6 Unconventional Ways To Kickstart Your eCommerce Sales
You’ve designed your store, you have your product inventory ready, your product descriptions and product photography uploaded. You push the launch button.
And nothing happens.
Making your first few sales is probably one of the hardest things in the life of your online store. And you’re not alone.
We ask all our newsletter subscribers what’s the number one problem they face on a daily basis. “Making the first sales” or “getting our first customers” are two problems that occur time and time again.
Today we have 6 actionable techniques you can try to do straight away to make your first sale. The best thing is they leverage the audiences of other channels like social media or communities. By capitalizing on other channels with an already established user base, you beat a shorter path to your target audience. That way you can get some early traction and have some peace of mind while working on long-term strategies that yield results slower.
Sell To Friends And Family
The easiest opportunity to make your first sale is by introducing your products to friends or family.
When you talk to these people, don’t center your pitch around the features of your product. Instead, you should communicate your personal aspirations about the eCommerce business you create.
For example: Let’s say you sell dog food, and you try to fill out a gap in the market by creating healthier products for canines. Instead of pointing out how nutritious the food is, tell your friends what motived you to create this brand.
Sharing your story on an intimate level, and communicating your long-term aspirations will get your friends hooked up.
Use A Facebook Status
How many friends do you have on Facebook? 300, 500… 5000? Many online marketers get obsessed with expensive CPC ad campaigns or fancy growth hacks while missing the simple notion of making sales through a basic Facebook post.
The average number of Facebook friends for the US is 250. So I’d assume you have the free opportunity to sell your products to at least a couple hundred of friends.
Post a nice photo of your product and offer a special discount for your Facebook friends. See who’s interested.
Promote In Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are great targeted communities that you can reach out to for your first sales. Once you join a few related groups and get accepted, don’t blatantly promote your products. Instead participate in the group discussions and create some rapport.
Then understand who the decision makers in the group are (usually the group admins) and ask them if it’s OK to share your product with the group.
Make sure to offer some incentives that are exclusive for the group.
Prospect Pinterest Audiences
93% of Pinterest users use Pinterest to plan purchases. The visual social network is saturated with people who share product images.
Use Pinterest boards to allocate target audiences and connect with them. You can even message potential leads with a soft sale.
Use Personalized Call to Actions
You’re missing a big opportunity if you don’t integrate personalization marketing in your eCommerce growth strategies.
Use personalized call to actions in popup, banners and links to offer a product discount or other promotion. Target the right people with the right message. And don’t forget to include a deadline for your promotion to increase conversion rates.
Search Twitter Influencers and Relative Topics
By using a tool like BuzzSumo or Topsy, you can identify influencers in your field to promote your product to. You can also participate in discussions related to your product niche on the social network.
Use the infographic as a cheat sheet for these sales tactics and don’t forget to implement them.
