The Most Effective Ways to Market an Online Store

After months of pouring your blood, sweat, and tears, you’ve finally set up your very own online store.  

First off, congratulations on a new milestone! We know how strenuous the process might’ve been for you, yet here you are - you made it.  

As a Tampa digital marketing agency, we’ve worked with countless clients who have been in the situation you’re presently in, and we gotta say, all their hard work greatly paid off. We reckon you’ll follow suit.  

Now that your virtual store’s up and running, it’s time you start driving traffic to your store and turn prospects into customers. Promoting your e-commerce business is obviously the first step to attract customers.  

As we’re living in the digital era, there are endless possibilities to market your online store. The days of brochures, local newspaper ads, and fliers are long gone.  

In this post, we’re breaking down the most effective ways to get the word out on your business using different avenues. But first, we’ll be tackling the steps consumers have to take before making a purchase, or as marketers like to call – the buyer’s journey.

The Buyer’s Journey

Thanks to the amount of information available at their fingertips, modern-day consumers are more informed than ever. Pushy sales tactics aren’t as powerful as they used to be anymore.  

That’s why it’s critical to understand the buyer’s journey, including the pains and problems they encounter along the way and the factors that affect their decisions. A clearer grasp of these things gives you a front row seat of what your customers go through, allowing you to identify areas that need improvement.

The buyer’s journey can be broken down into three stages:

The Awareness Stage

The buyer becomes aware that they have a problem, but they don’t know what questions to ask about it yet. They’ll look for general information about the problem instead of solutions.

For example, a guy in his late twenties notices his hair starting to thin. Finding it unusual, he goes to Google and searches: “What causes hair thinning in men under 30?”

The Consideration Stage

Next, the buyer will build on their research and consider possible solutions to their problem. While they’re ready to learn about the products and services companies offer to address it, they’re still on the fence whether they’ll make a purchase or not. They have to know their pros and cons first.  

Going back to the previous example, the guy now Googles “best hair loss treatments for men,” giving them a list of hair products for thinning hair.

The Decision Stage

By the time the buyer reaches the final stage, they’ve settled on a product. They do a little more digging, from reading reviews and watching videos, to checking out the company’s website.

After a day (or two) of careful deliberation, the balding man is all set to buy the product.

Once you know what your prospective customers are looking for at each stage of the buyer’s journey, you can create content that’s tailored to fit their specific needs. You don’t have to make an effort reaching out to them anymore - they’ll find you easily as they’re searching for information online.

Market Your Online Store Effectively Using These Tried-and-True Tactics

Now, let’s talk about your marketing strategies. How can you drive traffic to your new online store and generate sales with ease? Find out below!  

Leverage Social Media

One of the easiest ways to enhance your online engagement is by being active on your social media channels and give each of them a bit of TLC.  

It’s important to note, however, that every social platform should have a specific target audience.  

For instance, if you happen to be an online boutique, don’t expect to be generating sales from LinkedIn, as it caters to B2B buyers. Rather, pay attention to platforms like Facebook (for ads), Instagram (for engagement), and Pinterest (for traffic).

As soon as you figure out which platforms to take advantage of, it’s time to brainstorm your strategies. What type of content should you focus on? How often should you post? Which tactics should you use to entice potential customers?

Here are some social media tips you need to try to promote your online store:

• Share user-generated content (UGC) to build customer loyalty and lighten your workload. UGC serves as a social proof to promote your brand’s message, helping you expand your followers, instill trust in your target audience, form deeper relationships with customers, and boost sales.

• Host giveaways and contests to engage your followers and gain new ones. Everyone loves free stuff and incentives!

• Use social analytics tools to get an in-depth look at your audience. Knowing who your customers and prospects are is really important since it gives you a complete picture of what you should market them.  

• Make a social calendar to maintain consistency in your social media marketing. If you notice your Instagram videos getting high levels of engagement every Fridays, you should note it on your calendar. By discovering what kind of content your audience responds to, and on what day (and time), you can optimize your social calendar better for maximum results.  

Optimize Your Website for SEO

There’s nothing more powerful at driving traffic to your online store and boosting its popularity than by implementing SEO, or search engine optimization.  

The only downside is, you’ll have to wait at least six months to see your work coming into fruition. SEO is all about planning for the future of your business, and if you’re really aiming to grow it, you need to be patient. Success doesn’t happen overnight.

Many online retailers prefer to run Facebook ads for immediate gratification, and we can’t blame them. But, if you want to keep your acquisition costs low while having the assurance that you’ll be targeting a broader audience and get your page ranking high in Google and other search engines, then SEO is the way to go.

Promote your online business using these SEO tactics:

• Keep your content fresh and relevant. No consumer wants to be in an online store that still places content from a year ago, which is why you should regularly update your content. Replace outdated sections with content that features the latest trends. Before you know it, Google will give you a sudden boost in traffic, after they shoot you up in the search engine rankings.

• Build more web pages. Add new products to your online store, write daily blog posts, or create landing pages to increase your chances of getting more traffic.  

• Maintain high page load speeds. Fast page speed and site performance are key factors to a successful e-commerce store. Slow loading pages can lead to low user engagement, less traffic, and high bounce rate, making a negative impact on your sales.

• Add SEO tools to perform quality checks on your store’s SEO. Although tools like SEO Manager or Plug In SEO won’t tell you your work performance, they will notify you of any SEO errors you commit. If you get penalized for an SEO mistake, like duplicate content, for example, your visibility in search engines may be removed or you’ll see a drop in traffic.

Advertise, Advertise, Advertise

It goes without saying that advertising is one of the primary marketing strategies to grow your online store. If you want instant exposure and exceptional results, and you don’t mind putting some budget behind it, running Google or Facebook ads would be your best bet.  

Although there’s not a single doubt that SEO will take you to the top of results pages, that's more of a long-term strategy. With ads, it’s a whole different story.  

Google Ads will get your online store coveting the leading spot in no time. Plus, they will place you above organic and local listings!

As with everyone else, you may already know by now that Google’s the most popular search engine. Not only does it control the largest share of search engine traffic, but it also comes with fantastic ad building features, detailed performance metrics, and a high level of flexibility.

Running Google Ads might be costly, but it will certainly be worth every penny. Promoting your business using the platform makes it twice as easier for you to reach targeted audience. It’s one of the best ways to target online searches with specific intent.  

Don’t get us started on Facebook ads, either. The social media platform has been the biggest source of revenue from advertising for online retailers. In fact, 37% of consumers looking for new media or entertainment find products on a Facebook ad, and only 15% discover new products on retailer websites.  

Unfortunately, with Facebook recently removing more than 5,000 targeting options, you’ll now need to be more creative with your advertising. Don’t let that discourage you, though. You can still create winning ads by doing a bit of experimentation.  

Retargeting ads also play a significant role. They help you generate sales from prospects during their second visit and win back customers who haven’t visited your online store for quite some time already. You can run these ads on Facebook or Google to retarget your visitors.

Keep in mind that a retargeting ad should always be running in the background of your store.  

If you need professional help developing successful Google or Facebook ads for your online store, we’ll be more than happy to lend a hand. We’re an award-winning Tampa digital marketing agency for a reason!

Use Email Marketing

When it comes to web traffic and sales, email marketing takes the cake for being the fastest traffic and sales generator for online retailers – well, for most.  

To build your email list, ask your customers to opt into your marketing once they check out. Alternatively, you can add a subscription form to your homepage, blog, and other pages of your site.

The best thing about email marketing is that it allows you to re-market to your audience on an asset you have full ownership of. Whereas your social media followers are merely “rented,” your email subscribers will be with you even if you’re transferring to another email provider.  

You can segment your lists for personalized emails. By personalizing your emails to different groups, you can show them products they find interesting based on their previous browsing history. Since the products you’re promoting are specifically catered to them, there’s a huge chance they’ll make a purchase.

Also, every time you have a sale, make sure to announce it via email so that your customers can take advantage of your exclusive pricing right away.  The more you do this, the more engaged your customers become.  

Cross-Promote with Complementary Brands

Partnering with non-competitive online businesses that serve similar clientele can be a great way to promote your store in your local network. Just make sure that they’re selling products that complement yours.

Let’s say you sell gym equipment. It makes perfect sense that you’d team up with a brand that focuses on supplements. Both of you will reach a whole new yet relevant audience.

There are many ways to cross-promote at every level of the funnel. A good example of a low-funnel promotion is by offering a discount on one product with the purchase of another. Top-of-funnel tactics can be things like co-sponsoring a fitness blog or podcast.  

Let Us Help You Market Your Online Store

What better way to start your journey to a successful online store than by enlisting the help of a top Tampa digital marketing agency?  

Allow us, your friendly marketing and advertising experts at Digital Resource, to make your life easier by tailoring a strategy that’s perfectly suited to your needs and business goals.