All businesses need marketing to help their company thrive; however, when it comes to running a drop shipping business, marketing may be even more important than it otherwise would be. While you may have the perfect drop shipping technique, if you’re not using your resources, marketing to customers and potential customers, and getting the word out there, your business may not be able to survive.
Ecommerce sales have exceeded 650 billion US dollars this year so far, and it’s expected that they will only continue to grow. This means that there is a lot of opportunity in the ecommerce space for your drop shipping business to step in and earn good money. If you’re not marketing at all or marketing effectively, though, then you could be missing out on a lot of potential profits. While drop shipping may be a somewhat passive and easy business to run, it still requires active efforts to make it survive and thrive.
Following certain marketing practices and employing certain techniques can help you set your business apart from the competition and better take advantage of the money that’s just waiting on the table. Below are some tips that will help you make the most of your drop shipping business’ marketing.
Choose a Niche
There are thousands and thousands of different products out there that you could drop ship from cell phone accessories to dog collars and toys. Although you could create a store on which you sell something from every category you can think of, if you want to market your business and achieve greater success, then narrowing down your offering and catering to a niche is important. Whether you want to drop ship men’s shoes or children’s wooden toys, choosing a niche will make your marketing and your business more effective.
Use Paid Ads
There are so many products and companies out there that relying on SEO alone won’t be very effective. Although SEO is an important marketing strategy that you should be using, don’t neglect other strategies like paid ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Customers could search all day long and never find your particular store, but when you use paid ads, you can focus in on your target audience and reach them directly on the platforms they’re already on without them having to search, (or at least search very hard).
Create Trust and Establish Authority
68 percent of consumers form an opinion of a company based only on a few online reviews, and 42 percent won’t do business with a company that has less than a three-star rating. That means that having good reviews and making those available is important. By placing reviews on your website, you can create trust with your consumers and establish yourself as an authority in your niche, giving your business a boost without having to spend too much time or money.
Run a Blog
Blogs are everywhere these days. They’re even used as businesses themselves. If you’re not running a blog for your business already, then that’s something you’ll want to start ASAP. Don’t just blog for the sake of blogging, though.
It’s been shown that quality content has a more positive impact than a high quantity of content, and content marketing can generate three times as many leads as other traditional marketing strategies. When you run a blog on which you publish quality, useful content, you’ll be more likely to get the conversions you’re hoping for than if you simply run a blog for the sake of having a blog.
Develop a Solid Customer Service Policy
Customer service is an important part of marketing. Your customers’ opinions of you will determine whether or not they refer you to a friend or neighbor or even shop with you ever again. By implementing a strong customer service policy that focuses on the customers and provides them with what they need, you will be doing a lot of effective marketing in the process. While you don’t need to bend over backward to meet your customers’ every whim, developing a tone and a process that all agents must follow, offering a good return/refund policy, and being flexible with them will go a lot further than you might imagine.
Final Thoughts
It can be difficult to make your drop shipping business stand out, but by implementing certain marketing techniques, you can set yourself apart a lot easier. By offering quality customer service, taking advantage of paid ads, running a blog, and focusing on a niche, you can better reach the audience you want to reach and set yourself apart from competitors that may be in your same space.
What other marketing techniques do you use to boost your business?