How to Promote Your Online Store

1. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is the process by which you optimize your online store to improve rankings on search engines like Google. Your goal should be to get your website product pages on the first page of search engines to increase web traffic. You can optimize your website by performing keyword research and strategically using those keywords on your product pages, including in the descriptions, along with blog posts.

You should also enhance your user experience (UX) by creating a good website structure that’s easy to follow and can help users find what they’re looking for.

There are three types of SEO: on-page, off-page, and technical, all of which you must consider if you want to rank your website pages. While implementing target keywords in your web copy is part of on-page SEO and optimizing page speed and improving user experience are part of technical SEO, building backlinks is part of off-page SEO. Backlinks are an important ranking factor, so while improving upon your on-page SEO can help you rank higher, you’ll need to invest in a full SEO strategy to beat out the competition.

2. Email marketing

Email marketing is another effective strategy that can increase your ROI. By collecting email addresses from your customers and prospective customers, you can open up the lines of communication, allowing you to send information about the company through newsletters, and offer deals to bring more customers back to your online store. In fact, the average click rate for emails is 2.62%. While this may seem small, if two out of ten customers are opening your emails, you can leverage this to drive more sales and direct them through the sales funnel.

Email marketing is especially effective for e-commerce businesses because your email marketing software can easily integrate with your online store using automation to send customers targeted emails depending on where they are in the customer journey. For example, you can send customers abandoned cart emails when they’ve left their cart without completing checkout. Abandoned cart emails that incentivize customers to finish the checkout process with a small discount are incredibly effective at bringing customers back when they’ve left your site.

You can also send promotions based on actions customers or prospective customers have taken on your website. For example, you can send them emails based on past purchases showing them products you think they might like. You can also target users who haven’t made their first purchase yet by offering them a discount to join.

3. Social media marketing

You can market on social media to help generate buzz about your products and services. What makes social media unique is that it gives you the perfect opportunity to have a more personal approach to your customers. Social media is also cost-effective, allowing you to invest in organic social media posts or advertising at low costs.

Of course, when using social media marketing for your e-commerce business, you should know which ones are best to invest your resources into. For example, LinkedIn is the ideal social media platform for business professionals, while TikTok allows you to reach wider audiences. Here are some social media best practices to help you reach more people online:

• Use relevant hashtags: Using the right hashtags can help you reach more people because social media users can browse different hashtags to find content related to what they’re interested in.
• Post diverse content: No one wants to follow a page that posts blogs every day. Instead, post different types of engaging content, including blogs, videos, and infographics, to keep your followers engaged.
• Audit your social media profiles: If you’re already investing in social media marketing, it’s a good idea to audit your profiles at least once a year to ensure you’re effectively utilizing your resources. When auditing your profiles, consider your branding and find ways to reach more customers.
• Use a consistent tone and voice: Your brand voice should be consistent across all of your marketing channels. Whether you’re making videos on TikTok or developing infographics for Instagram, your tone should remain the same.
• Post content consistently: Having a posting schedule can ensure you’re giving your followers engaging content every day. Posting sporadically or too often can lead to unfollows. Remember, your customers follow you because they want to see your content, but they don’t want to see your content too often.
• Engage with your audience: Social media gives you a better opportunity to engage with your customers to learn more about them and make them feel like your business cares about their needs. Try to reply to all direct messages and comments as soon as possible, especially if someone is experiencing a customer service issue.

4. Partnerships

Forming partnerships with other companies allows you to reach new audiences and cross-promote products. You should find a brand with a similar target audience but different, complementary products. For example, if you sell dog products, you might partner with a company that sells cat products to cross-promote your products and reach more pet parents. You can also form partnerships with businesses different from yours. For example, by working with bloggers, you can boost brand awareness and reach new audiences.

5. PPC advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising allows you to reach customers faster than organic methods, but it’s typically more costly. There are many types of PPC advertising, including Google Ads and social media advertising. Ultimately, you only pay per click, and your campaigns allow you to get in front of thousands, if not millions, of people, depending on your strategy and budget. With social media PPC advertising, your ads will appear on a user’s feed, while with search engine ads, your ads will appear for specific keywords.

6. Text message marketing

Text message (SMS) marketing is similar to email marketing in that you collect customer contact information and send them communications. However, SMS marketing takes place on a customer’s smartphone rather than in their email. SMS marketing informs customers about special offers and promotions to keep your customers informed wherever they go. Every text should give your customers a link so they can easily open their web browser and shop.

Similar to email marketing, you can use text message marketing for abandoned cart recovery, cross-selling, and customer support.

7. Influencer marketing

Utilizing influencer marketing allows you to tap into someone else’s audience base to earn customers. Influencers are individuals with large followings online. When most people think about influencers, they think of Instagram, but there are influencers on every social media network, and many of them are also bloggers. Working with the right influencer can help you earn more sales because it allows you to market to an influencer’s followers. In fact, 61% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers on social media platforms.

Influencers are thought leaders in their industries, and their thoughts and opinions are respected by their followers. Since consumers are becoming increasingly distrustful of brands, tapping into influencer marketing can help reach customers by sharing your messaging through someone else’s platform.

Before working with influencers, consider the types of promotions you want to do. For example, influencers can write blogs or post on social media about your brand and its products. Of course, it’s always best to provide influencers with a messaging framework when talking about products to ensure they’re not misleading their audience.

8. Networking

Networking is a free way to market your business, and it only requires your time. Through networking, you can partner with other industry professionals to advertise your products and reach new audiences. For example, you can work with PR professionals to spread the word to journalists about your new products or company news, or you can reach out to bloggers in your industry to discuss potential partnerships.

Promote your online store with Mailchimp

Finding new ways to promote your online store is crucial if you want to stand out from the competition. With Mailchimp, you can effectively reach your customers with our all-in-one marketing automation tools that allow you to send drip campaigns to customers based on actions they take on your website, including sending cart abandonment and welcome emails to bring customers back for more.

Want to create better content for social media? We’ve got you covered. With our easy-to-use content tools, you can make your social media posts stand out. Start an e-commerce business today with Mailchimp, or check out our free social media management tools.