What Are The Most Effective Tactics To Increase Sales?

Without an effective sales mechanism, it doesn’t matter if you have a superior product or service. No one’s ever going to know about it. Inferior products can beat the best thing since sliced bread with the right sales spin, no question. Just think Betamax vs. VHS. Or a more modern battle: the iPod vs. Microsoft’s Zune (have you ever even heard of the Zune?).

The key takeaway: you need sales. Of course, having a solid product or service is the minimum benchmark you need to hit to be successful, but an effective sales strategy will help propel your business to success. Here are the most effective tactics you can implement for your business.

Give Stuff Away for Free

Most business owners hate giving stuff away for free, and that instinctive reaction is understandable. Especially in current market conditions. But there’s a reason why the most successful businesses continue to offer bonuses, discounts, and free samples to their customers: it works. Free stuff giveaways have been done since time immemorial, so why deny the tried and tested?

One of the biggest e-commerce players in the game has shown that free trials and samples can increase sales by over 2000 per cent. Not too shabby. This is all due to basic psychology, the idea of returning the favour. If someone is nice to you, there’s the primal urge to be nice back. Even if that “someone” is a company.

And it can be done for all sorts of products and services. Local bakeries can offer free samples of their cakes. Deliveroo will often give customers a free item when reaching a certain spending threshold. YouTube Premium gives customers a free trial. And casinos give ridiculously generous bonuses of free money or spins, creating long-lasting relationships with consumers.

Be Honest

It’s tempting to write hyped-up copy that whips your potential customers into a buying frenzy. But if your product can’t live up to your promises, the fall from grace will be sharp and quick. Refunds, terrible reviews, and permanently lost customers will be the inevitable result.

Lack of honesty affects even the big boys. Just look at the Ford Edsel. The company was so confident in the car’s success it named the model after Ford’s only son. But the car flopped. Badly.

The company had decided to implement a strategy of marketing hype for a year before the Edsel’s release. They promised the car of the future. Something that would blow all existing models out of the water. What consumers got was a decent vehicle, but nothing like the futuristic showstopper people expected. It was the company’s biggest dud.

The lesson? Be honest in everything you do. People appreciate it, especially in today’s world of fake hype and broken promises. Of course, you want to show off the good stuff. You want to be positive about what you have to offer. But always do this within a framework of honesty, and being able to deliver on what you promise.

Have a (Real) Web Presence

Having a basic web presence just doesn’t cut it anymore. Having a website and the big-name social media accounts is the bare minimum you need to have. Anything less is sales and marketing suicide. This is what you need to focus on:

• Pretty and it works. Your site needs to look good on your own screen, sure. But it primarily needs to work for your customers, whether they’re accessing your site via a desktop, laptop, iPad, or smartphone. If your site loads slowly on a mobile device and looks all funky, they’ll close and forget.
• Google Analytics funnels. Don’t just track the number of visitors to your website. Leverage the 100% free tools that Google Analytics gives you. Optimize the heavily visited pages. Create funnels for your sales pages. Adapt your content based on bounce rates. Delve deep into the data and act accordingly.
• Use tools. There are so many marketing tools out there and they’re either cheap or free. Use them. They often come with free lessons, courses, and more. MailChimp, for example, can be a crucial tool in crafting a successful mailing list (and a mailing list is a complete must!).
• Social media. Don’t spray and pray. Find the specific social media channels where your customers ‘hang out’. If you’re looking for young and hip, Instagram and TikTok accounts are compulsory.

Marketing Needs an Active Approach

We get it. You want to stick to your bread and butter, leave the details to the rest. But our final piece of advice is this: you need to maintain active involvement in the marketing process. Whether you decide to go in-house or hire an external agency, always ensure you have an idea of what’s going on (even if it’s a bird’s eye view).

Marketing is an essential cog of the machine, no matter the size of your business. You can be a large multinational or a small local store, but sales tactics must be employed by businesses of all sizes. Don’t convince yourself otherwise.