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If you're an entrepreneur looking for low-cost ways to promote your business, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will explain why organic traffic is the best long-term strategy for your business and share some free or low-cost ways to increase visitors to your online store. You don't need tons of cash to increase brand awareness; all you need are some good ideas and a little elbow grease.
Guest posting, whether on a blog, in a newsletter, or even on social media, can be a great way to reach out to new people if done strategically. When you're just starting out, one thing you don't have much of is an audience. That is why borrowing someone else's audience to help you find your own can be a good idea.
You should collaborate with influencers whose followers are a good fit for your products or services. And, if you are clear with your customers, it should be fairly easy to think of other brands they already love or follow. Then you could simply pitch yourself to those same companies to see if they'd be interested in content contribution. We suggest that you look at the type of content those brands already create and propose a collaboration that will be a good fit, such as a useful article for their blog or an Instagram takeover. And, if you're nervous about reaching out, remember that guest posting can be a win-win situation because you're sharing useful information with their customers while also driving traffic to your business.
Customers want to know what they are getting before they buy, that is why product reviews are such an important part of running a successful online store.
However, if you're struggling to generate your first few sales, you probably don't have any reviews yet, and if you don't want to wait for customers to leave reviews, you can be proactive by reaching out. So do your research and identify some of the writers, influencers, or websites that already provide reviews on products in your niche, and then offer to send them free products in exchange for an honest review.
If you have a great product, you will receive positive reviews that you can use on your website or social media channels, and you will also be able to grow your reach by getting in front of your audience at the same time. Plus, remember that if people like a business, they usually talk about it, so for the cost of a few of your products or a few hours of your time, you could potentially end up with a lot of people who are essentially doing marketing for you by sharing about your amazing business.
If you are just starting out, writing a blog post on your own is unlikely to have a significant impact. So, getting assistance from experts in your niche is a simple way to increase your reach.
There are huge benefits to creating a blog post or video that includes recommendations from established creators. Obviously, sharing your expertise adds great value to your audience, but depending on how good your content is, those same experts may be willing to share with their audience as well. The key here is to make it very easy for these experts to say yes.
Don’t expect people to write an entire blog post or answer a long list of questions for you. Instead, simply request one tip, one story, or one recommendation that you can use in your post or video. Then, create a great visual list of all the suggestions you receive, and make your experts the stars of the show by highlighting your background and linking to their websites. Once you've finished your roundups, send them via email, tag them on social media, and ask if they'd be willing to share.
Using affiliates to drive traffic to your website is an excellent way to avoid paying upfront for ads that may or may not convert. Instead, you can pay for successful affiliate traffic sales. This way, you can both reward people for sharing your products and gain new customers for your company.
Setting up an affiliate program is actually quite simple, especially on Shoplazza, because there are simple plugins like ShareAsale or COZMOX that can get you up and running quickly. If you're just getting started, you'll need to reach out to your first few affiliates to get them on board and do your research to ensure you're reaching people whose interests and audience are similar to yours. You could start by approaching smaller creators who are more likely to say yes to your program rather than super popular influencers who will most likely charge a lot of money for promotion. Start small and gradually expand your affiliate program, and you might be surprised at how many new customers you can reach.
Having your products featured in a popular gift guide is a great way to reach out to new customers who are ready to buy.
Getting featured is, of course, easier said than done, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If you want to be on a gift guide, make sure you choose wisely. Do not pitch your product to every magazine or website in the hopes of being featured somewhere. Instead, send specific and relevant pitches to a few places, and consider including product samples. These publications are looking for products that their readers and viewers will ultimately enjoy. Consider it your job to make their job easier; tell them right away what makes your product unique and why it would be a good fit for their target audience. If you do, your product is more likely to be featured.
The majority of the suggestions on this list are based on one central concept: making it easier for others to share your company's and messages with other communities. Another similar idea is to create an infographic for your ideal customer.
Infographics can be incredibly shareable, especially if they are beautifully designed and contain a lot of useful information. They are often featured in articles or videos, with a link back to your company as the original source which is great for SEO and a great way to drive traffic to your site. Plus, creating this type of resource positions your business as a leading expert in your field, which gains legitimacy and may pique the interest of your customers, especially if you are just starting out.
So, consider the problem that your product or service solves and compile some key facts or ideas about the issue that would fit nicely into an infographic. For example, if you own a yoga gear business, you could create an infographic outlining the benefits of doing yoga or instructing people on how to use their yoga balls or yoga mats. The possibilities are truly limitless, and when done correctly, this can help generate a lot of interest in your brand.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to hire a PR agency to get press coverage for your company; you can do it yourself by strategically pitching bloggers and journalists. Press coverage is completely free, and it can expose your business to people who might not have discovered it otherwise, especially if your ideal customers aren't the type to spend their time scrolling through TikTok or Instagram.
You should have an email list if you own a business. Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business, and you can get started for free.
Simply choose a good platform and begin sending regular newsletters to your list. Most email marketing services are completely free to begin with, but if you do need to upgrade your plan, you can rest assured that it is a wise investment. Every dollar invested in email marketing yields a 42-dollar return on investment.
If you have an online store, you can build your list in a variety of ways, including offering a coupon code when people sign up, promoting your newsletter on social media, and asking customers to opt in whenever they buy from you. Growth will take time, but if you provide useful information or bonuses to your list, such as early access to new products or special subscriber-only sales, you will build strong brand loyalty for years to come.
According to research, search engine results pages account for 35% of total traffic and 33% of total revenue for online businesses. As a result, it's a good idea to prioritize SEO whenever you're building your store, using keywords in product descriptions on pages and, of course, in content such as blog posts and videos. The higher you rank in search results for the keywords your customers are looking for, the more likely it is that you will reach new customers.
This is obviously a large category of strategies. There are numerous ways to use the power of social media to increase brand awareness. The options you choose should be specific to your business and ideal customers, so I suggest starting by determining where your people are already hanging out online and concentrating your efforts there.
Don't think that you need to be on every single social media platform at the same time; it is far more effective to do a great job on two platforms than to throw yourself into them all. Once you've chosen your platforms, make sure you're taking advantage of all of their features. Remember to create really good content that people will want to share with others and tag their friends no matter what platform you're on. That is what will ultimately increase your reach and get you noticed by new people.
Last but not least, keep in mind that all the free traffic in the world will not help you if your site is in poor condition when visitors arrive. So, if you're still working on setting up your online store, make sure to check out Shoplazza.