If you want to become an entrepreneur, whether full-time or in addition to your other pursuits, dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start since you don’t have to deal with the two most expensive aspects of any eCommerce store: inventory and shipping.
The way dropshipping businesses work is by customers placing orders on your website and your dropshipping suppliers sending the products directly to them. In essence, what you’re left with is marketing — creating an effective strategy to attract your target audience and convert it into sustainable revenue.
So how do you come up with the right marketing strategy? And what are some of the best ways to promote your dropshipping business?
How to market your dropshipping store
Scan through the history of the world's best marketing strategies and you’ll see that all of them were built by leveraging the strengths of their underlying business models. This means having a sound eCommerce and dropshipping platform, reliable dropshipping suppliers, and the ability to scale your business easily.
Start with the products you already know a lot about. Research all of their competition by googling their respective keyword.
We recommend checking one of the Best E-commerce Tool – A Must-Have for Every Dropshipper: Koala Inspector. In one click, you can reveal every strategy the store owner uses, the best-selling products, and the pricing on Etsy, WooCommerce, or any other eCommerce platform. Koala Inspector chrome extension helps 150K+ users get the whole picture of site traffic, themes, and plugins for every store they inspect.
Think through its price sensitivity: Is it differentiated enough so you can earn a healthy markup that would include some buffer for unpredictability?
Is it an impulsive purchase or a planned one?
Is it easy to return to your supplier if a customer wishes to do so?
Does it have companion products you can use for upselling?
Dropshipping in 2020 means having a selection of products that have fast shipping, are unique and high-quality, and are impulse buys that your customers cannot resist. Once you’ve applied this criteria to each product, find out as much as you can about your target audience.
Build a buyer persona and ask yourself: Do they have high disposable income? What kind of experience are they looking for? Will they be repeat customers or just buy once? What are they willing to pay?
All that information will help you decide which channels you should use to get your traffic as well as your ongoing customer relationship management.
Overall, what you want to achieve is a consistent flow of visitors that would either convert on the spot or be nurtured through your marketing funnel, eventually leading to a sale.
So, here are seven proven ways to drive traffic to specific products for dropshipping businesses.
1. Build a High Converting Dropshipping Website
Before you spend all your budget on figuring out how to market your dropshipping store, you need to be certain that when a visitor comes to your website they have a reason to stay. And better yet, to convert into a sale.
Make sure your website name highlights your brand and differentiates you from other eCommerce stores. Greet people with a clear message that defines what your dropshipping products are about and who should buy them.
The more specialized your offering is the easier it is to explain and spread through word of mouth.
Pick specific products to sell at first — ideally the ones that are complementary to each other and can increase your average order value. Stick to one specific niche instead of being general.
Invest in professional product photography. The upfront cost might seem steep, but one good photo can sell hundreds of products. And it’s by far the best way to stand out among competition (who mostly opt-in for generic, low-quality shots). Once you reach the end of this list, you’ll find out why product photography will take you a long way.
Once you know which products you want to offer, find a quick way to establish trust. Product reviews and testimonials as well as links to Trustpilot will go a long way. Provide a quick option for contacting you on any product page too: possibly a live chat or Facebook Messenger.
Remember that a typical conversion rate is only about 1–2%. So to get any meaningful revenue, online stores need a regular flow of thousands of visitors. That’s where learning the best way to advertise dropshipping via SEO comes in.
2. Put your SEO content marketer hat on
While working on improving your SEO description(search engine optimization) is not the quickest way to lure in potential customers and market your dropshipping store, with consistent effort, it’s going to be your best long-term investment — likely forming the largest and cheapest share of your incoming leads.
How do you get on the SEO train? Start by sharing information on your blog that’s relevant to your audience. Stick to a schedule, whether it’s twice a week or twice a month.
For the search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo!) to rank your dropshipping business, you need to sprinkle specific, long-tail keywords throughout your website updates and every article you publish.
So instead of something like “best pillowcases” use “silk pillowcases for better hair and skin.” It sounds counterintuitive, but less popular, long-tail keywords will eventually bring you more traffic, since people searching for specific items are more likely to convert. .
To plan your keyword strategy, you can use a variety of tools, from Moz and SEMrush to Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends. If you want to go a step further, learn more about enhancing your HTML with schema, so that search engines can incorporate your shopping results, making traffic acquisition much easier.
START MY FREE TRIALGet Spocket for WooCommerce!Apply nowGet Spocket for Shopify!
3. Embrace email marketing
When you’ve worked so hard to entice potential customers to visit your website, you don’t want to lose touch with them as soon as they leave.
Having a newsletter is a great way for eCommerce stores to onboard visitors to their purchasing funnel. The best newsletters can offer a discount for the first order, and include your SEO writing with some suggested products there too. Eventually, you’ll convert more customers and have a way of contacting them as well.
As an example, if you segment your email based on the categories of items your shoppers purchased, you can email a person who bought newborn clothes with promotions for 6 month old clothes. If someone purchased women’s swimsuits, why not email them with promotions on amazing winter dresses in the fall?
4. Choose your social media strategy wisely
Social media is another free way to spread your message to people in your target market. But, since it doesn’t cost anything, more and more social media channels are getting oversaturated.
Think through exactly how using a particular service — whether it’s selling on Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, or Twitter — will help you achieve your goals and have a specific social media strategy in place for posting valuable content.
Tools like Buffer will assist you in managing a few social media channels simultaneously. At the same time, be wary of spreading yourself too thin.
5. Join an online community
Charlie Munger, a business partner of Warren Buffett, has often said, “Fish where the fish are.”
For your eCommerce business, this means finding an existing active community consisting primarily of your target audience. It could be a Facebook group, Slack community, subreddit, local meetup, or a regular networking event.
There are platforms out there like quora that exist to answer people’s questions about products, lifestyles, and everything else. Get involved in these communities and become a trusted member for suggestions and information.
Whatever it is, if your potential customers are there, it’s going to be worth your time to become a frequent contributor as well.
6. Start a YouTube channel
Especially when it comes to physical products, videos are everything. If you’re not convinced, consider this: 84% of consumers are convinced to buy a product after watching a brands video. Not only is it much easier to get a sense of what you’re selling, but it’s also a perfect opportunity to engage someone and build trust.
For even greater awareness, ask other YouTubers covering the same niche to review your products. You might even consider a paid promotion or setting up an affiliate channel with them to get some of their views.
Having a video to show your customer what the product is and how to use it might just be the conversion point that turns them into a sale, and the competitive advantage you need to differentiate yourself.
7. Spend on advertising
While all the tips above will drive traffic to your website and ensure the longevity of your business model, it’d still be very difficult to kickstart your dropshipping empire relying on them alone.
A real fire starter of any new online project is Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and Google display ads. Facebook and Instagram advertising are the new brand advertising machines (what magazines and TV used to be), helping people discover useful products they didn’t even know existed. Google, on the other hand, is your turbocharged newspaper classified ad, guiding you toward the best of what you’re actually looking for.
Both Facebook and Google offer powerful retargeting options too, so you can remind your potential customers to buy something or offer a special deal even after they’ve left your website.
Most importantly, always remember to test everything. Tweak your ads, employ multiple ad sets at the same time, and keep an eye on your conversion rate.
Another critical part of your dropshipping business?
Having a reliable supplier who can guarantee high-quality products and fast delivery times. But how do you find all of them online?
Spocket is a global dropshipping platform with thousands of vetted suppliers mainly from the USA and Europe but globally as well. You can instantly find the right products for your business, order samples, and sync your chosen goods right to your own online stores. Start your free 14-day trial today and see how quickly the marketing strategies described above will help you generate stable revenue for years to come.
Start Marketing your dropshipping store!
Now you have 7 reasons to start marketing your dropshipping store, and start making your entrepreneurial dreams come true! Use the 7 steps above fully, and build an online store that makes you proud.
Start your free trial to Spocket, and access dropshipping suppliers from the USA, Europe and globally. With an unmatched product selection and 24/7 customer support, we’re here to help you soar and watch you be your own boss.
FAQ
1. What are effective marketing strategies for dropshipping businesses?
One of the most common questions asked is how to effectively market a dropshipping ecommerce store. Well, there are a number of ways to go about this. Read on to learn more!
Marketing strategies secure your target audience. Which is super important for dropshipping newbies and pros alike. If you want to trade profitably year-round, continued marketing efforts will be essential. Here are a few more ideas in addition to those we’ve outlined above to help you on your mission to effectively market your dropshipping business to success:
Rise to the occasion
Seasonality is a big part of retail be it standard retailing or ecommerce. And so, you should absolutely ensure that your dropshipping store stands out from the crowd by embracing seasonal storefront themes throughout the year. On Valentines day, choose a love-based store theme. And then at Easter, you can welcome in the spring with a springtime dropshipping storefront. And during the Black Friday sales opt for a Black Friday store theme, and a Christmas can help you embrace those festive vibes throughout the holiday shopping period.
These are simply suggestions - you don’t have to join in with every holiday throughout the year. If you did, it would be a full time job in itself! Just choose a handful of seasonal events to embrace that are spread out over the calendar and you’ll secure more and more customers that see your site as a go-to for seasonal events!
When there’s a sale give your customers a glimpse of the deals
Sales events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day sales are some of the best times to earn big. And in order to achieve success during these shopping periods, begin building anticipation in advance. Give your audience a sneaky peek at the deals and discounts you’re planning to offer when the sale launches. Piquing consumer interest is key to driving revenue during key shopping periods.
Consider discount codes
Discount codes encourage customers to spend in order to save. And when you do offer a discount via use of a code, name the code something relevant. Discount codes such as EASTER15 or BOXINGDAY25 tell you customers that the discounts are exclusive to a specific event.
2. Is social media advertising a good way to promote dropshipping stores?
Simply put, absolutely! Social media platforms are a great way to promote your dropshipping store! Plus, you can increase visibility tenfold by incentivizing your followers to share your posts too.
If you want to stay relevant, reactive content will help you retain customer interest year-round. New blog posts, sale events, new products and even exclusive offers on services or loyalty clubs can - and should - all be shared on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
3. How can I build an email list for my dropshipping store?
Building an email marketing list for your dropshipping store is easy with a little know-how. Here are some of our top tips for collating your ultimate secret weapon:
- Add a pop-up new sign up offer. Incentivize customers to sign up with a welcome discount via a pop-up sign up box on your dropshipping website.
- Put a signup box in your site’s footer. Add a signup box to the footer of your website and present everyone that visits your dropshipping store with the option to receive email marketing.
- Enable sign ups through social media. Encourage your social media followers to sign up by offering incentives much like the welcome discount.
- Create a newsletter signup landing page. By giving your newsletter signup a dedicated landing page, you will earn customers’ trust and your site will gain more authority in google too. Win-win.
- Include a newsletter signup option at checkout. Enable customers to opt in (or out) of receiving your dropshipping store’s newsletter during the checkout process.
4. What's the importance of SEO in dropshipping marketing?
SEO drives organic traffic and increases visibility. Simply put, SEO is integral to the year-round success of your dropshipping business. If you are hosting a sale event, you’ll want to optimise your site content to reflect that. Doing so will increase your site’s visibility in the SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Positions) which will lead to an increase in traffic.
5. Are there any successful case studies of dropshipping store marketing?
Yes there are! And there’s even some case studies documented in our blog. Learn how one man managed to earn $178,492 in just three months by dropshipping US and European products. Or, find out how Erin Rafferty earned $442,991 USD in six months by building a dropshipping business that people loved.
These are both perfect examples of case studies proving the power of effective marketing in the world of dropshipping.
