Direct Offers – Create offers that involve low-cost trials, free samples and valuable education-based information. Make an immediate response to these offers the sole reason your advertising exists.

Repackaging - Re-introduce your products with added features or services of value or do the same with your service offerings by packaging them in new and innovative ways. Increase the value of your products and services and spell the value out in terms that mean something to the prospect.

Referrals – Get out to your customers and start [talking] with them about ways to partner for referrals. Your customers know times are tough, too. [Communicate] with them and honestly explore ways to help them help you.

Strategic Partners – Now is the time to build your network of strategic referral partners. Start by referring business to trusted partners and make it a point to sit down with at least one current or potential strategic partner each week with the sole purpose of directly discussing ways to help each other grow.

Creative Thinking - Give your customers and vendors “reason why” thinking to encourage larger orders, better terms, guaranteed purchases, and loyalty clubs.

Magento offers native functionality that allows you to execute on many of John’s strategies:

• Flexible Coupons: create offers to get customers back in your store
• Email Newsletter Management: deliver the coupon via email
• Multi-tier pricing for quantity discounts: increase order size by encouraging larger quantity purchases
• Bundled Products: repackage how you offer your products by bundling
• New Items Promotional Tool: highlight new products
• Up-sells in Shopping Cart: increase order size at time of purchase
• Cross-sells on Product Page: increase order size during shopping experience
• Send to a Friend: make it easy for a visitor to forward their wishlist to mom in time for Christmas

Cross promote other products throughout the shopping experience. The shopping cart, check-out, and even transactional email confirmation of purchase are great real estate to introducing site visitors to other offerings.

Tip 2: Test before you spend

Try testing a new marketing offer on a small sample of your customers before rolling it out across your whole site. Doing so will allow you to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy and fine-tune the offer before spending money on a keywords campaign or ad buys.

Tip 3: Create a comforting experience

Make your website experience as comfortable as possible. This includes quality and quantity of images, easy navigation, and maybe even video.

Tip 4: Encourage word of mouth

Request referrals. Period. As simple as this may sound, simply asking a customer to send more business your way might just be crazy enough to work. And what does it really cost you?

Tip 5: Reach out with direct (e)mail

When you have a limited budget, you need to get the most juice for the squeeze. Email has consistently delivered strong ROI for its cost ($45.65 for every dollar spent in 2008 according to the Direct Marketing Association). This kills the other marketing channels I can think of off of the top of my head.

Tip 6: Don’t discount prices

Yes, offering a discount is the quick and dirty way to get someone to buy; but then you erode your brand and have to sell more to make up margins. Instead, consider handing out a gift card to paying customers. Engage your high-value customers with a gift to get them back in your store again (and then refer to Tip 1!)

Tip 7: Outsource online marketing

The marketer for the surgeon in our case study uses an agency to handle search marketing, video posts, and other online marketing. Elias Interactive can help you craft a marketing strategy to incorporate into your Magneto eCommerce platform. Just fill out the forms below to request more information.

Now can somebody hand me a scalpel, please?