Once everything I shared before in Part 1 is done, now that your online shop is ready, it is time to start marketing activities to generate sales. Marketing activities drive traffic to your site. Sales happen when people buy from your website or shop.
You can have a marketplace shop like on Amazon, Etsy, eBay or locally on Lazada or Shopee and use any social media – Facebook, Instagram or YouTube shop feature. In a nutshell, your marketing efforts should direct traffic to your shop.
You are online, which means there would be no sales from physical footfall. These days most prefer the hybrid model because post-pandemic trends show that people would love to check out physical products as much as they prefer to buy online.
The next question is what constitutes a reasonably good marketing activity? If you are a beginner, you can try all or some of these:
Tell the world
We all have a circle of friends. Just let them know that you have started an online business. As I had written in my earlier post, do not shove anything down their throats. Just inform, never beg. Please do not be disheartened if none of your friends supports you. Usually, friends and family will not be your great supporters. Jack Ma the founder of Alibaba once said that you cannot drive your business by placing hopes on friends and family. They will be the last to support you.
Avoid sending messages like `Hi, just want to let you know I have started an online business. Hope you will support.’ What online business? Be specific. Share a link or other information.
These days there are apps where you can design a simple leaflet which you can share with your circle, and post on your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or any other social media accounts. Share the leaflet with your circle with a simple message that you are launching your new online business. Anyone interested would know how to get there to check out your offerings. That is a more dignified way of spreading the news.
If you are into fashion, a lookbook would be great. We had used lookbooks many times throughout the five years since we started. In the past, we had hired a graphic designer to do the lookbooks but in recent times, my daughter who co-owns the business, designed the lookbooks and e-leaflets herself.
Lookbooks would showcase the design, product feature and price. The last page would have the link or website to place an order.
Know your target market
We produce and sell mainly men’s clothing. Yes, we do have women’s designs but that market is very saturated with too many players. So, our focus has always been on men’s range and target market – women. No, that is not a typo.
You see, it is the women who do the shopping for their men. And women are fussy, they want only the best for their guys. So, we said something like `why settle for the usual, special guy needs a special gift’. Worked for our Valentine’s range.
Most of our customers are repeat customers who have bought many designs over the years because our range is unique; even in India, such designs are not available. People like the hand-block printed fabric from India that we use to make casual shirts. We use mainly cotton to suit the climate in this country and the budget, of course. Pricing was and still is a key selling point.
And our designs appeal to those in the 18 – 35 age group, of all races.
The target market will also tell you how the purchase will be made. Some people will buy directly from the website; others, who do not have credit cards or are unable to link their debit card to their PayPal account would prefer to do a bank transfer. We have not linked our website to any FPX yet thus most prefer paying us through bank transfer. That is hard cash in the coffer, folks!
Blog your business
Many websites come with blogs. Even if you do not have a website, Blogger by Google is free, so blog your content away. Blogs give insights, educate and open up new ideas for people who read them. Sometimes, they just need a fashion tip. So, write it in your blog. It is a good way to tell your audience that you are an expert in your field. Give them an opportunity to discuss the content. If there are positive comments, thank the commentator. If there are negative comments, ideally keep quiet unless you have a good rebuttal. Need not delete the comment. That would make you seem weak.
Use backlinks if they can add value to your content. Backlinks should be done to sites that have a lot of traffic so that when Google crawls, your content would also be on the internet.
The important thing to remember is that people do not buy products anymore. They buy solutions to a problem; they buy the need to pacify an interest for example photography; they buy an opportunity to stand out or make a statement in fashion perhaps. Or they buy to address a skin problem which is skin care. So, blogging is a way to sell a solution to a need.
Build your marketing channel
You can choose to use YouTube or Tik Tok or just about any other channel where you can showcase your product videos. Facebook and Insta Reels are also available options. Importantly, you should know where your target audience congregates.
We started putting our content on Facebook. There were literally no sales because the main users of Facebook were immigrant workers in Malaysia and those Malaysians of the older age group. Then, we switched to Instagram, sales flowed in, potential customers engaged with our posts and the rest was history.
Write catchy content
Create content to stand out. People like to know tips, ideas, shortcuts and much more. When you create such content, they believe you know your stuff. They know you are specialists in what you do and sell. That would help convince them that whatever they buy, is value for money.
When you make a post on social media make it meaningful but less wordy. Short, concise and to the point.
There was a product – a regular men’s knee-length kurta that became a best seller in that range because we focused on two things – first, the fabric was cotton in a tone that was not easily available in Malaysia and secondly, the pockets. The selling point was ` when you go to the temple, it would be good to have pockets to secure your car keys and phone.’ Sold out.
Another marketing tip that worked for us was the couple’s range. Almost every collection had one or two designs which were matching items for men and women. In Malaysia, you will not find it elsewhere. It appealed to the younger audiences who had the appetite to wear matching sets.
Unique value proposition
All our designs are customisable. Believe it! In the first four years of operation, we did customisation for free. Beginning last year, customisation cost a bit more. That was because of fabric scarcity.
The largest size that we had customised was 7XL.
While many opted for our standard sizing, there were customers who wanted designs made to their specific measurements. So, once the order has been placed online or via bank transfer, we would ask the customer to share their measurements via communication tools like Whatsapp.
For those who are not able to do so, we would ask for a recent full photo, a face mask with an emoji. Then, we would suggest measurements and sizes. Worked like magic each time.
Branding
One of the marketing strategies that have been used for years is branding. Sometimes, we pay for the brand. At times we buy only that brand – brand loyalty. All that helps with marketing.
Many years ago, when I visited Macau in December, I had to buy a jacket as temperatures were plummeting. It was a silky red sleeveless jacket, front zip with nice insulation inside. It went well with just about any pants. While I was bargaining with the seller, he said that I was getting it very cheap because that range was supposed to be sent to France where once the YSL logo is fixed to it, the price would soar. What? I do not know if what the seller said was true, but it made sense.
So, work on building your brand. Then, you may not need to spend so much money on marketing activities. The brand will sell.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
This could be an entire article itself. I will share some of the things that we had done while setting up the website as well as product pages. In the first part, I suggested doing a keyword search on what is trending. That way you can know the products that are being searched for so that you can make an informed decision before starting your business. Sellers on eBay also use this technique.
Using SEO is somewhat similar. You should use trending words and hashtags related to your industry when setting up your website or writing your product description. This would enable crawlers to grab your content when a search is done.
We often check sites which drew a lot of traffic and look out for trending terms and keywords related to the fashion industry. We would then add those terms and keywords to our product descriptions.
We make sure basic words like shirt, men’s shirt, and the casual shirt is captured in the description.
Continued presence
The buzzword for online business is presented. As long as your presence is seen, you will have traffic to your shop or website. Building presence means driving online traffic towards you. That traffic should convert into sales.
On the topic of presence, years ago when I worked for a Japanese conglomerate, we did recruitment advertisements even when there were no positions to be filled. At one time, I asked my Boss why we were spending a lot of money when there we no vacancies. He said recruitment adverts were way cheaper than mainstream ads to let people know that we were still in business – the need for presence.
This can also be done through regular updates via email or other communication tools.
The methods shared above are just a few. There are more ways an entrepreneur can drive sales for his or her business and what is a better teacher than the internet? Newer methods are appearing every day. Do your research to see what works well for you.
In Part 3 we will see the selling process itself. Unlike physical sales, online sales have their own nuances. The sale must be closed before the visitor leaves your site. How do you do that?
