The Crucial Role Of Your Website In B2C Marketing

For any business looking to sell a product or service directly to consumers, the power of your website should not be underestimated. After all, this is where your customers will come to find out more about the product or service on offer, and ultimately make a purchase.

Your website can, and should, play a pivotal role in your B2C marketing strategy. So, if you’re a B2C company looking to increase brand awareness and make more sales, these 4 simple tips are for you:

In the world of B2C marketing, content is king. The ability to tell the story of your brand and its products or services through online media, will determine the business results you will achieve through digital.

People are intrigued by stories. You might not think your business is unique or interesting, but it undoubtedly is. Your ability to create a compelling backstory to your business, and communicate this to your target audience, is what you will be judged upon. But how can you do this?

Whether it’s posting on social media, writing a weekly blog on your website, or hosting your own podcast or video show around your chosen topic, the most important thing is that you provide value to your target audience on a consistent basis. Think about what your end consumer is interested in and produce content around those topics. This will allow you to get the attention of your target audience – which is the most important asset if you want to drive sales through your website.

If you want your website to be as effective as possible in your content marketing strategy, it might be worth investing in a robust and reliable Content Management System (CMS), such as Umbraco. Known as ‘the friendly CMS’, Umbraco allows you to publish and edit content with minimal technical knowledge required, keeping your internal practices as streamlined as possible.

Make sure to integrate content around your own products or services, as part of your wider content marketing strategy. But, this content shouldn’t be transactional or ‘salesy’. In other words, it should never feel like you’re just trying to sell something, without providing value first. Instead, focus on building brand equity, by explaining the heritage of your brand and the benefits or your product or service. But, remember to keep the wording simple and easy to understand – whether on your own website or on social media. Nobody wants to spend hours trying to work out what your business is selling and how it can benefit them. Cut to the chase, and your customers will thank you for it.

Your website is your ‘digital house’ – and should therefore showcase your brand identity in a unique, creative way. The primary role of your website should be to capture the imagination of your users, encouraging them to learn more about your products or services. If you don’t give your users a reason to stay on your website, it will be impossible to convert traffic into sales.

You should constantly aim to keep your website looking fresh and ahead of the curve, by keeping up-to-date with the latest web design trends. If you’re selling a product, make sure to use visual imagery to showcase it effectively on your website! After all, this is the only way to help your user build up a mental picture of your product and how it can benefit them. We recommend using A/B testing to see if displaying the product in a different way, leads to an increase in sales. By experimenting with the visual imagery you use on your web, you can be sure to find a winning formula which helps to showcase your product and generate sales.

If the typical buying cycle of your product or service is long, users may come back to your website a few times before deciding to make a purchase. This is especially true if your product is a high-ticket expensive item, as the user’s purchase decision will typically require more thought and deliberation.

So, how should you use personalisation on your own B2C website?

Firstly, you should use a personalisation engine determine if a user is in a certain market segment which you wish to target. Once you have identified the users which you wish to target, show them either the products they have already viewed; or alternative products which they may be interested in, based on what they have already viewed on your website.

A website user may visit certain pages relating to a particular product or service, allowing you to determine that they are interested in that product or service. Using the personalisation engine, you can then show this user more information on common areas (for example, through Call-To-Actions on the homepage), making the user journey smoother and more efficient.

Optimising your website for success in B2C marketing is an ongoing process which requires time and effort. On a regular basis, you should review your website to make adjustments and improvements, based on data and feedback from users. For example, these ongoing improvements could involve making the website faster or easier to use – helping to improve the overall user experience. Or, these adjustments might be seasonal or dependent upon current business trends. The primary focus should be to make small, incremental improvements to keep your website functioning as seamlessly as possible.