Your new online store has been launched to the world. Congratulations!
Now it’s time to get it in front of people, serve your ideal customers and grow those sales, if you are new to this, you should start by learning what is ecommerce to know what’s crucial for your business.
Too often, store owners get stuck after they launch their site to the world with how to promote it and get it in front of customers. Thankfully, it’s not a difficult process – it just takes time, a plan and a bit of courage to hit the publish button.
If you don’t promote your store after you launch, then you risk all of that hard work you have done going to waste. You won’t make the sales targets you want and the customers who are ready to buy your products will continue searching or buying from your competitors.
Keep the momentum going by launching your new store to the world and making some noise! This will put you in the best position to increase sales, delight your customers and increase the excitement you and your team have about completing this monumental achievement. However, having a successful eCommerce site is not only about increasing sales but also delivering the product to the customer. You can learn more with this best dropshipping course guide and improve your shipping methods now.
Here are 7 keys to promoting your e-commerce store to the world:
1. Tell Everyone
Simply said, get it in front of as many eyeballs as you can.
Whether you have 5 people on your email list or 50,000, send them an email to let them know the new site is live. This list could be customers, suppliers, family, friends. Everyone.
Let them know: the new site is live, why you made the new site, what are 3 features of the new site worth checking out, who are you serve, any launch offer you have at the moment.
Share the new site on all of your social media profiles and continue to create a new post each day for the first week that the site is live. Use a tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule your posts. If you’re not sure about what to post, just choose your top selling products and write about who they are best suited for and what they do.
If you have a launch offer, be sure to include that in all of your posts too.
2. Create a Launch Offer
According to the SearchUp team marketing is all about getting the attention of your ideal customer, but if you run around just screaming “look at me” to everyone within earshot, then it’s going to get old pretty quick!
Creating the right launch offer will turn your store into a magnet that gets new customers in the door without needing to be pushed.
Launch offers could include:
- 20% off everything
- % off a particular product range
- $20 off your first purchase by entering your email
- Free shipping
With any launch offer, include a time limit so it has a clear end date. Share the offer in your emails, on your social profiles and make sure it is clear from any page on your store that the offer is on and when it ends.
3. Create Paid Ad Campaigns
Facebook, Instagram, Google, LinkedIn – these platforms are waiting to turn your advertising dollars into traffic and customers.
Choose to advertise on the platform where your customers hang out. When in doubt, use Facebook and Google as they have the biggest numbers to work with.
With any of the platforms, be aware of what the person will be doing when they see your ad.
Instagram and Facebook are interruption marketing, so be mindful that you are pulling them away from what they are doing (potentially while sitting on the porcelain throne) to move their attention to your business.
Google shopping, on the other hand, is intent based – where the person you are advertising to is actively searching for keywords related to your ad.
Crafting your messaging to suit these situations is key. Follow the AIDA framework to craft copy for your ads that converts.
A = attention
I = interest
D = desire
A = action
The AIDA framework has been used for many years by copywriters, markets and pick-up artists everywhere to turn strangers into, well, conversions.
Is this your first time running an ad campaign? Start with a budget of $50 – $200 per day and let it run for a week so you can see the results and tweak from there.
If you’re serious about getting results without trying to figure this out yourself, then consider hiring an e-commerce marketing specialist.
4. Optimise for Search Engine Visibility and Track your results
Google is king and appearing on the first page of the search giant for your top product keywords is the holy grail for e-commerce stores.
Where paid ads get you results instantly, search engine optimisation (SEO) takes a while longer. Around 3-6 months is reasonable to start seeing results, which is why it’s important to invest in this straight out of the gate.
Just like with paid ads, if SEO is done right, the pay off can be substantial.
Take time to focus on the meta title and meta descriptions for your top pages, product categories and products and make sure that the copy on these pages is informative and persuasive.
Focus on how well the copy speaks to your ideal customer and don’t stuff your keywords.
Use the tool Ubersuggest to do your keyword research and find terms that are relevant, have traffic and relatively low competition. Track your keyword rankings over time to see how the actions you take to turn into measurable results.
What gets measured gets managed. If you can’t see where the sales are coming from then you’re flying blind when it comes to knowing which activities you should focus on and which ones aren’t bringing in the dollars.
At a minimum, make sure Google Analytics is installed properly on your site with conversion tracking. Verify your site with Google Search Console and submit a sitemap to Google on a regular basis.
Google Data Studio gives you customised reports and you can also customise Google Analytics to give you a custom dashboard so you can see important metrics for your e-commerce store. Platforms such as Shopify include build in analytics, so check these regularly along side your promotional campaigns.
5. Use software and digital solutions to improve your traditional business point
Open-source software gives small businesses an alternative to using mainstream commercial applications to manage their business. The most popular is this free online form builder. It provides word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, data capture on a friendly layout for your work team and customer. These features will improve customer order placing and delivery.
Also taking the office away from the office has its benefits. Not being tied to a desk affords the freedom to handle other issues outside the office. Using remote desktop applications allows business owners and employees the ability to log on to their primary computer via a laptop, smartphone or tablet to access that data remotely. You can even use a home-phone line instead of a business one in order to save money, just be sure to learn how to get your google fax number in order to get those valuable documents online.
6. Manage a Logistic and Distribution Network
Smooth transport of goods is imperative for both domestic and cross-border e-commerce. Well-functioning road transport, ports, postal delivery services and custom help ensuring effective order fulfillment. Unfortunately owning a logistic center not only requires a lot of invested capital (probably even more than the invest you will place on your current business) but also a huge amount of human workforce. If you plan to deliver to long distances the best thing to do is work with a pick and pack services professional company able to do 1-2 days express deliveries worldwide, while same day distribution for local requests; It will also help you to encounter warehousing issues once your business starts to grow.
7. Action steps and use Digital Platforms
Take action to promote your store right now by sending an email to your customers, suppliers and everyone you have an email for. Once you’ve done that, give yourself a high five and return to follow the rest of the steps in this article.
More shoppers are using retailer’s mobile apps, even while they are shopping in the store. The development of the e-commerce industry has resulted in a more autonomous shopping experience and mobile apps are another outlet for the shopper to take control of their path to purchase, if you are planning to open an e-commerce you may want to test this Shopify Free Trial. And more retailers are turning their focus to expanding their digital presence, as mobile apps have become a popular channel for customers throughout the US, according to a survey from Apptentive.
- 88% of respondents use mobile shopping apps.
- 61% use shopping apps at least once a month.
- 26% are brand loyalists who use the app and shop in-store at least 7 times a month.