3 Tips For Promoting Your Online Store

A week ago, we posted a blog that detailed how to set up an online store. Of course, setting up your online store is only step one in your quest to grow your company’s sales.

Promoting your online store comes next. Naturally, it’s important for members of your target audience to be aware that they can purchase products from your store directly from its website.

So what are the best ways to promote your online store?

Here are three tips:

1. Ramp up your email marketing efforts.

It’s a good idea to communicate with your customer base at least once a week. If you haven’t yet, establish an e-mailing list by compiling a list of subscribers made up of your customers. Be sure to keep in touch by offering worthwhile information in your weekly newsletters. Be careful not to blatantly advertise, but instead offer intriguing and useful content. However, always make sure the link to your online store is contained in your newsletters.

“When you run PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns (either Facebook, Bing or Adwords) one of your objectives (besides making a sale) is to get the email address of your potential customers,” advises Alex Chris on ReliableSoft.net, “Once you create an email list you can use it as part of your email marketing efforts to either send a newsletter or other content (offers, surveys) to your subscribers. Email lists still convert and you will be surprised of the results.”

2. Add a share button to your product descriptions.

Every time a visitor comes to your online store, you should make it easy for that person to invite others to make the same visit. A share button is a great way to get people to share your product pages on their social media pages. Share buttons are among today’s greatest word-of-mouth promotion mechanisms. On Shopify.ca, Mark Hayes further explains their benefits.

“Social share buttons are a key element to increasing the ‘virality’ of your site, which can in turn drive traffic and boost online sales,” he writes, “Make sure the buttons to the popular social networks—Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest—are easy for users to find. You might want buttons that match your store’s visual aesthetic. But if you find visitors aren’t using the social share buttons enough, it could be worth swapping them back to their original colours.”

3. Create an app.

Apps are all the rage these days. It’s hard to come across a brand that hasn’t created one. Make sure your company isn’t on the list of app-less businesses. By creating an app for Androids and iPhones, you will more easily connect mobile users to your company website and online shop.

“This does not mean that your app should sell products (that would be the ideal solution but it will cost a lot of money to implement),” Chris warns, “instead you should provide tips and advice (from the blog) so as to keep reminding people that you exist so that they will remember you when they are ready to make a purchase. If done correctly mobile apps are a great way to raise brand awareness.”

If you’ve still yet to set up your online store, Canadian POS can help you! We offer a secure e-commerce solution that enables you to easily and securely accept and process all credit cards from your website. For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.