Whether you have an online store or run brick & mortar retail business, implementing a digital marketing strategy is crucial to increasing your brand visibility, growing your business, and gaining trust with your customers. Most importantly it’s a great way to sell your products to a wider audience.
Consumers are spending more time online than ever before, with an average of 144 minutes spent per day on social media and growing every year. Online research is increasingly influencing shopping behavior, with 81% of consumers reporting that they research their products online before making a purchase, even when they plan to pick-up the items in-store. That said, digital marketing and social media are no longer just for the big brands! An online presence can greatly benefit your small business - and the best part is, there are many easy and low-cost strategies you can start implementing today.
Keep reading for our top 5 most effective digital marketing strategies for your retail business.
Social Media
Social media is a great place to start when building an online presence for your business. It’s easy to set up, free to get started, and gives you access to a huge audience of potential customers.
When it comes to building a social media following, it typically takes some trial and error to find what type of content resonates with your audience. We recommend testing different strategies when you’re getting started - for example create one post that focuses on the in-store shopping experience and compare that with a post that promotes a specific product. You can use tools like Sprout Social to plan out your social media posts, schedule and automate your posts, and track your engagement analytics (how many people have liked, commented, or interacted with your posts). Once you learn what works well with your audience, you can double down on those types of posts and iterate from there.
There are also pay-to-play strategies you can implement on social media, including paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. These will help you reach a wider audience but do require more of a budget than some of our other recommendations.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is commonly agreed upon by marketers as the most cost effective marketing strategy with the best return on investment (ROI). The average ROI on an email is $44 for every $1 spent and email marketing drives 174% more conversions than social media. With numbers like that, you can’t afford to miss out the sales you could be getting from building an email marketing strategy.
You can start by building your email list and regularly sharing relevant content out to your subscribers, like a monthly newsletter. There are many free or low-cost email marketing tools like MailChimp that can help you create professional looking emails that increase conversions and build trust with your customers.
Buy Online, Pick Up In Store
Especially since the pandemic hit, Buy Online, Pick-up In Store (or “BOPIS”) has become super popular with shoppers. Consumers love the option to browse online or on an app before going into a retail store to pick-up their items. This way, they can shop contact-free while also getting the instant gratification of picking up their order the same day and avoiding shipping charges.
Implementing a BOPIS option for customers sounds great, but logistically how do you go about it? Luckily, we’ve made it super easy for retail stores to sell their products online and have customers pick their order up in-store through our Wish Local program.
If you join Wish Local, you’ll be able to list your products for sale on the Wish shopping app. Your items will be available for sale to customers in your local area, who will then be able to purchase your items and pick them up at your store. If you’re interested in learning more about the Wish Local program, click here.
Search Engine Listings
It’s important to make sure your store is easy to find when people search for your business online. Create listings for your store using tools like Google My Business, Yahoo, Yelp, and other online platforms that help local customers find businesses like yours.
When people search for your business online, they’ll be able to easily locate your store on Google Maps, view your hours of operation, read reviews, and shop your items before they come in. Plus, new customers will discover your business through these search engines, helping to boost your brand visibility and growing your business over time.
Create a blog
As they say in marketing “content is king”. Creating a blog is an easy way to connect with your customers, share important or educational content, and build awareness of your brand. Relevant, engaging, and useful content will drive people to your site and increase conversions over time.
Implementing an effective digital marketing strategy can sound challenging, but putting a few key strategies in place can make all the difference in growing your business. What online marketing strategies have worked best for your business?