Best way to market online store Archives

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

My marketing tips for this week are focusing on the individual sections of your online shop as they are very important for SEO. However, sometimes it helps to experiment with one or two in terms of customer buying behaviors, to see if it can convert more traffic into sales. Here are some ideas.

Shop Sections That Create Interest

People like to buy items based on what they think other people are buying, so try this little trick. Add a shop category that is entitled, “Back by Demand” and see how it does for you. Put popular items in here that do sell well for you, but now the perception is that they were so popular they sold out. This alone might make people more inclined to buy and buy right away.

Shop Sections Based on Price

Instead of a “Sale” shop category, why not really pull customers in by clearly specifying what the low price is. Therefore, categories such as, “Jewelry Under $25“, “100 Under $20“, and so forth. Another option is to use the word “Outlet” instead of “Sale” as this really gives the perception of a deep discount.

Shop Sections That Sell More Products at Once

Bauble Bar has a shop category called “Build a Layered Necklace“. This is really quite ingenious as it helps to up-sell more of their products at one time. First, they have you choose from a short necklace, then you choose a medium necklace and finally a long necklace – creating a very easy way to ensure that you get this popular look without fail. Plus, they give you a discount for buying all three. You can do something similar by creating a shop category of items that all work together and offer a discount for buying two or more items from this category.

Shop Sections Based on Events

I have mentioned this many times in my Marketing Ideas E-books that you can take advantage of popular buying seasons with your shop categories. Create temporary categories such as, “The Mother’s Day Shop”, “Festival Bags“, “Spring Refresh”, “Derby Day Style”, “Summer Scents”, etc.

Trending This Week

April 12 – #NationalGrilledCheese Day
April 13 – #NationalScrabbleDay
April 14 – #ThursdayThoughts
April 15 – #Coachella, #WorldArtDay, #NationalTaxDay
April 16 – #satchat
April 17 – #SundayBrunch
April 18 – #MotivationMonday, #BostonMarathon

Big Events in May: Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Victoria Day (Canada), the Kentucky Derby, the French Open, Star Wars Day, college graduations and high school proms.

My Quick Fix is perfect for those of you on a tight budget. With my Quick Fix ($25), I will examine your online shop and identify 3 things you need to do/change/fix to drive more traffic and get more sales. If you would like a more extensive evaluation with detailed, step by step recommendations, then check out my Online Shop Critique ($129).

by Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

I have added a permanent page to my blog for your reference. It is called 50 Online Marketplaces where you can sell your products online, and, as the title says, it includes links to 50 online selling sites.

50 Online Marketplaces to Sell Your Products at from Attention Getting Marketing

Some of these sites sell all types of products (Etsy, Amazon), whereas others specialize in art (Society6), clothing (Not Just a Label), vintage clothing (As0s), food (Artizone), kids (Buy Baby Buy) and home decor (Houzz).

Some are regular marketplaces (11 Main), some are auction sites (eBay) and some are flash sale sites (One Kings Lane). Hopefully you can find the one(s) that are right for what you sell.

Now, things are always changing in the online e-commerce world, so you may see some of these sites merge in the future. There have been rumours that Wayfair might take an interest in CustomMade and Alibaba (that owns 11 Main) has invested in Zulily, so who knows.

Please note that I did not include businesses like Shopify and BigCommerce as these are considered e-commerce solutions.

Be sure to share this list with your fellow sellers on social media!

Till next time, Gail