Ask 10 online merchants what the secret to great business practice is, and you’ll likely get 10 different answers. The variety and breadth of responses says, according to us at SellerExpress, that there’s no one right way to be an ace seller, but rather a number of ways. And because of that, we’ve come up with 9 tips to help promote your online business to superstardom.
1. Work the Email Lines
You know the saying, ‘The squeaky wheel gets the grease’? It’s true in every aspect. People pay attention to those who are making noise, and the trick is to have something worthy to say when everyone’s looking your way. Email campaigns are one of the best ways of doing this…as long as you’re carrying one out with a valid message, and not just waving your arms around. Highlight an upcoming sale or discount code, ask for feedback or just remind buyers of what they left in their shopping carts.
2. Get Unbiased Feedback
Feedback is important, full stop. But before you get to amassing reviews from your buyers, go in with your best foot forward by having family and friends correct your flaws and foibles. As hard as it’ll be to hear what you’re doing wrong, you want to hear it from their mouths — not your buyers. The more you can fix in advance, the better.
3. Spend Money to Make Money
How much money is in your advertising budget? And how did you arrive at that figure? Advertising and marketing should, at minimum, comprise 10% of your expenses, depending on what stage you’re at in getting the word out about your brand. If you’re just starting out, it may be worthwhile to sink a little more in to excite interest about your business. And if you’ve been at it a while, consider a quick shot to rejuvenate your name.
4. Link Up With Advertisers
If your website looks like a football soccer jersey or the side of a NASCAR car, then you’ve gone too far. But if you can draw in a select number of advertisers who’ll pay for space on your page, then congratulations. You’ve just earned yourself a nice little income you can put back into advertising and marketing.
5. Host a Contest or Giveaway
Know who likes receiving free things? Everybody, that’s who. And when it’s a product they’re interested in, the fuzzy feelings grow in magnitude. Every month or so, have some sort of contest on your site, whether it’s a straight up giveaway or if you want your buyers to perform a little task before getting the prize.
Alterna-tip: toss them a freebie if they can get X number of their friends to sign up on your site.
6. Go Offline to Make a Splash Online
One of the biggest mistakes merchants make is thinking that just because they’re an online seller, they have nothing to do with the offline world. Little could be further than the truth, especially if you’re savvy on how to combine the two. One of our favourite ways is to hit up a convention, conference or expo, and network with strategic partners. Just about every brick-and-mortar store has a website, so reverse things and rent a booth or table and introduce yourself to the offline world.
7. Get Into the World of Social Media
Everybody’s familiar with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, so we’re not even going to touch those today. Instead, look at sites like Vine and Instagram for a step outside the box. We love Vine because it so perfectly caters to shortened attention spans, giving you the chance to offer a dazzling sneak peek of what you’re all about to your buyers. And we love Instagram because you can use the filters to really express the spirit of your products.
8. Adopt a Reddit Identity
Some may classify Reddit as social media, but we like to think of it as its own world, its own individually-functioning organism. Imagine a metropolitan city with plenty of enclaves and communities, and you’ve got a sense of what Reddit is like. It’s such a big site that it’s only a matter of time before you find one community that fits you; and just like a community in a city, the more you work at developing relationships with your neighbours, the more they’ll be aware of you, your personality and your brand.
9. Expand Into Other Marketplaces
At first glance, selling on marketplaces when you’ve birthed your own site can seem like giving up. But it’s not conceding defeat to play with the bigger boys, it’s being smart and putting your eggs in multiple baskets. The more outlets your products can exist in, the likelier your chances of promoting your online business.
