Opening up an e-commerce business is one thing, but marketing it efficiently is a whole other ballgame. Not only do you have to decide what your operating budget will be, but where to spend it, and what your goals will be (leads, traffic, conversions, etc). For that reason, marketing can be a huge obstacle for every new business owner. Here are a few steps to get you started.

1. Have a Social Media Presence

Outside of your website, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc), gives you a home that you can collect your fans and followers around. Not only can you announce new products, but you can also distribute your content to help it go “viral”, interact with your fans via video, and do cross-promotions with other businesses to help drive sales on both sites. An effective social media strategy for your business is different than one you would have for yourself, so make sure your familiarize yourself with the nuances.

2. Create a Blog

Once the haven for would-be writers hoping to break it big into the publishing world, blogs are now a mainstay for every business website, and for good reason: they allow you to create keyword-rich, high-quality content that drives eyeballs to your website and helps create trust between business and reader. If you’re really looking to scale this, you can always outsource the writing part to others, but otherwise, it’s a completely free and reliable source of traffic.

3. Consider Paid Advertisements

In a perfect world, every bit of your traffic would come through passive marketing techniques like SEO and backlinks. Unfortunately for most sites, that can take months or even years to develop a reliable source of that type of traffic, so many people look to speed up that process by using paid advertising. Almost every platform has a version of this in some form, but the two most popular are Facebook and Google Adwords. Both will allow you to choose your objectives, such as lead generations or conversions, and can help tremendously no matter what stage your business is in.

4. Get Involved in Groups

Online forums like Reddit are fantastic avenues that you can engage with others in your industry, as well as learn about the latest news or promotions. While you won’t want to spam your links immediately after joining, it’s perfectly acceptable to send a link from your site on a topic that people are genuinely asking about. Moreover, unless the post is deleted, that link will sit there for the foreseeable future and give a decent-quality backlink from then on.

5. Ask for Influencers

Anyone with an audience is technically called an “influencer,” and a shoutout from them can make the difference in your website. While some of them will require a fee for plugging your business, a few of the lesser-known (but still valuable) influencers may be able to squeeze you in if you return the favor. Still, even if you have to pay, a quote from them can do wonders for your business.

When you’re putting together your business plan for your online business, the first thing you’ll want to do is figure out where you will put your resources. A certain amount of your budget will go to website development and marketing, while your time can be spent on developing products and building your brand.

But what about social media? Once seen as nothing more than a time-wasting hobby, social media has grown to become a valuable asset for businesses looking to expand their reach. If you’re on the fence about spending time developing a Facebook page, here are some things to keep in mind.

1. Facebook Pages Can Dramatically Increase Your Exposure

Social networks are built around communities, so having a page that can infiltrate some of those networks can be the key to expanding your customer base. Not only will people find you through searching for common interests, but they’ll also be connected by their relationships with others; if someone they respect likes something, chances are they’ll investigate as well. You can’t pay for that kind of exposure.

2. Facebook Pages Can Create Leads

Qualified leads are the holy grail for any business. Whenever you need to sell your good or service, simply call on your leads that have already raised their hand and volunteered their interest in your company, and sales should begin flowing. One of the best ways to find these leads are through your Facebook page. Social networks whittle down the mass of humanity until it’s just the people that are most likely to engage with your business. They like your page, maybe opt-in to your email list, and instantly become a qualified lead that you can tap into later.

3. Facebook Pages Can Drive Traffic

Viral posts are some of the most awe-inspiring digital phenomenon on the planet. Where they come from, how fast they can travel, and the effect they can have on a business can be a game-changer. But even if your content on your business page doesn’t have front-page virality, it can still be a consistent source of traffic via shares and comments. The best part? It’s free.

4. Facebook Pages Can Reach a Targeted Audience

Paid advertising is a fantastic way to reach audiences and manufacture results, and with nearly 2 billion users, Facebook’s ad platform is the creme de la creme of the digital marketing world. If you want to have success online, you will most likely at some point have to engage with their ad platform. And unless you have a business page attached to your business, you won’t be able to use Facebook’s tools to reach their user base.

5. Facebook Pages Can Give You Advanced Data

Page insights are a beautiful thing. Not only can you tell exactly how many fans you have, but you can also tell the various performance stats of each one of your posts, including shares, likes, comments, and more that will tell you how popular your posts are. Knowing what is working and what isn’t is invaluable to success in the digital world.

There are more social media sites than ever in 2018…

This does not mean that you should automatically market your business on all of them. On the contrary, if you choose the platforms that you market to wisely, you can get more traction than you would if you spread yourself too thin trying to market to everyone on every platform.

The secret to social media marketing is precision. Different platforms naturally attract different demographics.

Different platforms also attract the same demographics for different reasons. For instance, people who like pictures go to Instagram and Pinterest.
However, Instagram is more of a casual site while Pinterest is for people who are looking for professional artist types.

You need to know what kind of people you want to attract to your business, and then you need to match that audience to the audience that social media sites attract.

So How Do You Find The Right People For Your Online Business?

You can start by looking at the statistics that showcase the demographics for each social media platform. Match your demographic to the ones that the platform naturally attracts. This will become your shortlist. From this shortlist, you will narrow down your preferred platforms to the ones that will really bring you profitable marketing exposure.

Although you should do your own research into each platform, let’s take a look at the general feel of the majors.

Facebook

Facebook has 1.5 billion people, and it is the best site to market on if you are looking for a wide net audience. Facebook has one of the best search algorithms of any social media platform on the Web, so you can target your audience fairly precisely. Keep in mind that certain industries do better on Facebook than others – consumer products tend to outperform real estate, for example.

Twitter

Twitter attracts a younger audience, but there is still a contingent of people who are aged up to their mid 30s who are still active on the platform. Twitter is a great platform for getting together quick fix marketing programs that you can branch out to other platforms. You will see what works quickly so that you do not have to spend time hitting your head against the wall over and over again.

Instagram

This is perhaps the largest growing segment of any social media platform. If you are looking to sell to a Millennial crowd or to Generation Z, this is the platform to be on. They were bought by Facebook, so you gain the advantage of a great internal search engine. Learn how to use hashtags, and you will do well if your industry is one that works on the platform. Again, consumer products work more than big ticket items.

YouTube

YouTube is fast gaining an audience of older people. This is where your big ticket items will work, because you can market with longer videos. People here are more patient, much older and usually have more money than the average person who is on the Internet in general. Use this to your advantage.

For internet marketers, traffic is the engine that makes your business grow. Without it, you won’t be able to attract an audience and sell your goods or service, making for a very quiet website.

But how are you supposed to find traffic that is reliable without breaking the bank? Fortunately, there are a lot of free options that you can tap into to drive those eyeballs to your business.

10. Blogging

If your business doesn’t have a blog, you are missing out on the number one way to drive free traffic to your site via keyword searches, viral resources, and content that solves your reader’s problems. Unless you’re planning to outsource your writing, writing a blog is free to do and can reap traffic for years.

9. Youtube

Though blogging is king, there are many people who would prefer to listen or watch content instead of reading words on a page. For that reason, every post or piece of content on your website could be enhanced by attaching a short video to it and posting it on Youtube. Not only will you attract the viral content to your page, but you’ll also draw in some of the millions of visitors that visit Youtube as well.

8. Facebook

The resident champ of social media, Facebook, is a treasure trove of viral traffic that can supercharge your website overnight. With a click of the mouse, people can share or comment on your content and help you reach an audience you never would have otherwise. Creating a brand page also allows you to form a central hub for your fans, making Facebook a perfect place to organize your followers.

7. Pinterest

Though largely seen as a page for crafters and DIYers, Pinterest is a great place to find groups that have common interests. If your website is particularly visual, you can create a link to your content and share it on boards that will reach fans and followers of those boards too.

6. Reddit

Reddit prides itself on being the “watercooler” of the internet. People gather all over the world on various “subreddits” to converse about the topics of the day, which can include your site. Create a profile and become active in a community, then, when you’ve built up some credibility, share some of your own content when you believe others will find it useful. Whatever you do though, don’t spam; nothing will make the Reddit community turn on you faster than if you come across as a salesman.

5. Snapchat

Snapchat is a great way to interact with your customers through a fun and unique medium, which can help create more followers that will then engage with your site. Snapchat is perfect for brand-building and doing behind-the-scenes stories that show your true personality, so feel free to get creative!

4. Tumblr

One of the more deceptive sites on this list, Tumblr ranks very well with “secondary” websites like Yahoo and can create a host of internal links as well. Posting within a community and creating threads is a great way to get the traffic flowing.

3. Twitter

Second only to Facebook on the social media food chain, Twitter provides their followers with up-to-date info on various topics. The higher your followers, the more instant access they will have to your news and promotions. To grow your traffic even more, create trending hashtags as well.

2. Forums

Similar to Reddit, find various forums that you can become an active member in and contribute to. Not only will you find great ideas for blog posts and topics, but you’ll also have a steady stream of visitors every time you drop a link on a post. Even better, some forums allow you to put a link in your bio that people can click on every time they see you.

1. Instagram

If you’re an artist or graphic designer, Instagram can be your best friend. Notoriously wary of third-party applications, Instagram has conditioned itself to cater to users first, which makes using paid promotions and automated software tricky. Stick a link in your profile or on your picture captions, let it trend using a hashtag, and watch the traffic pour in.