What is the best way to market an ecommerce start up?

Ania Kuskowski Owner at Pursebox.ca

December 2nd, 2014

I recently launched an ecommerce store. Sales are decent, but not where I'd like them to be. We have no physical retail location, so I have to do some heavier marketing to let people know it exists.

I've mostly done blogger partnerships and SEO. I'm on top of social media too, but I think of that as brand equity rather than an actual sales driver.

Any advice? Thank you!

Jeff Lougheed Next Gen Sales Leader l High-Performance Team Builder

December 2nd, 2014

Hi! Congrats on your business. And, congrats for reaching out for assistance. Not easy to ask a million strangers for advice. Have you been to growthhackers.com That's a good place to start. If you'd like to discuss more, hit me up. Happy selling!

Anonymous

December 2nd, 2014

This seems a bit broad. If you need marketing help, I would suggest seeking an advisor on the advisor section. http://members.founderdating.com/browse

Mike Brunzell Director Digital Platforms at Benjamin Moore & Co.

December 2nd, 2014

Have you considered purchasing the .com domain? I see the .ca but the .com appears to be for sale. This could make a difference for you. As silly as it sounds you may do better in the US. Do you have a version of the site without the Canadian flag for US english visitors? Do you have a French version of the site? Are you using hreflang tags?

Anthony Miller

December 2nd, 2014

Its crazy to hear but email is still the number one conversion channel for online. I would also have to agree with Steven Mason on the UX side, but I kinda like Katy Perry : ) Data also tells a story and there are a number of ways to see what people are doing on your site. Heat-maps, analytics, etc.

I can certainly help with increasing your conversions on your site that will lead to sales. Let me know and I would be happy to setup a call sometime next week.

Steven Mason Brand Strategist & Ideator; Patent Strategist; Patent Broker; Negotiation Expert

December 2nd, 2014

Market out multiple degrees. What does that mean? Your own universe is small. You have to reach -- on social media and elsewhere -- influencers, people who already have the cred, the followers, the likes, etc. They have to start talking about pursebox.

Further, who are your evangelists? Well, who's your target market? Now who are the biggest names in that market. Send them a purse (OK, it's harder than that, but the point is you want to give them a reason to write about how amazing you are.) You know if you get a purse to Katy Perry and she loves it, you have 60 million people who follow her on Twitter. Sure, she's not your demo, which is fine -- and I'd rather eat ground glass than listen to her music -- but you need to go and find people who are in your demo. Engage. Evangelize. Extend your reach beyond your own universe.

What else? Have you looked at your analytics and bounces? Are people loading their carts and then leaving? How's your U/X? Are you closing the sale? Not getting to the sale? Losing the sale?

Last, differentiation. Why's your purse site better than the others?

These are the types of questions you need to answer. Questions: steven@thebrandmason.com

James O'Claire Bubbleye | Next Gen Mobile Targeting

December 3rd, 2014

Not my specialty, but in general highly targeted advertising works well.

1. Who are your current customers. Find as many as you can to talk to, ask them questions about why they use you, how they made a purchase etc.

2. Build an advertising campaign, set a budget, even just $100 a month and make sure you target specific people based on your observations from step 1.

3. Work on PR via larger editorial websites.

Good Luck!

Cynthia Glasbrenner SVP, Group Media Director at Hill Holliday - Trilia Media

December 3rd, 2014

I really suggest some good old fashioned PR. When I first developed my beauty product, I sold 100% online and getting traffic took work. One day I sat down and stuffed 40 boxes to 40 different editors at beauty/fashion magazines and sent them out. I got several mentions out of it - one was Vogue. My sales skyrocketed in a two week period. Give editors a reason to like you and mention you and they will. They are always looking for new things

James Dean President & CEO at Unique Media House Inc.

December 3rd, 2014

Ania ...

Sales 101 has taught me:

What is your total market?
What is your accessible market?
Who are they? (Ideal Customer Profile).
Where are they? (How can I easily get to them ... Channels).
What is your Scientific Leads Funnel (step-by-step methodology)?
What is your Scientific Sales Funnel(step-by-step methodology)?
What is your Marketing Calendar (SMART Goals)?
What is your Sales Calendar (SMART Goals)?

That is the logistical start ... the next step is your organization's culture and then your Marketing and Sales Cultures (including training).

What do you think?

James Dean Waryk

Brian Costello Strategy, Product Development, Digital & Investment Professional

December 4th, 2014

Folks have heard me say this quite a bit -- but it's worth repeating. You really need to take the Earned, Owned, Paid approach. The best and most cost-efficient channels for you are your owned channels -- email, social, etc. but you need to build that through earned channels (referrals, social, content marketing, etc.) and then analyze those channels to make informed paid decisions. Don't jump into paid until you understand your customers -- and don't get swayed by single-source vendors telling you that their solution is the magic bullet -- own your brand and rely on agnostic partners and analysis to make the right decisions.

Katya Constantine User Acquisition and Omni-Channel Marketing Expert

December 27th, 2014

Hi Ania,

I would recommend to being more aggressive in your email approach both from capturing email addresses as well as communicating to your customers. For ecommerce sites, there is quiet a bit you can do with triggered emails. You may also consider looking into a refer-a-friend program. A good tool to use for this is friendbuy. Also, consider launching a social retargeting program. I would recommend perfect audience for this.