01 Oct 9 Tips to Marketing Your Ecommerce Store With a Zero Budget!
Whether you are an experienced online retailer or just new to the online game, you would have to admit that the retail landscape has dramatically changed with unpredictable lockdowns and stay at home orders recently. It’s a case of moving your business online or run the risk of being left behind.
So, it’s a good idea to review any marketing strategies, particularly free ones, that you can implement quickly, to encourage shoppers to engage with your Ecommerce website, particularly on the lead up to Christmas.
So here are my top 9 FREE ecommerce ideas to get you started.
Enjoy.
1 – SEO – Organic (Search Engine Optimisation)
When 33% of all Google traffic goes to the first search result, it is important to take into consideration keywords and ‘long tail keywords’ and include them into your titles, descriptions and meta descriptions. Also review your competitor’s keywords and look at ways that you can enhance your potential customer’s search experience, rather than simply copying a competitor.
2 – Content Marketing – Creating other content of interest such as blogs and articles.
78% of consumers prefer to get to know a company through articles and useful content rather than thru advertising alone.
Useful content can be made even more effective by including keywords and long tail keywords to rank highly on search engines. In addition to that, you can repurpose content by re-engaging customers thru mailouts, newsletters and socials.
To maximise the effectiveness of good content, try different formats:
- Blogs
- Videos
- Podcasts and
- E-books
3 – Referral Program – Creating a team of followers who can refer your products and seek a commission.
By using apps. Like UpPromote in Shopify, you can create an affiliate program where past customers or followers can sign up to receive a unique link that they in turn can share themselves. By sharing this link, anyone who comes into your store thru the shared link, will trigger commissions to the link owner. This is how an affiliate program basically works.
Also, by encouraging referrals (‘word of mouth’ is the most powerful tool in any marketer’s tool box), can be the difference between being profitable or not.
4 – Social Media – 66% of all social media visits to a Shopify store comes from Facebook.
Social media is the gateway to your potential and current customers. It is also the best way to build relationships with them as well as building brand awareness.
The key to mastering social media is to post consistently, highlighting usefulness of your products, building your brand and telling stories that visitors can relate to. Social media is not a place to sell. Go to the platform that your customers hang out in but don’t try and master every platform.
Also, a good idea for social media is to create gift guides that include not only your products but other merchant’s products as well. This gives you a chance to connect with other merchants so that you can market collectively and possibly even create a JV, leveraging off each other’s contacts and customer lists.
5 – Influencers – Reach out to the smaller influencers
Influencers, particularly smaller ones that are in your niche are the influencers that you should be reaching out to. Sure, using influencers is not necessarily free, but the smaller influencers might just be happy with the product that you have supplied them for review.
To stay relevant, it is better to use influencers who have followings of around 5000 or so, as they represent an engaged following rather than the big influencers who tend to leave you lost in the dark.
To find an influencer who is right for you, try out FameBit (now YouTube BrandConnect) or TribeGroup.co, to name a few.
6 – Email Marketing – Sending newsletters, offerings, specials, and promos to your email list
Email conversion rates are the highest at 4.3%, which is more than double social media and 25% higher than search.
Well-crafted emails, offering help and information (not just selling), are a staple of good digital marketing. Shoppers are weary these days of heavy sales pitches, but a well-crafted email can have a positive effect. It’s also a way to keep people engaged with your business after making their purchase as well as following up customers who didn’t quite buy from your store and left early (abandoned shopping carts).
7- Writing Guest Posts – Leveraging your knowledge and other networks
So why not brush up on your networking skills and reach out to authors of blogs with the same niche as you. Here you can offer to write guest posts with your signature at the bottom of each blog and you can reciprocate links back to each other’s website. It’s also a great chance to build relationships with people in your industry and provide opportunities for your brand in the future.
8 – Ads Exchange – Share ads across other websites
By using an app like ‘Instant Traffic and Ads’ (Shopify), you can host ads on your site and in return, other shops will show ads for yours. These ads shouldn’t be too distracting for shoppers since they appear at the bottom of the screen, are able to be exited at any time, and only last for 30 seconds or less. There is a free plan available.
9 – Post to Online Communities – Provide useful assistance in online communities
By posting useful information and answers in communities like Quora, you can build your brand and become an authority in the niche that your store is also in. By answering questions consistently and having your signature file at the bottom of your responses, you can create an authority voice that people will start to notice and follow.
Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at:
Andrew Campbell
Specialist Business Advisor
0409 610 637