Selling online: how do you build an audience?

In my previous blog you read how to build a webshop yourself, but building an audience is even more important if possible. Besides selling a good product, marketing is everything!

As an introvert, I found and find it very difficult to tap people on the shoulder and promote my products. Yes, even online. Still, you won't gain name recognition by standing on the sidelines. You will have to step out of your comfort zone. Entrepreneurship is daring.

Do you have a good product, but are you not exactly a commercial talent? Don't have the budget yet to launch a real marketing campaign? Then read on, because with a number of free interventions you can get the ball rolling.

First of all: Rome wasn't built in a day. You have to build brand awareness and trust - yes - especially when you start from scratch and do not yet have a large following.

An opening promotion is certainly a good idea, but what you should not do is lower your prices after a week or bomb your potential customers with discounts so that you have nothing left.

Be patient, make a plan of action and pay attention to the following points:

1. Radiate confidence

You do this in the first place by ensuring that your webshop exudes professionalism and is user-friendly. Read here how to do that.

2. SEO

In other words, search engine optimization. To climb up in the search results of search engines, you need to provide all your website pages and products with a smart description and title. Use words that you think people will enter into a search engine. Also give your images an appropriate al text. 

Give your webshop a Favicon (your logo) so that it stands out faster in the Google results list.

If you have a budget to spare, investing in Google Ads might be a good idea. Although this works better for some industries than others. Please read carefully about this first.

3. Social media

The medium to attract potential customers, but it is not enough to post a product photo every day and then expect people to queue up for you. 

The picture has to be right here too. Avoid a messy feed. Preferably use a fixed color palette, adapted to your logo, clear photos and think about your spelling. 

While Instagram and Pinterest mainly focus on the visual, Facebook is more about the content. Make sure they are all on point.

Don't limit yourself to posting product photos. If you post a photo of a product with a description of the supplier every day, you do not create trust. There is hardly any personality in your feed. Many followers like to know who they are dealing with before making a purchase. Storytelling is very important here. Try to connect with your customers. 

Instagram & Facebook stories are ideal to give your followers a look behind the scenes. You do not therefore have to exhibit your entire private life, but every now and then a detail photo with a nice text from your daily life or a photo of your work gives your customers the idea that you are real.

Try to reach and expand your target group through blogs, inspiring quotes and/or free printables. Naturally adapted to your industry and target group. These are all subtle leads to your webshop/website. Perhaps people will initially follow you because of your quotes or blogs, but there is a good chance that one day they will be triggered by one of your products that they see.

Instagram and Facebook algorithms are not a gift for a starter because the more comments and likes your post collects, the faster your posts will appear in the news feed of your followers. If you don't have many followers yet, then you have a problem. So encourage your existing followers to share your posts in their feed/story or ask questions in your posts to get more interaction.

Organize giveaways - possibly in collaboration with other entrepreneurs - where the participants have to follow you and tag others = more traffic to your profile.

Use popular hashtags in your posts.

Networking! Connect with profiles that belong to your target group.

Have your products reviewed by vloggers and bloggers with a wide reach.

We rise by lifting others! Don't be too focused on yourself. Support other entrepreneurs in your stories and you will see that they do the same with you.

Highlight positive reviews.

Nowadays you can join Facebook groups with a page. Respond to all kinds of topics from your target group. Don't limit yourself to threads in which people are looking for products or services. Help people with your expertise. You don't always advertise directly, but group members will click on your profile out of curiosity to find out who you are and what you do.

Instagram and Facebook Business accounts make it possible to keep track of statistics, create shops and promote messages. Keep in mind that you have less reach with an Instagram business account. This is a conscious move by Zuckerberg and co to generate paid advertisements.

Statistics provide a good insight into the reach of messages. How often are they viewed? Which generate more clicks to your profile/website. How many people are reached via hashtags?

The biggest advantage - in my opinion -: when you start a Facebook/Instagram shop and connect to your website, your products are automatically added. It is then possible to tag products in your Instagram posts so that your followers can click through to the product page on your website. Very handy because until now you still can't add clickable links to Instagram posts. We are all familiar with the hashtag #linkinbio.

Advertise occasionally on Facebook and/or Instagram and choose the right target group. Facebook regularly gives away credit. Ideal to try it out.

You can also choose to advertise within Facebook groups. Please address this to the administrators because advertising in large groups is usually not free. However, this is no guarantee of success, as you remain dependent on Facebook's annoying algorithm. You can compare it to a lotto draw. Hundreds of messages are posted in groups every day. You have a slim chance of yours showing up in group members' news feeds. The administrators have no influence on that either. Sometimes it is even more rewarding to post in smaller groups. Just make sure you don't spam. This is rarely appreciated.

If you do not want to link a shop to those channels or are not so interested in your social media statistics, then I absolutely advise against creating a business account. Especially on Instagram, because on Facebook you have no other choice when you create a page.

4. Newsletters

Newsletters are very often underestimated. However, they are an important marketing tool because they mainly write to existing customers who - hopefully - already have a good experience with your shop and are therefore more likely to return. Especially when they see a nice promotion or new product.

In addition, newsletters are not subject to annoying algorithms. You can also keep track of how often they are opened and which links are clicked.

Encourage website visitors to sign up for the newsletter by giving them a discount on their first order.

5. Generate reviews

Create an account with Trustpilot, link it to your webshop and automatically send emails to your customers asking for a review. You can then highlight these reviews on your website and social media channels. When you buy something at Bol.com, you first check the reviews, right?

6. Communication

Watch your communication. You don't always have to address your customers with "Dear Madam", but "haaaai dear" is really not done.

Be reachable. Answer the questions of your (potential) customers quickly and accurately, even when you have the feeling that they are window shopping.

Take care of your products, but also the packaging. Have “Thank you for your order” flyers and business cards printed.

Give a gift with the order.

In case of complaints, stay professional and keep in mind that customer is king. Offer compensation if necessary. Putting your customers on the block because they have posted a negative review is a no go. Use less pleasant feedback to improve your products or services.

The best advertising is still word of mouth so it is so incredibly important to pamper your existing customers.

7. Flyer

Place business cards or flyers in places where your target audience often stays. In exchange, you can highlight these things on social media or even add their business cards to your orders.

9. Promotions and promotions

Perhaps the most effective means of boosting your sales. Free shipping, 1+1 or 20% on everything? People love it! But don't push it. After all, you are not allowed to lose yourself and it seems quite desperate when you launch a new promotion every week.

10. Think outside your shop

If you develop products yourself, it can be interesting to also offer them at larger webshops (yes, even Bol.com!) or physical stores.

Not applicable in corona times, but fairs and markets can be interesting to sell your products.

11. Analyze, analyze and analyze again

How many visits do you get daily/weekly/monthly? Which social media channel generates the most referrals? How many visitors are generated by search engines? How long do people stay on your website? Which pages and products are most clicked on or added to the shopping cart? Do you have many returning visitors?

It is important that you continuously analyze your audience and their preferences. You can then respond to this. When you notice that a product is doing well, you can offer more variants. If your traffic mainly comes from Facebook, then you need to step up on Instagram. If you get few visitors through search robots, you may need to take a closer look at your SEO.

Most webshop builders display statistics. However, these are quite limited. If you really want to get a good insight into your website traffic, implementing Google Analytics is a must. Don't worry, this is free!

Not fond of graphic design & content creation?

Do you find it difficult to design your social media channels? You can contact me for the development and design of logos, corporate identity and social media content. If desired, I can also screen your website and provide targeted feedback. Click here for more information.

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