Any online retailer will most likely have one key objective – increase their online sales. We have summarized some the best marketing channels to focus on to bolster the sales and revenue of your online store. In this article, we will cover affiliate marketing, Google Ads and SEO all of which are possible to do yourself, or you may choose a specialist agency like Bing Digital to do the work for you.
Affiliate Marketing
This is probably the marketing channel that you know the least about, but as an online retailer, it can be one of the most effective. Affiliate marketing is the process of contacting website owners in your niche and asking them to promote your content, and in return, you will give them a commission on every sale they send to you. For example, you have a new range of chinos for males. You are targeting men aged between 25-35 with an interest in fashion. Collate a list of influencers in this area, such as YouTube channel owners and bloggers and reach out to them with a suggestion to check out your new clothing. It can help to send samples and examples to review. If the influencer agrees to feature your product you will give them a % commission on every sale, they helped to secure.
Google Ads
Google Ads is a fantastic way to bring new targeted users to your website. Google allows you to create adverts that are very targeted and show them to potential customers. There are two key methods to secure new customers, one is through the ‘search network’ and the other is the ‘display network’. Search ads target people using Google’s search function, and when they make a search that contains your keywords an ad may show at the top of the search results. This is very useful, as the ad is very closely targeting the person you are interested in. For example, you may create an ad for people searching for ‘best cross-country running shoes. This is a very specific search and your products will be very relevant to their needs.
The second option is to advertise on the display network. These adverts appear on websites that have advertising space and are either text-based or can be a banner advert. Again, you can select to target a large number of people by selecting anyone who is interested in running shoes for example. Or you can get very specific, and only target people that have already visited your website.
SEO
Search engine optimization is a great way to reach more people. Whereas Google Ads means paying for each click to your website, is you can rank your site in Google organically you will get sales month after month. One of the best strategies to do this is to create a ‘pillar’ article, answering all the questions someone may have about a topic in your industry. By creating a fantastic and useful piece of content, optimized for some carefully selected keywords both Google and your potential customers will see you as a leader and will be more likely to buy from you.
