Now for what you are waiting for?
Oh yes! You must be waiting to market it in best possible way and want to make your first online sale.
We tried to incorporate everything on how to promote your eCommerce store through social media and make first eCommerce sale.
The eCommerce store can be promoted in different ways:
- Through Social Media
- Through Search Engine Marketing
- Through PR
- Through Content Marketing
- Through Paid Ads
- Through offline mediums
- Through Traditional Advertising
In the below article we will take an in-depth view on all the online mediums that help in promoting eCommerce store. Also, we will have a brief glance on all the offline and traditional advertising medium to promote eCommerce store and make your first online sale.
How To Promote Your eCommerce Store Through SOCIAL MEDIA
1) Promote Your Online Store Through Facebook
Facebook Marketing give a boost to your online store in an effective way if done in proper way. It can create everything for your store, from status updates to Facebook page for your store.
You can launch your online store as brand through two different mechanisms of Facebook:
- Your Facebook Profile
For startup businesses, owner’s profile page and store’s Facebook page act as their best friends. Statistics show that when you share products or product-related information from your profile page, then 62% people (friends and relatives of yours) read such posts.
Put a link of product from your website on your profile page, or share a press mention about your business, link to a tweet from a family member, friend or fan, post survey, ask a question. You can also share “about us” page of your website on your Facebook profile page.
Just remember, keep your Facebook profile personalized. Continue with that for what it is meant for i.e. share your photos, like friends and relatives stuff, comment on it, etc. Don’t make it look like your business Facebook page. Keep a fine balance between what to post on your personal page, when to post and how much to post.
- Your Store Facebook Page
With Facebook Pages, people who have Liked your Facebook page will see your updates. You can promote your business here exactly the way you want. You can post the trends of your industry, your products photo with description, specific stories relating the products, survey, etc.
The key point does not only promote your products always directly. Keep it indirect sometime. And be consistent in what you are doing. Don’t expect the results in one day.
Below is some actionable stuff you can do on Facebook for promoting your business:
- Make a complete list of family and friends.
- Mail them personally or drop a Facebook message. Ask them for feedback about your business. Ask them to write a testimonial.
- Later, ask or request them to like your Facebook business page.
Source: Hubspot.
2) Make Network On Linkedin
Through LinkedIn, you can strategically connect with people, post and how to leverage LinkedIn groups.
Linkedin is your professional Facebook profile. It is not meant for direct sales. But you can expand your network, and opportunities stand in your way with open arms.
How to Make Connections on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a way of “making connection” with people. More connections mean large audience you can broadcast.
How to Complete Your Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is an online resume. Majority of people will read your “summary.” So craft this effectively.
How To Post Updates:
LinkedIn updates are seen as professional messages.
Here Are The Things You Should Post on LinkedIn:
- Links to your product web pages
- Content that your network will find valuable–
- Your content
How to Get Started with Linkedin Groups
Browse LinkedIn’s suggestions for “Groups You May Like” and join groups that are very active.
Tips to make LinkedIn Groups go the extra mile for you:
- Don’t Spam
- Join Discussions Frequently
Networking On LinkedIn
Below are the tips to help you network on LinkedIn:
- Find the best groups as per your business or profession and stick with them.
- Continuously meet with the same people, so they remember you.
- Don’t network irregularly.
- Effective networking takes time.
3) Get Engaged On YouTube
YouTube is among the leading and most popular search engine on earth. Selling with video on YouTube is very effective. Business owners can drive sales to their eCommerce store through this medium powerfully. But the condition applied is what kind of video content you are going to produce and how you are starting with YouTube analytics.
YouTube videos are included in Google and YouTube search results. YouTube videos can also be used at your website to help communicate the benefits of your products.
Things To Keep In Mind While Uploading Videos To YouTube:
- Title must be created by keeping in mind the targeted customers.
- Keep you title keyword that your target customers may be searching for.
- In the description of the video, link back to your product pages.
- Attract YouTube customers through tag.
How to Make YouTube Videos
iPhone - You can shoot and edit decent video with your iPhone. This video can directly be uploaded to YouTube without using a computer. Apps recommended for making videos on iPhone is iMovie and Reel Director.
Android- Various video editing apps are available on Android phones. Magisto and VidTrim are the popular apps.
Online: You can edit the video online with the help of YouTube Editor, WeVideo, etc.
Desktop: Video can be edited on desktop too. If you are a Mac user, iMovie is suggested (but not the iPhone app version). If you’re a PC user, Camtasia is suggested.
What Kind of Content Should You Produce?
Below are some categories of content that you can consider:
- Educate– Produce videos such as visual buyer’s guides, compare and contrast demonstrations, and “how-to” videos.
- Solve Problems– Instructional videos always make great video content. Help customers in solving problem through videos.
- Interview Professionals– Great content can be created by interviewing professionals in your industry.
- Describe Phenomenal Products– Create videos explaining the amazing features of these products.
YouTube Power Tips
- Take Advantage of Your Free Links
- Track Your Video Performance with YouTube Analytics
- Keep Your Introductions Short and Get to the Point
4) Trigger Conversations On Twitter
Twitter strategically engage potential followers and customers. Without investing too much money, online store owners grow their business and drive traffic to their eCommerce store.
Setting Up Your Account the Right Way
- Keep your profile photo as your business logo.
- Keep your bio simple, sweet and creative.
- Link to your homepage in your Twitter bio section.
- Play wisely with backgrounds.
Direct Engagement
Twitter has an amazing real time search feature. You can listen to anyone’s Twitter conversation. This feature helps you in increasing your sales. Do direct engagement only few times a day.
Listen and Converse
“Listen.” Listen as much as you can if you are an established brand and engage people on Twitter. By listening the people you can solve their problems and help them, you can discuss the status of your industry, and even show brands that you like.
Share Interesting and Useful Content
Drop valuable and interesting information on Twitter. This is a great way to start up conversations with other Twitter users who are interested in the same type of things your online store offers.
5) Move with Pinterest
Pinterest can drive huge traffic to your online store. Integrate a 'Pin it' button on your site and start inspiring potential customers to start following your pins.
Pinterest is a social platform that is a strong platform for online store owners. It is a visual experience, so your product photos can shine here.
Use The Pinterest Button On Your Website
By installing the Pinterest pin button to your product pages, your website visitors can post images from your online store to Pinterest. This way you will get a third party endorsement from outside your company.
Create An Account For Your Business
As the owner of your business, your social network will be interested in what you have to pin. You can create a Pinterest account for your company. You can double down your Pinterest activities by being both an individual user and business on Pinterest.
Create “Smart” Boards
When you pin an image in Pinterest, you can assign it to a “board.” It’s better to create boards that focus on a specific theme.
When you get popular, you can let your customers contribute to your boards.
Add Price To Pinned Images
To add a price simply add the price with a “$” sign and corresponding value in the description.
Your Strategy Should Be To Inspire
The power of Pinterest lies in its ability to get people to discover amazing images, videos, and products.
Other Things You Can Do with Pinterest
- Create a testimonial board
- Use hashtags
- Host a contest
6) Graft It On Instagram
Instagram is quickly becoming one of the best platforms for online store owners. Discover how to post photos that drive engagement, run contests and more on Instagram.
Instagram is meant for sharing photos.
Amuse the World with Your Photos
The whole point of “Instagraming” is to take photos that will generate some positive and viral reaction. Add photo that is motivating as well as smart product placement. Motivating and positive are great themes for Instagram content.
Example is as follows:
How to #Hashtag
Knowing how to “hashtag” is key to getting more exposure on Instagram. The key to “hashtagging” though is to use a mixture of broad and specific terms for your hashtags. Keep using 5 - 10 appropriate hashtags and you’ll notice people increasingly liking your photos.
Photo Tips
One way to get people to your store is to watermark your images with your domain name. You can use also coupon codes on your photos.
Frequency
The general rule of thumb is only to post a few times a day. You’ll have to test to see what works best with your audience.
Run a Contest with Instagram
Getting started with running a contest on Instagram is simple as well as effective. There are plenty of tools to run a contest on Instagram. Some are TINT, PIXLEE, Statigram, Olapic, Venueseen.
The Secret to Instagram
Though it may appear to be just a mobile photo sharing app, Instagram is being used by small and large brands alike to generate enormous amounts of sales.
7) Tap Into Tumblr
At Tumblr, you can pick from picking a theme, adding content and building links back to your store.
Marketing on Tumbler is much like marketing on Instagram. The idea is to impress people with images and attract a loyal followers.
Here's how to use Tumblr to bring sales to your eCommerce store.
Create A Tumblr Name And Pick A Specific Theme
Try to make your Tumblr blog highly thematic and ultra-specific. This will create more viral shares, backlinks, and followers. Plan in advance by writing 10- 20 posts that can solidify your theme and be consistent in your effort.
Try to give a creative name to your Tumblr blog, most likely without including the name of your business in it.
Some examples of some popular Tumblr blogs names:
- OCD: Obsessive Corgi Disorder. A blog of corgi dogs.
- Oscar PR Girl: A Tumblr blog that takes you behinds the scenes of the Oscar de la Renta fashion brand.
Adding Content and Tagging on Tumblr
Tumble is a micro-blogging, lightweight platform. You can add content as quickly and seamlessly as writing a tweet on Twitter. Simply select the icon describing the type of content you want to add.
Just remember, pick tags effectively in your Tumblr blog by using tags. Use tags that describe your picture, category, and theme.
How Tumblr Suits Your SEO Strategy
Use Tumblr to rank strategically on the first page of search engine results by creating keyword rich titles for posts. Although not duplicating the content on your original blog post is recommended. Better create an entire new post and keep the same keyword in your Tumblr title. This same strategy can be used for many of your social media and blogging accounts. Tumblr also permits you to create meta descriptions and image alt tags.
The majority of Tumblr users are between 18-34 years in age. Try to capture their attention and get them to visit your store in hopes of turning them into customer.
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
8) Stand On Comparison Shopping Engines
Shoppers often use comparison shopping engines to make purchase. Let’s know how to leverage these website and get your products in front of more people.
Sites like Shopzilla, Google Shopping, Nextag, Bing Shopping, and Pricegrabber have millions of shoppers searching for the best prices on online products. For sure you too want grab attention of those shoppers over to your online store.
If your products are listed in these engines, probability is very high of getting a quick response. Majority of these shopping engines require you to “pay to play.”
How To Derive The Benefit?
To get the benefit of comparison shopping engines is to select certain products to be “fed” to these engines. There are two types of products you can do this with:
- If you sell something which no other online shop sells, then add those items to your product feed, and don’t bother lowering the price on them.
- Select a few items that you don’t mind reducing prices on.
Which Engines are Free and Which Are Paid?
Free Comparison Shopping Engines
- The Find
Pay-to-Play Comparison Shopping Engines
Google Shopping, Next Tag, Price Grabber, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Become.com, Pronto.com, Amazon Product Ads
Which Engine Should You Choose?
Certain comparison shopping engines will have a better return on investment for your business than others. The only way to know which ones will yield the best return is to try each one.
9) Get On Google Places
You can only have a Google Places account if “you can make in-person contact with customers.”
What is Google Places?
Google Places is a Google account. Any business can sign up here. It is free. Once you sign up, you will be asked to fill out your business information. When someone uses Google and performs a geographical based search, Google will display results of local businesses that match the intention of the searcher’s query.
Here is an example:
Google Places can deliver amazing results for business owners that have a local place of business.
10) Leverage the Yahoo! Bing Network:
Use paid search ads on the Yahoo! Bing Network to drive targeted traffic to your eCommerce store.
Since you’re running an online store, buying ads on the Internet must seem like a pretty obvious way to make your first sales.
The Yahoo! Bing Network is slightly less competitive, friendlier and cheaper network.
What is Pay-Per-Click Business?
Most search engines use the pay-per-click advertising model (also called cost-per-click). It’s as simple as it sound, every time someone clicks on your ad, you are charged for the click.
You start your PPC advertising campaign by choosing keywords that search engine users will potentially search for. When they do, your ad will be displayed somewhere on the results page. If you wrote compelling advertising copy, chances are someone will click on your ad and will be taken to your online store.
The cost of the click is determined by a few factors:
- Your Specified Maximum Bid
- Your Quality Score
- The Keywords You're Bidding On
How to Get Started?
Let’s have a look at some demographic data to give to know what people are searching for on the Yahoo! Bing network:
Step 1 – Signing Up
Step 2 – Choosing Keywords
Step 3 – Creating Your Ads
Step 4 – Choose Where You Want To Send Them
Step 5 – Test
A Final Advice
PPC advertising requires your full attention. So you need to login to your account at least once a day to monitor the progress of your campaign. It will force you to be analytical about how your business works and will ignite new ideas for you to test and try out until you get in front of the right person for that first sale.
11) Get Search Engine Optimized
SEO is something how to get your site to rank higher in Google.
Search engine optimization provides good return on investment.
What is SEO?
How Google Determines Who Is On Top?
Various factors effects on the ability for your online store to appear high in Google's results. A study by Search Metrics ranked various factors that contribute to Google's ranking algorithm:
Here’s a general list of ranking factors in some order of importance:
How many “natural” links point to your website from other sites
There are two ways to get links:
- Seek for backlinks opportunities.
- Create a website that naturally gets linked to.
Now, the question is how to get natural links? This can be done these way:
- Get online press coverage
- Create valuable content
- Be unique
- Keep doing the above mentioned activities continuously
The authority your site has in its place
Be an expert of your area of specialization by running an unbiased blog full of information.
Here are a few ways to build authority for your website:
- Explain how to do something
- Be the expert, not the salesperson
- Build a strategy to get all the research traffic
The trustworthiness of your website
Build trust with testimonials, security badges, providing guarantees.
The age of your domain name
The longer your domain name, the more history it has with the various search engines, and because of this, and assuming you’ve been providing a good user experience for those years, search engines tend to reward websites for good behavior.
How your website is optimized regarding site structure and “on-page” elements
This can be done in the following way:
- All your title tags have unique content. Do not duplicate title tag content.
- You have a way to navigate by text links only.
- You are using H1 heading tags in your source code.
- Use original images and describe what the images are about with alt tags.
- Keep iframes to a minimum
- Have your content live on your domain
12) Learn From Web Analytics
Analytics will show you what your customers are doing on your site i.e. on which web pages they leave your site, how long they are staying on your site.
Measuring Website Traffic
The beauty of good
