You had a dream — of starting a small artisan bakery, of selling your handmade art to the world, or even bringing your dad’s shoe store from a busy market of Delhi to the world wide web. Once you have designed a website that reflects you and your brand, created a catalog that does justice to the range of products you have to offer, comes the discovery part. How will someone land up at your online store? How will they find your products? What is the right marketing mix to promote your store?

After discovery, you want them to stay, and visit your store often, right? What will your store offer your customers for them to come back? How will your store upsell and cross-sell? Investing in your dream store online has two parts to it — setting up shop showcasing what you have to offer and marketing your brand and products.

If you are at the start of this journey, find our more about how to set up an online store.

If you have already opened your online store, let’s get to know what is the right marketing mix for you to be discoverable, stay differentiated and get repeat customers. Your online store will only be successful if customers are aware of your site and regularly visit it. There are a few ways to achieve this, and DotPe is here to help. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about marketing and growing traffic to your online store.

Steps to Drive Traffic and Boost Sales

The first step to growing your traffic is making sure that your store is ready for it. Once you have all that attention, you want to make the best impression. Here are the three things you want to have in place before you promote your store: an updated product catalogue, a custom domain and a beautiful theme. It’s finally time to spread the word and increase traffic to your website.

Here are the steps you can take via DotPe to reach customers and get more orders:

1. Spread the Word on WhatsApp

For both small and medium businesses in India, WhatsApp is one of the best marketing tools out there. You should first spread the word to your contacts and WhatsApp groups. With DotPe you can share the link to your online store on WhatsApp with a readymade promotional message.

If you want to share your list of products on WhatsApp, DotPe will quickly create a file with your products and pricing. Soon, a whole network of customers will be visiting your online store and placing orders

2. Run Google Ads

When you are looking for something to buy, where do you go? Most customers turn to Google with searches like ‘furniture shop in Ranchi’ or ‘mobile store near me’. When they do, your online store must show up as the best option. With DotPe, it’s easier than ever to make that happen.

The power of Google Ads is that you are targeting customers who are looking for exactly what you’re selling. With DotPe you can run ads on Google to attract such customers. The next time someone searches for ‘apparel near me’, your fashion store is going to be their first option.

3. Link your Store from all Platforms

Apart from WhatsApp and Google Ads, there are a few other platforms that can drive traffic to your website. If you have accounts on Facebook and Instagram, you should add a link to your store on both platforms. If your bio on social media has a link to your store, friends and acquaintances will discover your store from there.

Another powerful resource for small businesses is Google My Business. If your business isn’t already listed on Google My Business, you should create a profile. If you already have one, add your DotPe link to the profile. Customers who discover you through Google My Business will be then directed to your online store.

4. Share Offers & Deals on Social Media

When it comes to social media, keep your customers engaged. For this, post pictures informing them about deals and promos. Sharing such posts on social media is like having a free billboard to advertise to your customers. But how do you make these posts?

You can use DotPe to quickly make attractive digital posters for deals and promos. You’ll find plenty of readymade designs that you can edit and use. Once the photo is ready, you can share it on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook directly from DotPe.

5. SMS Marketing

Do you get the SMS of items left in the cart? Or that the product prices dropped? SMS marketing is the most simple and powerful way to reach your audiences’ minds and inboxes. You can send an SMS to your customers on festive offers, tell them about price drops or Push enticing messages on what they’ll miss if they don’t open your website to shop now. With DotPe you can easily create and trigger multiple SMS campaigns at the same time and track their performance.

6. Deals & Discounts

Nothing entices a new customer to stay on your store page more than a good old-fashioned discount. This is a great first step to encourage more time being spent in the store and induce more products being added to the cart.

There is no end to what all you can do with running promotions on your store.

– A flat discount for every minimum amount spent

– Flash a promo code on the website as a banner or a pop-up every time someone opens the portal to browse

– Seasonal discounts (festivals, new year, end of year etc.)

– Topical discounts (say, if India scores a win with Kohli scoring the maximum, a special discount for a day for anyone sharing the same last name)

The list is endless and lets you be creative, make sure to keep your financials and costing in check, of course. DotPe has a set of readymade offers and deals templates that you can customize basis your requirements.

7. Loyalty

Don’t we all love it when we are rewarded for our loyalty towards a particular brand? Offer that VIP treatment to your customers too and see your efforts reap rewards. These could be in the form of freebies on purchases of a certain amount, a special preview of the new collection or additional discounts on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

8. Referral

If you love a brand and swear by its products, won’t you recommend it to your family and friends? This is exactly what your customer should feel when they come to your store. Give them enough reasons to go back and spread the good word about you and let others experience your products too. There are a few ways that can easily drive referrals.

– Bonus points for every referral which they can use for their next purchase with you

– Additional discounts on every referral

– Freebies

Conclusion

At its heart, driving traffic to your online store is all about sharing without hesitating. You want to make use of every channel available, from WhatsApp to Instagram, to tell potential customers about your store. If your online store can make life easier for customers, they will keep coming back and help you increase your sales.

Stay tuned for our next blog, coming up very soon!