The idea for an online store is there. The e-commerce platform has been chosen. Products have been entered into the system. Everything is working, but… no customers? To drive traffic to your online store, you need to ensure proper visibility. Effective advertising is key. So, what kind? Where is the best place to advertise your online store? We've got you covered!
Creating an online store is exceptionally hard work – even if you're limiting yourself to a dropshipping model. However, even the most well-designed and executed online store won't become visible in search engines or recognizable to customers overnight. Advertising is essential for this to happen . There are no shortcuts here. It's worth emphasizing that the effects of e-commerce promotion are most visible in the long term, and patience is often required . But this patience pays off – especially if the campaign is implemented in a well-thought-out and coherent manner.
Where is the best place to advertise your online store?
Wondering how to approach advertising your online store ? First and foremost, before you get started, plan your actions . Especially since the virtual world offers a wealth of tools that can be used to promote your online store. However, if you hastily invest in advertising without first establishing the basics, you may end up losing the funds you invested in your campaign instead of gaining anything.
How to avoid this? Define your campaign objectives precisely before selecting the channels through which the promotion will be conducted, as well as the content of the messages to be sent out into the world.
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What exactly needs to be determined before you start advertising?
target group of the online store- What is your target group?
Who are you targeting? Is it a specific age group? A specific gender? With specific interests and lifestyles? Or perhaps you want to reach a very broad group of customers? The more precisely you define your target audience, the easier it will be to plan your communications and the better your investment. To achieve this:
- create personas representing the target groups of your products – give them symbolic names and surnames, specify their approximate age, needs, interests, expectations and possible objections, and even add sample photos,
- think about how the products you want to sell will solve their everyday problems,
- consider what type of communication style will be appropriate in advertising – more “official” and neutral, or perhaps “relaxed” and bold?
It all matters!
- Brand DNA
Do you know what you want to sell and to whom? You still need to define your brand's image. What associations should it evoke in the audience? What should it evoke in them? Prestige? Or perhaps low prices and fast delivery? High-quality products? Or perhaps "exotic" goods, unavailable in Poland in brick-and-mortar stores? This will impact both your advertising approach and the communication channels you choose.
- Advertising campaign goals
What will be the goal of your promotional campaign? If you're just starting out in e-commerce, you need to first make potential customers aware of your presence in the market, and then build their trust. Only then will the campaign focus on promoting specific products and leading directly to conversions. Typically, you'll need to complete all these stages to gradually build a customer base—not just one-time customers, but those who will return time and time again and recommend your services to friends.
So, start by defining the key objectives of your campaign. Once this is complete, it's time to define specific goals . These could include increasing traffic to your store's website, generating sales leads, or boosting sales of a specific product. The direction you choose will determine the tools and channels you'll use during the campaign.
- Budget
advertising campaign budget for an online store How much money can you allocate to an advertising campaign? Remember: it's not worth cutting back on promotion, because it's just a false economy. Why? Think for a moment about where you shop? In stores where offers are easily accessible and visible at a glance, right? That visibility won't build itself! If you don't tell the world about your store, no one will hear about it or find it.
However, there's no such thing as an unlimited advertising budget. It's important to know in advance how much money can be invested in a specific campaign.
How to promote an online store?
Now you know why you'll be advertising your online store, who you want to reach, and how much? Now it's time to choose the tools you'll use to run your campaign. The decision isn't easy, because—as we've already mentioned—there are so many options. Important tip: you don't have to use all the available options in one campaign . Choose those that align with your promotional goals, or choose those that might be the most sensible given your limited budget.
How? For example, a very large online store seeking a broad reach might consider advertising using ATL channels, such as print, radio, or even television. However, this solution is primarily for the largest e-commerce players. Those operating on a smaller scale will prioritize online promotion.
So where should you promote yourself? A basic rule you should always keep in mind is: be where your customers are . That is, where are they? Here's a look at some tools to consider.
Google Ads
The advertising system provided by the Mountain View giant is the absolute foundation of online advertising. Why? Simply put: because everyone uses Google, and the platform offers incredibly broad advertising opportunities. Thanks to it, we can advertise in search engines, the Google Display Network, YouTube, and many other places. It allows us to create, among other things, contextual ads, meaning those that relate to the recipient's previous searches or interests – significantly increasing the effectiveness of the message. What exactly can you use?
Where do consumers look for products they want to buy? Very often, they begin their search by entering a search term in Google and then... clicking on the first search results. However, sponsored links appear above them. Your store's presence in this section increases the chances that its offer will be explored first. Customers rarely distinguish between ads and organic results, and even if they do, contextual ads are still highly targeted, and advertisers want the person who clicked on them to make a purchase. If the ad is placed poorly, they will simply waste their budget.
In recent years, Google has refined its advertising tools, and today one of the most interesting e-commerce offerings is a product "carousel" displayed in search results, complete with product images and prices. This mini-catalog with suggestions for promoted stores increases the likelihood that a viewer will click on your ad and then make a purchase!
Google Ads also includes ads displayed on various external portals (e.g., Onet or WP) in the form of banners. These are known as Google Display Network campaigns. This format, once discredited due to the fact that many internet users blocked banner ads, is now making a comeback. For two reasons: First, a growing number of websites in the Google Display Network are implementing technological solutions that prevent ad blocking or ask their users to display them (it works!). Second, remarketing ads are widely used and are much more effective. What's the point? In remarketing campaigns, users see personalized contextual ads on banners, showcasing, for example, products they've previously viewed. Such constant reminders can be very persuasive!
Google Ads tools – provided the campaign is managed by a specialist with the appropriate qualifications – can yield excellent short- and long-term results. Although campaign setup may seem very simple, in reality, it should be overseen by specialists – they will ensure that every penny invested in the promotion earns its value and generates the desired ROI. In the case of Verseo, campaign optimization is entrusted not only to a specialist but also to our self-learning algorithms, which make up to thousands of changes daily. This campaign optimization ensures that you invest your funds at the most appropriate times and places.
social media
Where is the best place to advertise your online store on social media? When it comes to e-commerce advertising on social media, Facebook is obviously the first choice. Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, the platform has become a source of information, entertainment, and inspiration. Therefore, it's worth being there and promoting your online store. How?
First, take full advantage of the potential offered by free solutions. Above all, maintain a Facebook page for your online store . Regular, engaging posts will help you build a specific audience, which will grow over time.
But that's not all. Facebook offers a wide range of advertising tools, including:
- post promotion – so that they appear in the news feed of people from your target group,
- classic banner advertising,
- advertising in the form of a product carousel – with direct redirection to the e-shop,
- video advertisement displayed during the presentation of film materials on the portal.
These are the tools that will primarily be used by online stores. Like Google, Facebook allows you to define campaign goals and conveniently configure other details. It's also easy to track the results of a given message. Regular monitoring of results allows you to implement any necessary campaign improvements or draw conclusions for the future. Depending on the industry, Facebook remarketing can also prove very effective, and it's worthwhile to supplement Google Ads activities, at least in a basic way.
Remember that advertising your online store on social media isn't necessarily limited to Facebook . Depending on your business profile, you can also reach potential customers on Instagram (especially in lifestyle industries) or even LinkedIn (especially if you sell products aimed more at business customers). Where is the best place to advertise your online store using social media? An online marketing specialist, for example, can answer this question.
YouTube
Is YouTube a good promotional channel for an online store? In many cases, yes. But how can you promote yourself on this medium? One option for advertising on YouTube is to publish videos that will be displayed during the videos users are watching. However, it's important to remember that these should be short, a few seconds long messages – especially since website visitors tend to "click" through ads whenever possible.
YouTube advertising, however, isn't the only form of promotion on this medium. An increasingly common solution used by online stores is so-called influencer marketing . In short, it involves collaborating with a creator who runs a popular YouTube channel and embedding the store's brand in their content. Online cosmetics stores, for example, operate under this model. Collaboration can take many forms. An influencer can:
- mention in the material the current promotion in a given e-shop,
- recommend shopping on the website,
- offer your recipients a special discount code obtained through the affiliate program,
- link to the products used in the published video and available on the e-shop website.
A skillfully and unobtrusively executed campaign can result in a rapid and significant increase in online store traffic. However, it's important to remember that for such effects to be sustained in the long term, collaboration with influencers must be repeated regularly.
Yet another option offered by YouTube is for a store to run its own video channel . What might it attract? Specific industry guides are best suited for an online store. Valuable videos will reach a wider audience, boosting image and sales. They can generate a comparable increase in brand awareness to YouTube ads.
Allegro Ads and Amazon Ads
If you also run your store on major sales platforms like Allegro or Amazon, you may want to consider paid promotion on these sites. Properly leveraging the potential of Allegro Ads and Amazon Ads will help increase the number of transactions.
Are the places I've just mentioned best for promoting an online store the only channels you can use? No! There's also a whole range of inbound marketing and PR tools worth considering. One thing is certain: a campaign strategy should be developed and implemented wisely, preferably under the guidance of specialists. This ensures it runs in an orderly, not chaotic, manner, and, above all, translates into the desired conversions.
I've left the issue of online store SEO for last . In the long run, it's usually the cheapest method of acquiring new customers. However, of all advertising methods, it's also the most "investment-oriented." Investing money today might only see results in three or six months. Therefore, although most people don't start stores with the intention of operating for, say, only a year, most of them still decide to implement SEO only after some time. It's impossible to definitively say this is a mistake. Every investor wants to achieve returns as quickly as possible, and they can achieve this through, for example, Google Ads advertising. However, if you have a slightly larger advertising budget at the beginning, it's definitely worth pursuing a dual approach to marketing, and in addition to focusing on "now," consider "later." A specialist—in this case, an SEO specialist—can also help you determine the viability of investing in SEO, given your budget and needs.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Where to allocate your marketing budget? Comparison of e-commerce platforms
- E-shop promotion step by step
