When looking to gain traction and increase sales on your Shopify store, it can be difficult to know where to start. With such an overwhelming number of options available for buyers, how can you make your store stand out without having to use costly (and often very hit-and-miss) paid ads? Here are four great strategies to help you reach your target audience and generate those all-important new sales and, hopefully, returning customers!
Invest in your Instagram presence.
When you’re selling physical products using Shopify, Instagram is an absolute must, whatever your niche. Instagram is a visual social networking site and offers the perfect platform for you to showcase your products to their true potential. Whether you’re investing time or money into Instagram, the most important point is to make sure you’re sharing excellent quality and on-brand content.
Make sure each of your posts follows a visual theme and is directly related to your products or niche. Instagram now has an abundance of users, which can be both good and bad news for your Shopify store. Obviously, this means there are more people within your target audience who will potentially see your content, but it also means you have to do that little bit extra to ensure you rise above the sea of competition.
Make sure to do some research and use relevant hashtags to reach your niche audience, post regularly, keep your captions creative and interact with your followers (and non-followers!) Oh, and make sure to link your Shopify store in your bio!
Work with up-and-coming popular influencers.
Influencer marketing is huge and can be even more effective than regular ads when done correctly. A great technique here is to offer relevant influencers free samples of your products to try, in exchange for sharing the experience with their followers.
If you’re going to be giving away free products, it’s important you look into your options well and pick out only influencers with whom you share a similar target audience. These are ultimately the most likely to help you gain new followers and generate sales for your Shopify store.
You can find influencers organically – by looking through Instagram or Twitter, for example – or there are even a range of free and paid tools you can utilize to discover the best influencers for your brand.
Focus on Pinterest growth.
Pinterest is a truly powerful and often overlooked tool for online businesses, so investing in your account is a really smart move. As Pinterest is a visual search engine, many of the practices used to drive engagement are the same as what you would use for any other search engine. The top rules include:
- Make sure you create regular, fresh content.
- Use smart SEO and the right keywords in your pin descriptions, board descriptions and titles.
- Ensure your pins and repins do not include any broken links.
- Make sure your niche is clear to visitors and stay on-brand!
- Schedule pins with a tool like Tailwind.
Pinterest is great for Shopify store owners, as most users head to the site looking for solutions – solutions that you are selling!
If you would like a deep dive into all things Pinterest, I highly recommend reading these blog posts below that goes more in depth on growing your traffic with this amazing platform:
Collaborate with brands in a similar niche.
Collaborating with similar brands is a powerful way to reach new customers within your target audience. Perhaps you could partner up with another brand for an Instagram giveaway containing a bundle of both your products? Collaborating with similar brands allows your followers to cross-pollinate and is beneficial for both parties. This is a great way to find those fresh faces and lead them to your Shopify store through social media.
Even if you don’t want to do a giveaway or product collaboration, connecting with other brands socially is a great idea. Why not start a group chat to share ideas and support? Connecting with like-minded individuals is always a great idea, whether in your personal or business life!
What methods do you find are most effective for driving new customers to your Shopify store, and what is your favorite platform for marketing? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
