You have this great online store idea, and you’re excited about getting customers to come to visit. However, you don’t know how to get them there and how to keep them coming back. The following are seven ways to get and keep customers.
- Social Media
Ads on all social media sites cost money, but you don’t always have to buy their ads. You can make some of your own and run them on your page. You can join groups that share store links and ads. Always make sure your ads lead back to your site. Nobody wants to see something they really want to check out and find they can’t because there’s no link back. Twitter and Instagram are growing platforms that are marketer-friendly, and more people are using them to grab customers.
- Blogging
Blogging is another great way to grab customers, but this route only really works if you have an audience. This is not to say you shouldn’t start a blog and use it to build a clientele, but don’t expect quick results.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization
There are plenty of articles and websites devoted to this very subject. There are also two camps on this subject as well. One camp claims it’s vital to your success to chase after getting the highest spot in the search engines, especially Google. The other camp says “meh, not so much.” They believe search engine listings are good, but they shouldn’t be chased after. Time and money can better be spent building up your site and image.
- Branding
Your brand, the name and image of your company, is something people need to learn and remember. This takes time and effort. Nike and L’Oreal didn’t happen overnight. You can’t change up your brand constantly either. Updating it once a year or every couple of years without going too far away from the original design will keep you looking up to date and relevant.
- Homepage Design
Your homepage is the first thing your customer will see. It has got to not only grab their attention, it has to urge them to move further into your site. There is a great article on DoSplash that has wonderful advice on how to do this. The article itself is about landing pages for sale ads, but the idea for both is the same. Check out the other articles while you are there too.
- Go Offline
Not all of your marketing needs to be done online. Offline marketing through charity events and networking events puts a face on your brand. When you sell yourself, you sell your site and your product. Go to public events, such as trade shows, craft fairs, and the like, where you can hand out brochures with your business card inside. I went to one where a pair of gents were giving out samples of their beard oil along with their business cards. The men both sported beards as well, which helped to build their brand by selling themselves.
- Listen to the Experts But Make Your Own Decisions
Read anything and everything you can from experts like Entrepreneur.com. They have been around for decades. They have great resources and advice for people such as yourself. Learn what they have to teach. Then, in the end, tweak it to fit your vision and your plans for your business.
Marketing is the same whether you have your own store or you’re an Amazon marketplace seller. It’s not an easy task, but it can be very rewarding if you apply yourself. There are plenty of people who offer marketing services, but you have to know what you want first. Whether you do the marketing yourself or get someone to do it for you, the above steps are still very important to your getting customers and keep them coming back for more. More information and resources are available online from the sources linked to in the article as well as in other places on and offline. Whatever you do, remember this: you get out of it what you put into it.
