Skip to content
5 minute guide for Shopify success
If you’re thinking about opening a store on Shopify, then you’re at the right place! With over 200 million businesses on the platform, Shopify proves that it is still an eCommerce powerhouse.
Now, to be successful in eCommerce, you have to prepare your business and marketing strategy before you launch. So here's a simple Shopify cheat sheet to jumpstart your exciting new Shopify business.
- Create a Social Media Community
Cultivating a community, or a tribe, is one way to build traction for an e-commerce business hosted on Shopify. This can be a whole campaign where you encourage people to join your “tribe” or “squad”, whatever term you want. The point is, that you want to make a community where people feel like they belong. You can craft it on Facebook groups, Instagram, Telegram, or whatever suits your business.
- Collect customer feedback and product reviews
If you haven't sold a single thing you can first ask people around you who have used your product. Ask them to offer comments on how they liked it. It’s important to get real people to try and review your product because prospective purchasers can smell sponsored reviews a mile away.
Collect as many reviews and feedback as possible and use them everywhere with a link back to your product page. This means, on your Facebook page, in forums, on your website, and so on.
If your product is brand new, give away some free samples and ask your beta testers for honest feedback.
- Invest in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is one of the most cost-effective methods to make your first sale, but it can cost quite a lot of money, especially for new and small businesses.
You can start off with free publicity by listing your business on Google Places before you start spending money. Google Places is similar to a "digital yellow pages," and even if you haven't sold anything yet, being found on Google Places is a certain method to gain free exposure.
As you invest more in digital marketing, you’ll want to focus on reaching out to audiences who are looking for your products. There are many platforms that you can use as a sales funnel for your company; the trick is to figure out which ones meet your budget and will provide a return on your investment.
The key is to keep your marketing expenditures minimal in contrast to the number of leads and conversions you get.
- Take it offline
If your concept is reliant on your local community, this may be a lucrative strategy.
To obtain your initial sales and develop your customer base, do some of the offline marketing tactics. These can be in the form of offline sales events and trade exhibits, radio commercials, newspaper adverts, and flyer distribution.
You might even want to organize a small community event to boost online sales.
- Use all the free resources you have
There are many ways to market and grow your brand with little capital. You can start off with your inner circle. Encourage your friends and family to share about your website and brand to their friends and relatives, as well as your brothers, girlfriends, and your wife's sister.
Of course, that won’t be enough to get your sales souring. You can also join online forums and discussions to put your company in front of the appropriate people.
Try to create a Craigslist listing to take advantage of the free marketplace's popularity. Give out freebies and welcome coupons to entice new and returning consumers, without hurting your margins.
You might even try incorporating an affiliate marketing strategy to get influencers to participate.
Final Thoughts
There’s no one size fits all strategy for every eCommerce company but the tips in this post should get you off on the right foot.
By devoting some of your time to research, you will be able to determine who your primary audience is and what they need. Make sure that all of your choices are predicated on your research findings.
Note that if you try every strategy out there, you might end up with a very confusing business or customer. The key is to stay focused on your audience and branding.
Good luck!