It seems like you have done all the hard work. You have devised a fantastic idea, sourced or created your product, and developed the logo and branding. You have even mastered the tricky bit of producing a decent website. So now you have to sit back and wait for the sales to come pouring in. Only, of course, you don’t. So the hard work is only really just beginning. What you need to do now is get people coming to your site and then coming back.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a vast topic; it is the art of getting your website to the top of the list when people do an online search. While it can sound overwhelming, one key element is ensuring that your website is regularly refreshed and updated. There are a couple of easy ways to do this. One is to embed your social media feeds on your home or blog pages. So when you update your social media, your website automatically updates too.
Social Media
It is much easier to get attention on social media than anywhere else. This is because people are there all the time. You can direct your online friends to your page if you have a significant personal following. You should probably set up a business account on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (if you are going to be posting the video). You then can create posts that promote your brand and your product story. Essentially what you are doing with social media is creating your promotion platform so that you do not have to use paid media.
Case study – Glossier
A business like the beauty brand Glossier started as a blog and now has 1.5 million followers on Instagram. The blog became an overnight success as the founder, Emily Weiss, for its beauty reviews and behind-the-scenes insights into the closets of famous women. She started the product range with only four items, using the blog and social media following to bring people to her site. Then, the products debuted on the Instagram page.
Promotion
Not all brands can start from a blog and drive sales as Glossier did. The more conventional way might be to create your own promotions and use these to drive traffic to your site. Whatever the offer is, you still need to let people know about it.
Coupons
There are a plethora of promotion mechanics that you can offer. Prevalent are money-off offers that people search for on coupon sites like Coupon Birds or Honey Gold. People visit these sites to see what offers are available and then click through to take up the offer. These coupons can be found for all online purchases. They are often time-limited – a good example is people who signed up for Honey offers could get a 15% discount on a holiday with Booking.com in August.
Bonus offers
The online casino industry has grown rapidly by offering promotions to get people to try their games. For example, there are review sites that let players search for the best no deposit bonus casinos in the US, giving people the chance to try out the games for free with a genuine chance of winning.
Trials
Language learning sites like Duo Lingo or music streaming services like Spotify allow people to use their services for free. People must wait for ads to load between lessons or music tracks. Once they have discovered the convenience of the service, they can pay a monthly subscription.
Keywords
Another is to make sure that your website is constructed with plenty of keywords and synonyms so that when people search, it is your website that comes up.
Links
Also, ensure that your website has links to reputable sites, as this will bring authority to your website. Finally, keep your blogs up to date and relevant, and try to get brands you want to associate with creating links to your site. SEO is an essential part of the marketing plan in the digital age.
