Strategies to Consider Ahead of Your Ecommerce Launch

Every entrepreneur’s dream is to launch their website and watch the orders pour in. But going live with your ecommerce store is not necessarily a guarantee business will be booming right off the bat. The only way you’ll see strong sales from the outset is to promote your store using the right channels ahead of time. You’ll also need to optimize your store so it’s ready to handle an influx of traffic and—hopefully—conversions.

Consider these strategies ahead of your ecommerce launch to maximize its impact.

Build Buzz with Pre-Orders
Buzz, though difficult to quantify, is an important tool in your pre-launch toolkit. What can you do to get consumers talking about your product lineup or brand in general, even before your grand opening? Where’s there’s excitement, there’s a line of customers eager to get their hands on the newest merchandise available.

Offering pre-orders appeals especially to shoppers who value being on the cutting-edge of product ownership. These customers find appeal in owning something before anyone else, so you’ll play to their interests by allowing them to “buy” before the general population does. Make sure you properly incentivize early bird shoppers with a good deal and speedy order fulfillment when the products do ship out.

Consider Paid and Organic Search
Half the battle leading up to launch day is drumming up traffic. Your store needs a plan for both paid and organic search. After all, some people will click an ad to check out your site, while others will stumble across your store when they plug a related query into a search engine. It’s important to direct both types of visitors to relevant landing pages in your cloud ecommerce store. The time to engage in search engine optimization and paid search strategies is in the months and weeks leading up to the big “reveal.”

Focus on What You Do Best
It’s tempting to try to do everything in ecommerce well. But this approach actually dilutes your strengths. It’s a better strategy to choose a unique selling proposition and design your store based on its principles. For example, it’s rare to see a store selling both bargain-priced goods and high-end luxury items. It’s smarter to truly understand your target audience and serve them well by playing to your strengths.

In other words, pick a realistic business model and stick to it. Instead of offering 1,000 products across various categories on launch day, handpick a few collections you believe consumers will want to buy. Instead of billing yourself as a “one-stop shop,” focus on the few advantages your store can provide to shoppers compared to your competition. Instead of trying to appeal to the general internet-using public, drill down to establish your target audience.

Utilize Influencer Marketing
Last but not least, it helps to have trusted influencers driving traffic to your website and promoting your products. Influencer marketing has taken ecommerce by storm, and for good reason: Online users tend to trust authority figures within their communities more than they do brands. If someone they admire recommends a product, it’s a powerful reason to visit the website and perhaps even buy it for themselves.

However, it’s paramount to partner with the right people. If you sell perfume, getting a video game expert to recommend your products will have little effect. Conduct careful research into your sector and niche to find influencers with real clout amongst your target audience. Then reach out to them and ask if they’d be amenable to partnering with your store.

Implementing these strategies to consider ahead of your ecommerce launch will set your store up for maximum success.

Original post: Strategies to Consider Ahead of Your Ecommerce Launch

This post is courtesy of: https://www.dailyblogtips.com