Launching your online store will be one of the most exciting adventures you will ever embark upon. You have researched your market, you have perfected the product, you have chosen the best, most reliable e-Commerce platform, and you have a killer website.
So that should be enough for customers to burst through your virtual doors and buy everything on your website, right? Well, not exactly.
The primary problem with this idea is that your potential customers won’t know to come because they don’t know you exist. How do we change this? Read on
10 Tactics To Promote Your Online Store
An online store has the potential of reaching more customers than you can ever imagine. Your customers can come from all over the world.
Let’s explore the 10 best strategies to promote your online store and get more of your potential customers’ eyes on your website.
1. Build your social presence organically
One of the best ways to capture the attention of potential customers is to keep your social media profiles active. Post engaging and regular content with appealing videos and images. You should consider collaborating with bloggers in a similar niche, hosting exciting giveaways, and using relevant hashtags.
2. Build your email list
Social media platforms may come and go, but e-mail lists can last forever. With the ever-changing algorithms and other idiosyncrasies that happen unilaterally, without consideration for businesses and users, social media platforms can be a frustrating marketing tool for online business owners.
Therefore, the answer lies in owning a list of your customers (with their permission of course), so you can always communicate with them and alert them of new product launches or anything relevant they might want to know about the company. Collect e-mails by installing a pop-up box on your website.
3. Make great content
In order to bring traffic to your website, you must create great and useful content. By doing so you are establishing yourself as an authority or an expert in the specific niche you are in.
Depending on the complexity of your product, you could dedicate an entire page of resources to your website. That way, potential customers can have many of their questions answered, helping them make the best buying decision.
4. SEO optimization
In order to really understand SEO, begin with your user. How do they relate to your product? What about your product are they curious about?
Take a look at your “on-page content”. From the product titles, descriptions, and images used, it’s how you are currently communicating with your customer. What you want is to use the same exact wording that your customers use. Every page on your website should also include a “title tag, ” similar to headlines for search engines.
5. Social media advertising
When it comes to advertising, there is no need to look further than your social media platforms. Determine which social media platforms your current and potential customers spend the most time on.
Based on that, you will need to focus your advertising dollars on that. You can use pictures of your product in use and see how it performs. Change things up based on how well or poorly it performs.
6. Google Ads
The idea behind Google Ads is to “show up first” on the search engine results page. You do so by bidding on keywords. If it is your first time using Google Ads, know that the learning curve can be steep.
It is highly recommended that you hire a specialist who can save you a considerable amount of time so that you can put your entire focus on running your business.
7. Work with influencers
Influencers are the new celebrities that have a massive following and can really drive your sales. They are called “influencers” for a reason. They tend to have a massive influence on the buying behavior of their followers.
Although not nearly as expensive as a real Hollywood celebrity, be prepared to pay a good bit of money. Your investment will pay you many times over, so long as you stick to an influencer that truly aligns with your audience. Always include a link to your online stores so that potential customers can purchase your products.
8. Videos featuring your product
When it comes to marketing your product, it can take on many forms: blog posts, social media posts, pictures, and videos. For your more visual customers, video marketing is a very effective way to gain the attention of your audience.
This can be developed as behind-the-scenes videos of your company, product tutorials, webinars, and interviews. With the popularity of Tik Tok, you can also create short videos to engage with your audience. Include the link to your website to encourage viewers to purchase your product.
9. Business partnerships
Are there other businesses that offer a different product but serve the same target audience as you? Then the next strategy is to partner up. You can start a collaboration, have a joint contest, or just create content.
Social media is an excellent place to offer “shout-outs” to other businesses that are related to your brand. By offering these types of mentions, you can expect that they could do the same for you and your business.
10. Online events
To further spread the word about your business, consider doing live events such as webinars where you can have your expertise on full display. Creating these live events also creates communities that will greatly benefit and build your brand.
Use These Tactics Wisely
Fortunately, there is no shortage of ideas on how to promote your online store. It’s about determining the needs of your business. Find out where your target audience hangs out and engage with them there. Reward them for being committed to your product and your values.
Building your brand means building a community. This community will continue to spread the word, becoming your ambassadors, offering you widespread exposure, at no cost to you.