Building an online presence has become an essential factor in every marketing strategy for any drop shipping business looking to turn a profit in this millennium.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons for that.
Many individuals like to shop on the internet to refrain from going out and to get away from traffic and busy crowds. Shopping from the comfort of their homes provides the flexibility most shoppers are looking for.
No matter what the reasons are, it is a fact that shopping online is now widely accepted, more than ever before.
Statista has created a forecast on the number of digital buyers worldwide from 2014-2021 (See the graph below). It’s going from 1.66 billion to 2.14 billion in just 7 years, meaning more and more people are using the internet to purchase goods and services. With this fact, any business would hate to miss on such opportunity, i.e. putting their products in front of a huge audience, regardless of physical location.
Getting your product in front of your market
While placing your products and services on the internet seems easy, it is the “how-to” part that gets many out of the challenge.
So how do you exactly put your products in front of a huge potential market? Aside from creating a store on eBay and Amazon, what else can you do to get your products in front of your target market?
Let’s start with the basics…
Create an ecommerce website
Creating an eCommerce website lets any business showcase its products online. Your website will be your online store. You can share the latest news and products, and even incorporate your blog for more customer engagement.
See also: How to build a successful ecommerce brand
An ecommerce website is essential for your budding business for the following reasons:
- It will give you the ability to collect leads and customer data
- Reach new potential customers
- Increase visibility of your offered coupons, discounts and, promotional items
- Allow customers to shop anytime they want from any location
Tip: For your products to be seen by potential customers, consider creating an effective title for your product. Optimized titles make it easier for your target market to find you. Read more about effective listing titles that work.
Start a blog
WordPress reports that there are about 80% online consumers or 409 million people reading over 23.9 billion blog pages each month. That’s a lot of people and a good reason to start creating a blog to direct traffic towards your website or your retail store.
Blog marketing as a medium to get your products in front of your target market is a really inexpensive strategy.
The main benefit of this tactic is building an audience and bring in more traffic that can convert to sales in your online business. Use your blog content to encourage previous visitors to revisit your site for the latest products you have to offer.
Blog marketing also gives you an opportunity to create organic traffic in Search Engines.
The value of social media
Have you visited Facebook recently? Have you noticed various products and services being posted every minute? These businesses are practically building their presence online.
Statistics show that Facebook alone has 2.2 billion active users as of the last quarter of 2017.
Creating an excellent online presence on social media is not only necessary, it is vital for your business. Social media can boost your brand and bring in loyal fans.
See also: How to create an engaging social media presence
So regardless of whether you are sharing a new product, a story, or just engaging with your network, you are practically putting your business in front of your target market.
Consider setting up your business page in the following social media platforms and start engaging: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The power of social media videos
Do you know that more and more people prefer visuals over text content?
See also: The benefits of using video content on your website
Statistics show that there are over 30 Million active users on YouTube and over 5 Billion videos that are being watched and shared as of January 2018.
Consider creating a social video about your product or service and upload it to video sharing sites such as YouTube and direct it back to your website or your virtual retail store.
Videos will give you a better chance to be remembered.
Search engine optimisation
For all the marketing approaches mentioned above, SEO is an important ingredient to make everything work. SEO means optimizing your website, your blog, your social media post, and even your social videos so that it becomes visible on search engines like Google and Bing.
See also: Why you should outsource your SEO to an agency
No matter how pretty your website is and how helpful your products are, if they are not easily searched by your target audience, then all your effort will go to waste.
Learn the basics of SEO marketing particularly for eCommerce websites. And if you have an eBay store, learn how to optimize your eBay listings.
Bottom line
Building an online presence for your business has been proven to be effective for many retailers and entrepreneurs. And if you are not yet utilizing online marketing, your business is missing out on tons of opportunity.
Take the necessary steps to make success possible. Whether you are just starting a business or whether you have an already established business, incorporating the right marketing strategy is your roadmap to success.
About Author
Michelle Ofiana is a Content Curator. She is producing e commerce-related content for drop shippers around the world via multiple channels including the DSMagazine.
Consider using keywords (what keywords are people using to find your product or service?) strategically placed on your website, your blog, your post, and your videos’ description. This will help search bots to find your content when potential customers are searching for your product.