Developing your marketing strategy can be challenging, and most of the time, you might feel lost. A decent marketing strategy is crucial for any business’s optimal success, whether starting from scratch or an established venture.
According to research, organized marketers were 674 percent more likely to report success when documenting their strategy.
It doesn’t matter if your run an excellent online store. If you don’t do enough marketing, you will have no customers in the first place.
Luckily, there are ways to address this. You can use strategies to attract customers and many apps to help with your marketing plan. Shopify is one of them.
Here is a list of the best Shopify marketing strategies that work wonders for entrepreneurs. Whether you’re a first-time Shopify store owner or have been running your Shopify store for a long time, we promise this article will benefit you.
What Is Shopify Marketing?
Shopify marketing is a strategy for promoting your Shopify store through digital marketing channels, including social media advertising and email campaigns.
A successful Shopify marketing strategy creates better brand awareness, improves client retention, increases sales, and boosts customer loyalty and retention.
However, marketing tactics can sometimes be underrated. Some business owners create an online business and think they could stop there, and people will immediately start visiting. That’s not quite the case. Just because people see an online store doesn’t mean they will automatically care. You should know how to do a few things, such as pushing traffic to your website.
Shopify marketing aims to find potential customers online, push that traffic to your site, and convince them to buy something.
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The Importance of a Shopify Marketing Strategy for Your Business
A Shopify marketing strategy is a business’s direct approach to attracting customers. As a business owner, you must know your brand’s success and whether you’ve accomplished your sales goals.
An excellent marketing strategy is vital for this purpose. It estimates the reach of your business and whether or not your sales technique is effective.
However, even with a Shopify marketing strategy, you should expect tough competition since Shopify already powers over 800,000. Don’t let this discourage you, though, because if you have an effective marketing plan for your e-commerce business, you’re already one step ahead of the competition.
If you’re still having doubts about it, here are some more reasons a Shopify marketing strategy is crucial for your online store:
- Allows you to create an organized plan suitable to your target audience’s needs
- Helps you promote your services and products to attract new customers while maintaining the loyalty of existing customers
- Builds brand awareness and increases your sales
- Attracts and retains customers, encouraging them to click on your website and make a purchase
- Provides access to more data, such as the needs and interests of particular groups of people
- Makes tracking your results, conversion rates, payback periods, user behavior, etc., easier
Another strategy is community marketing. This strategy aims to satisfy existing customers’ needs and act as a glue for maintaining a relationship between your brand and your audience.
Community marketing can help you access essential data about your customer’s preferences. Most importantly, it lets you retain your supporters’ loyalty. Since this is a broader topic, you can click here to learn more about community marketing and its benefits in building a successful brand.
Best Shopify Marketing Strategies To Increase Your Sales
There are plenty of Shopify marketing strategies to boost your sales. The ones below can catapult your online store to success, just as they must have done for other businesses.
Reach Customers Through Email Marketing
Email marketing can be profitable, just like sending SMS, if done correctly. There are many advantages to this approach. These include attracting new customers, retaining the current ones, and increasing online sales.
Email also helps reverse cart abandonment, making visitors return to your store for the best offers. Customers are encouraged to make a purchase, which is one way to boost sales.
You can also try upselling and cross-selling through your emails, prompting customers to buy things related to what they purchased. This practice leads to better customer experience and reviews, which are social proof of excellent user experience.
Email marketing is easy, even for startups, because you can use many email templates at a minimal cost. Remember that retaining your existing customers and encouraging them to return for another purchase will cost you less than getting new customers. Still, email marketing campaigns will help you along the way. For every dollar spent, you get an average return of $42, so it's well worth it.
As an e-commerce brand, you should also have a regular email newsletter with special offers. You can send this with promotional emails offering discounts and other marketing messages.
Here are other helpful email strategies for Shopify:
- Greet new customers with welcome emails, which are more clickable than promo emails.
- Use promotional emails to increase sales, promote special offers, and encourage users to join your customer loyalty programs.
- Use abandoned cart emails to recover sales by reminding customers about the products they left before they could proceed to the checkout page.
- Inform existing customers about their orders, such as shipping and confirmation details.
Another advantage of using emails is that you can set it up with automated campaigns to connect with customers, ensuring they’ll return.
You can send personalized messages based on their actions. These messages will help you gain better engagement as customers feel a better connection with your brand. You can also divide the targeted customer email list based on their purchases, geographic location, demographic, etc.
Pro Tip: Sign up to be part of your competitors' mailing lists to see what emails they're sending and how you can use that to attract new customers to your brand.
Automate Your Shopify Marketing Strategies
Shopify allows you to automate your tasks. Automation saves time and will enable you to grow your store with minimal effort. You can also use it for your marketing strategies.
Here's how you can use the automation feature in marketing your online store:
- Create cart recovery campaigns for cases when customers abandon their carts. Automated messages will likely trigger customers to make more purchases.
- Integrate social media channels into your Shopify store and share your products on these platforms. You can use an app to automatically set up Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok shops.
- Get regular automated updates, ensuring you can keep up with your customers through emails, web pushes, automation remarketing, and retargeting campaigns. You can send anything from product updates to greeting emails with the right Shopify app.
Start a Customer Loyalty Program
One way to ensure consistent traffic to your store is to launch a customer loyalty program. After all, over 60 percent of customers say that the existence of a loyalty program makes them more loyal to a brand.
This excellent marketing strategy creates a base of satisfied customers who want to return and make another purchase. As this is both affordable and effective, you need to know what your customers value the most, whether these are discounts or limited edition products.
In this case, you have to build loyalty with loyalty. The following are some tips to make this happen:
- Make the program available to every customer, even if they don't buy anything from the store. Lure them into the loyalty program with an email or subscription notification.
- Ensure to include plenty of rewards in your loyalty program, not just discounts or points. Offer prizes such as free products, free shipping, or other flexible options. This way, they can try the products they want, which they may continue to buy.
- Conduct a survey where you ask customers the rewards they're most interested in getting. This practice allows you to develop a loyalty program that suits your target market best.
The most significant benefit of loyalty programs is that they provide crucial insights into audience data. You can use this to your advantage by creating hyper-personalized marketing campaigns.
Add your Instagram feed to your Shopify store
The idea of adding an Instagram feed to your Shopify store is more or less the same as reviews. How amazing would it be to shop from an online catalog on your phone? Think about it — you can include products from your catalog to offer your customers visual inspiration.
You can feature your products in your Instagram stories and select relevant stickers your customers can click on and instantly shop for their favorite products. You can also integrate your Instagram with a Shopify marketing app like Instafeed to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Another way to showcase your brand is to share positive user-generated content (UGC) on your Instagram since these resemble 5-star reviews. This type of marketing also lets your customers get a broader view of your products and brand.
Run Ads on Google and Social Media
Another way to promote your Shopify store and generate quick traffic is to run advertising campaigns on Google and social media platforms. Usually, advertising is the first Shopify marketing strategy owners use because it promotes products quickly and effectively.
For starters, Google and Facebook are the best advertising platforms, generating quick traffic for around $5 per day with minimal marketing efforts. These advertising campaigns display pop-up ads to your target customers based on their preferences, which could also push them to make impulse buys.
Here are some of the best advertising strategies for Shopify stores:
- Google retargeting ads - shown to people who have already visited your store and have looked through your products
- Google shopping ads - for customers who prefer to do online product research
- Facebook ads - great if your customers often make impulse buys
Although advertisements are a quicker way of generating traffic, they may also cost a lot, especially if you're unfamiliar with managing your ads correctly.
Focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
To help your business thrive, you must implement search engine optimization (SEO) to always be on top of search engine results. With Google getting 4.3 billion search queries daily, it makes sense that most people use the search engine as a source of information.
SEO is beneficial if you don’t want to spend much money on paid advertising. While it’s true that optimization takes a lot of time and effort, the results are worth it. The good thing about SEO is that it produces long-term effects, and you don’t have to pay for traffic.
If your content is already high-quality, then the chances of improving your online store's SEO and increasing your ranking on search results are high. Being at the top of Google rankings means you're one step closer to acquiring potential customers.
Your e-commerce store should include the right keywords on every product page. Not only that, but these keywords should also be relevant to what your page presents.
If you're still having struggles practicing SEO, here are a few tips you can use for your Shopify store:
- Focus on funnel keywords because they have higher search volumes
- Target long-tail keywords as they are more specific, so your customers can use them to quickly find products that wouldn’t usually be easy to search for
- Be as detailed as possible when writing product descriptions because this allows you to insert many relevant keywords
- Optimize the images on your store for search
- Use backlinks by interlinking your products and categories with other relevant sites
- Work on your website’s functionality and loading speeds to improve customer engagement and user experience
You can hire a professional to help with your SEO marketing if you still haven't gotten the hang of doing it on your own. They can add relevant keywords and optimize your website so search engines can find it better, generating more traffic.
A vital SEO tool you can try is Character Counter. It helps in the automatic monitoring of your website’s on-page optimization, such as keyword density, meta description characters, meta titles, etc.
Set Up an Affiliate Marketing Campaign
If you're looking for another way to promote your products, affiliate marketing is another Shopify marketing strategy you could try. Affiliate marketing involves third parties (affiliates) who promote your store and products, earning them a commission. The best part about this is anyone can be an affiliate — from bloggers to influencers to celebrities, as they all have a vast audience.
Setting up an affiliate marketing promotion is easy. You only need to pay a portion or flat fee for every sale your affiliate brings. After selecting your affiliates, you can also open up an affiliate program to help with promoting your store. This strategy has many advantages, but the best thing is that you don't spend much of your marketing budget as you only pay for success rates.
You can create affiliate programs, track sales, and hire partners with the right app. The best example of this is Amazon. They have millions of affiliates worldwide who promote their store and products.
Get Involved in Community Marketing
Community marketing differs slightly from social media marketing because you become part of an existing community rather than create a new one. Examples of this include Reddit, Quora, and Facebook groups. These online communities focus mainly on specific interests.
You can join relevant communities that match your store’s products and target customers to join conversations, share knowledge, and give advice. Another strategy is to use these spaces to post regularly, making potential customers trust your brand.
Still, you need to know how to take advantage of the opportunities these communities provide and not just promote your brand inappropriately. The key to gaining and developing meaningful relationships is being persuasive without overbearing.
Create Engaging Social Media Posts
Nobody can refute that social media is a powerful tool to reach a target audience and increase your customer base. Part of your social media marketing is that you shouldn't focus solely on your products. Instead, you should create engaging content relevant to your audience's preferences.
Social media marketing comes with plentiful and diverse strategies. You could use influencer marketing, make promotional posts, create helpful content for your niche, use hashtags, share product discounts, etc.
Social media is a diverse space for your Shopify marketing strategies because you can always add a bit of spice to get some UGC.
According to research, 62.3 percent of online customers use social media sites like Instagram to follow brands and learn more about their products. So if you get social media marketing right, you should expect plenty of new customers to your store.
Consider Influencer Marketing
Another effective marketing strategy is influencer marketing. This strategy is similar to affiliate marketing in that you must collaborate with an online content creator to promote your products and store. This strategy aims to improve your brand's recognition.
Nowadays, anyone can be an influencer, but what sets one apart is the number of followers on their social media accounts. Depending on your niche, you’ll have to find an influencer with a following similar to your target audience.
The good thing about influencers is that they are more accessible than celebrities. So even if you have a small business, you can still create a successful partnership with them.
Did you know? "Developing a social media strategy lets you have a sneak peek into your brand's potential success before you go all in. A good strategy will save you time, money, and other resources that might be handy for other aspects of your business."
Additional Tips To Make Shopify Marketing Work for You
Before you decide on a specific marketing strategy, get your priorities in order. Don't try to use several methods at once to generate an audience immediately. Instead, you should know your brand's objectives, target audience, and budget.
To ensure you find the right Shopify marketing strategy, here's a list of marketing tips you can use for your store.
Know Your Target Market
The first and most crucial step to a successful marketing strategy is to know your target audience because you want to create relevant content for their needs. To do this, ask yourself questions like:
- Who exactly needs your products? With this, you need to get insights into your target demographic (age, gender, income, social status, employment, etc.)
- Why does this target audience need your product? Use online research, surveys, or conduct interviews to find this out
- How can they know that your product is effective for them? One thing to keep in mind is to be specific about your target market. Have a clear idea of the people you want to interact with, and be as detailed as possible.
Create Blog Posts That Engage
Lucky for you, Shopify has a built-in blog you can use to engage with your customers. However, when writing a blog post, you must choose a relevant topic that will attract the audience you want to attract.
You first need to identify the right keywords. One way of doing this is by looking at your competitors’ keywords. Keyword research will show you which keywords generate high traffic, which you can use to optimize your Shopify content marketing strategy.
Create Tutorials for Your Products
One way to stand out from your peers is to create tutorials. If done correctly, this can attract customers since they’ll have a clearer idea of using your product.
Leverage your Community Marketing with Archive App Today
Observing Shopify marketing strategies is excellent for promoting your store through advertising campaigns, social media platforms, emails, and other channels. You can get inspired by successful e-commerce brands and their tactics, but you should always strive to make your campaigns unique to your brand.
Spending a fortune on advertising isn't necessary because some of them are free. But you can always mix and match to get the most out of your strategies.
If you want your brand to grow exponentially, download Archive App and learn how to use UGC to get into your target audience’s radar quickly.
You can also find valuable insights in our blog about e-commerce marketing, which can help you learn the right strategies to stand out amid all the competition.
It’s imperative to start marketing your Shopify store to boost your sales. Discover how Archive App can help you leverage your marketing strategies today!
FAQs on Shopify Marketing Strategies
How can you market your Shopify store?
Promoting your Shopify store begins with optimizing it for search engines. SEO will elevate the chances of your online store appearing in relevant searches and drive more traffic. You can also use paid ads to reach more qualified leads and earn more profit.
Social media advertising is also an excellent way to find your target customers and reach people interested in your Shopify store. Meanwhile, email marketing is an effective solution to engage people and promote your products.
Why is my Shopify store not selling?
You've tried every marketing strategy, but your products still aren’t selling. The cause for your lack of sales can be challenging to determine, but there are some aspects you need to look into:
Unclear call to action – calls to action (CTAs) can direct your customers in the right direction by suggesting what to do next. If CTAs get lost in your page's content or sound too commanding, you may fail to convert your visitors.
Lack of leverage in email marketing – email marketing is one of the most convenient and established forms of marketing, but if you don't know how to maximize its strengths, you won’t be able to attract potential customers.
Not enough content – the more content you give, the better. If you don’t provide helpful content that addresses each customer's needs, you aren’t drawing them into your store, and they might never want to return.
How do I promote my Shopify on social media?
Social media platforms are the fastest way to promote your Shopify store. You can use different strategies, including using influencers, creating engaging content, running hashtag challenges, sharing business news, offering discounts, etc.
You could also use product giveaways to generate traffic and increase brand awareness. The best platforms for giveaways are Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. You can also collaborate with other brands and partner up for giveaways. The possibilities are endless.
How can I monitor my Shopify marketing strategy's progress?
To monitor the progress of your Shopify-specific campaigns, you can check the Marketing section of your Shopify admin panel. This section can show you your marketing summary, traffic insights, and sales from particular marketing activities.
For more general monitoring, you must set key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics before implementing your strategy. After a set period, you can check the metrics and assess them according to the initial KPIs you select.
What types of content can I use in e-commerce marketing?
You can explore various types of content for your e-commerce marketing strategy. The types of content you need to use will depend on the marketing platform you choose.
Blog posts and infographics are excellent for your website. Social media content can be more varied depending on your chosen platform. You can post videos and podcasts on YouTube, short videos on TikTok, and multimedia posts on Facebook.
How can I personalize my Shopify marketing strategies to reach my target audience?
You will first need to know your audience to personalize your marketing strategy. Visit your site analytics and segment audiences according to their demographics.
From there, you can create customized marketing and advertising campaigns according to your chosen platform. Email and various social media sites are excellent platforms for personalized marketing and advertising campaigns.