Today reprinted an article from the Global Foreign Trade Forum. Sellers may have all heard the saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket". At present, it has become a hot trend for sellers to develop diversified e-commerce businesses outside of Amazon. With Amazon policy changes and recent commission changes, smart sellers are looking to build other businesses.
In eCommerceFuel's recent State of the Merchant survey, 70% of respondents said their online store is their biggest source of revenue. For these groups, Amazon's revenue accounted for only 6.2% of total revenue, and 20% of respondents said that Amazon's revenue accounted for 76% of total revenue.
Amazon is a great source of income for most sellers, but sellers still want to protect their business by making sure they don’t rely on just one platform to sell their products.
Why do sellers want to diversify their business? As with any business investment, success or failure can be instantaneous, and sellers may have felt it during Amazon's policy change last October.
When a seller sells on a platform like Amazon or eBay, it’s important to understand that you don’t have full control of the store, and that the ultimate control lies with the platform.
Diversification can take e-commerce business to the next level. More sales channels means more potential revenue from different sources. By creating more revenue streams, the seller's business will be less susceptible to disruption.
If sellers want to stay in the e-commerce industry for a long time, they should diversify their risks and direct resources to their own websites. How should sellers implement a diversified operation strategy?
Start by creating your own online store, and then increase sales through advertising landing pages, email marketing, and more:
Here's a detailed introduction to how to create your own store and how to attract traffic to your store:
Step 1: Build your own e-commerce store Sellers can start by creating an online store outside of Amazon, which gives sellers more control over their store, including optimizing conversion rates, etc. Control the conversion rate well.
Fortunately, there are many platforms that make it easier for sellers to create a store. To easily create an online store, sellers can check out the following e-commerce platforms:
1. Shopify. The platform recently said it integrated with Amazon, allowing Amazon listings to link to Shopify stores;
2. BigCommerce. The platform allows sellers to customize their website, manage shipping and payments, and list products on Amazon, eBay and Facebook.
3. Squarespace. It is a website building tool and also has an online store function.
Most importantly, sellers are not advised to cut ties with Amazon entirely. In fact, relying on Amazon to fulfill orders at first is a good idea, and you don't have to worry about logistics. The platform allows sellers to accumulate funds to invest in their other businesses, and sellers can focus on building other online stores, increasing store traffic and building brands. By diversifying traffic and branding, sellers can also improve their own market resilience.
Step 2: Create your own drainage channel to drive sales 1. How to build a landing page?
First, sellers need to create landing pages. A landing page is the first page a visitor sees and is usually designed with one goal in mind, such as converting.
There are two types of landing pages that sellers need to be aware of:
(1) Click the link to enter the webpage. This type of landing page is a sales page that describes the product or offer in detail, with the purpose of showing the benefits of the product and redirecting to the e-commerce site;
(2) Potential customer development page. Such landing pages capture information such as consumer email addresses, which sellers can then use to promote products and send promotional codes to potential customers.
Sellers can also choose a combination of the two types of landing pages, for example, if a visitor signs up for an email, they will receive a discount coupon.
Here are landing page templates that can be optimized for conversion rates:
Features of a good landing page:
(1) Use time-limited offers to convey a sense of urgency;
(2) Use limited quantities to convey the message of product scarcity;
(3) Contains special discounts;
(4) Clearly display product pictures;
(5) Including email registration to receive coupons;
(6) Have a clear call-to-action button (CTA-button) for users;
(7) Contains social proof;
Tools used to create landing pages are: ClickFunnels, Leadpages and Unbounce.
Next, sellers create email lists so they can directly market products and brands.
2. How to create an email marketing list? Email marketing lists can help sellers convert potential customers. Email tends to be more effective than most other marketing channels because sellers have complete control.
Also, push a variety of products via email, and over time, buyers are likely to buy and sellers can make a profit. By sending regular emails to customers and providing valuable content, sellers can continue to generate revenue for themselves.
Marketing through email lists allows sellers to:
(1) Notify consumers of new products;
(2) Provide special offers or coupons to consumers;
(3) Continue to generate sales and create a loyal consumer base;
Here are some quick ways to create an email marketing list:
If the seller wants to create an email marketing list, he can use tools such as Hello Bar to obtain consumer email addresses. After using the Hello Bar tool on the Buffer website as shown below, the email login information appears at the top of the page:
Sellers can also use email marketing tools like ActiveCampaign and MailChimp.
Another way to get subscribers is to put coupons in product packaging. If customers sign up with email, they can get 25% off their next purchase.
Once sellers have emails, it's all about knowing how to use them to generate sales.
Here are some quick and easy email marketing templates:
(1) The first email: sent immediately after the user places an order for purchase;
Email subject: Explain that you want to send consumer discount coupons;
The content of the email should thank consumers for their purchase, give away coupons, and call on consumers to place an order again. The content is as follows:
Thank you for your purchase. We appreciate your business, and would like to offer you our [product name] at a discounted price of [price].
To claim your discount, use the coupon code: [Coupon Code]
Use your coupon while you still can [link to coupon]
Limited supply available. Only 37 Left. Coupon expires soon.
Just follow these steps:
STEP 1: Visit the page for our …..
STEP 2: Put Our [Product]In Your Shopping Basket
STEP 3: On the checkout page enter coupon code:
When you reach the checkout page, there will be a section called “Gifts & Promotional codes”, enter in the coupon code and click apply. Your total price will be [Total Price]
Use this coupon code: [Coupon Code]
Order now on !
(2) Second email: sent within 1-2 days after the previous email
Email subject: Your Coupon Expiring (Amazon coupons are about to expire, please use them as soon as possible!);
The content of the email is as follows:
Hi,
This is just a reminder that your coupon for [product] is expiring soon. If you have not claimed it yet, be sure to do so now so you don't miss out.
Your coupon code is [Coupon Code].
Enter your code at checkout to claim your discount!
If you have no already taken advantage of your coupon code, then please go to using the link below.
Click here to claim coupon. [Link to coupon]
Here are some of the most popular email marketing management platforms:
(1) MailChimp. MailChimp is the world's leading email marketing platform with a variety of templates and integration with various platforms, such as Shopify, etc.;
(2) Aweber. Aweber is similar to MailChimp and can also be integrated with platforms such as Shopify;
(3) ActiveCampaign. The management platform is well integrated and has complete functions.
Step 3: Expand your reach One way to expand your product and brand reach is to create a social media page, which is probably the most commonly used page for sellers to connect with buyers.
Social media can increase brand awareness while also helping to capture potential customers.
Sellers can start from these social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., and choose the most suitable platform for the brand.
If the seller sells thermostat electric kettles, then don't create a dedicated kettle Facebook page marketing because no one will care. Conversely, to find a niche audience, who would use a kettle like this?
Tea drinkers may be one of them, and sellers can create a page for tea drinkers and start curating the content of the page and share content that is valuable to this niche audience, such as How to Brew the Best Tea ( How to Brew the Ultimate Cup of Tea, What Temperature Should Water be for Tea?, or 6 Health Benefits of Green Tea .
Sellers should try to find useful and interesting information to share with their audience.
1. Attract your audience
The idea of "create an account and you'll have fans" may not be very popular on social media. So what if you get fans? Simply put, it depends on the social platform.
Taking Facebook as an example, the platform can use their advertising pages to quickly and easily pass sellers' promotion pages to increase sellers' followers.
2. Some tactics for widening your social media reach:
(1) Cooperate with Internet celebrities to promote content;
(2) Contact popular bloggers and start guest blogs;
(3) Share high-quality content that is really useful to consumers;
(4) Include social media sharing buttons on landing pages to allow consumers to easily share content;
(5) In personal social media networks, share pages.
Fourth, the diversification of e-commerce business requires long-term efforts . Many people argue that Amazon is still the first source of revenue, but it is also good for business to split some business to other platforms. Doing so reduces risk, provides better control of the business, and increases potential revenue. But it requires constant effort, don't delusional success overnight.
Diversification is the way to go if sellers want to take their e-commerce business to the next level. Taking the time to build a brand, working hard, and backing it up with technology, sellers have the potential to gain greater market share and higher revenue in the future. Today, I will talk to you about this. For more foreign trade, medical equipment, and consumables, please pay attention to Yunnan Qianlong Mark. See you in the next article!
[This article is reproduced from the Global Foreign Trade Forum, more foreign trade related welcome to pay attention to Qianlong: ]