is very different now, and it is no longer a monopoly. The cost of developing new customers is very high, which can basically reach 3-5 times the cost of maintaining old customers. Therefore, in order to save costs and operate conveniently, we must protect our old customers and let them choose you and rely on you faithfully.
4. Eliminate seasonal products
Why exclude seasonal products? Because the sales cycle of seasonal products is short, the circulation cycle is slow, the inventory pressure is high, and there is no strong capital flow or good supply chain, it is best to rule out the choice of seasonal products (see Ma's blog "Product Operation Ideas of E-commerce" for details).
Fourth, create a sense of urgency in the promotion activities.
In fact, the characteristic of promotional activities is the heartbeat of playing. The products promoted have selling points and explosive points, which can impress customers. How can we impress customers? Is to give people a sense of urgency, too late to create tension.
1, sense of time urgency
The first is the sense of time urgency. The products on the website, as far as possible, urge users to buy now, don't wait until tomorrow, and let users buy now as much as possible.
If some users don't buy from your website today, they may buy from other websites tomorrow. In order to let users buy on your website at the first time, you can choose to give users a certain sense of time urgency. Then, at this time, the content of the promotion package can be limited or limited. In short, users should realize that if such a good opportunity is not seized, it will be gone in the future.
Of course, whether it is limited or limited, we must convince users.
The best way for webmasters to convince users that the time limit is true is to tell the truth. Why? Because telling the truth is the most infectious and persuasive, just like the most common sale of out-of-season clothes, it is generally understandable for users to sell summer clothes in autumn, or to tell users clearly that they are just trying to increase market share or crush competitors, or the goods have some defects, so they are sold at a low price, and when they are sold out, users are more convinced.
But be careful not to tell users because the seller is kind and willing to make less money.
Step 2 show up at the right time
Second, it is just the right time. The promotion package information should appear at the right time, usually this right time is where the "shopping cart" button is displayed at the end of the product description, and the website should clearly explain the main contents of the promotion package in the form of main points.
Generally speaking, it is the moment when users make a decision after reading the product information. At this time, it is necessary to show users these benefits other than products, which can generally help users make initial purchase decisions when hesitating.
Many websites put promotional information on the home page and display it in the form of banner advertisements, but when users come to the product page, they do not display supporting information such as discounts and free gifts. Some websites put promotional information on the home page, which is often displayed in the form of banner advertisements. However, when users come to the product page, they may forget the promotional content displayed on the home page of the website, and the product page does not display supporting information such as discounts. At this point, you lose an opportunity to persuade users to buy again.
3. Free gifts
Well, this is a free gift. E-commerce websites must reiterate the free gifts in the promotion package to users in the most appropriate places, because free is one of the most powerful marketing methods, and giving users some free gifts is one of the most effective ways to push users to make a final decision.
Generally, websites selling information products make the most effective use of free gifts, such as an e-book that sells in 50 yuan. At the same time, users who buy this book will get as many as 10-20 free e-books worth 100 yuan. Ordinary users will think that such e-books are too cost-effective, and it is their own loss not to buy them. Of course, these free e-books can't be found on the Internet, and they must be really valuable and valuable.
Giving free gifts in digital form does not increase the cost of production and delivery for the website, but also has a great influence on the psychology of users.
In addition, websites that sell physical objects can also send physical gifts, buy glasses to send glasses cloth, buy clothes to send cards, buy rings to send sunglasses and so on. These free gifts are not very valuable, just a few dollars. In fact, the key to work is to make users feel cost-effective, happy and satisfied.
4, product packaging and postage
Finally, the product is guaranteed. Some e-commerce websites are also an effective promotion method, such as Taobao, JD.COM, Ke Fan and so on. But some sellers of Taobao may be very stingy and don't provide products.
Many times, users will not feel the difference of products, and the promotional content of the package is very attractive to users.
How do verbs (abbreviation of verb) promote sales promotion activities?
While the promotion activities are going on, we still need to do some work to promote the implementation of the promotion activities and ensure the effect. Specifically, there are the following points:
1, user survey
2. Implementation plan
3. Team arrangement
4. Control of activity rhythm
5. Backup plan
6, emergency plans and measures
7, the result processing and analysis
8. Price gradient.
The ultimate goal of promotion activities is sales volume, but we can't just look at sales volume. Through the activity, we can see a lot of data: traffic, jump rate, conversion rate and customer unit price. These data are very useful and deserve our in-depth analysis.
What data is good? What are the data differences? Why not? It can be improved and optimized in future activities. After all, only by understanding users' preferences and needs can we cater to their appetite and win the market.
Sixth, when not active.
Promotion activities are only carried out when necessary. What if you are not active at ordinary times? We should ensure low-cost flow and conversion rate:
1, SEO, optimization (see Ma's blog "How to Do SEO Optimization for Large E-commerce Websites" for details).
2. Attempts of various promotion methods.
3. Improve the page and increase the conversion rate.
4, product optimization, improve customer unit price.
5, customer service training, improve enthusiasm.
Generally speaking, e-commerce websites should do such promotional activities to ensure our virtuous circle and progress.