Congratulations on launching an eCommerce store. Becoming an entrepreneur is exciting because everything is new – from a newly registered business with a fully functional eCommerce website & excellent products backed by a competent operations team.

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Now what? Did we miss something?Yes! its sales- the most exciting part of the business As a new eCommerce brand in the market, getting the first sales is always the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur. 90% of e-commerce startups fail within the first 120 days due to poor online marketing performance coupled with an overall lack of search engine visibility.

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Why getting the first eCommerce sales is crucial for your online store? 

One of the biggest myths in the eCommerce industry is that my "product will sell itself." The reality is a little different- a good product with a bad marketing strategy will remain a low-selling product.  

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It may seem overwhelming at first, but you need to employ tested marketing strategies like organic, social media, email, and paid ads to attract visitors & nurture visiting shoppers into repeat customers.

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Once you have made your first sale, you have officially learned how to start an eCommerce business, as it generates helpful data about your business like

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• What are the most sellable products for online stores & why?

• What did your customers enjoy most about your online store?

• Which sections of the store receive the most foot traffic and which do not?

• Is the current business plan effective, or does it needs tweaking?

• How is the customer experience after shopping on your website?

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How to get your first eCommerce sales quickly with a zero-dollar marketing budget?

As a new eCommerce startup, you are always in bootstrapping mode and don't have much money to spend on advertising. So how to get traffic to your online store when you are low on budget?

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There are numerous organic ways to grow traffic and drive sales to your online store. The most remarkable thing about these sources is that they are entirely free, helps build lasting connections with customers, assures your business growth day-on-day, thereby driving quality & lasting traffic to your online store. 

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Here are some impactful free traffic sources for your eCommerce business:

1) Reach out to your network: 

The first people aware of your business's existence is your network having friends, colleagues, and professional connections on different online platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. They can help you get your first sales and garner good feedback about your brand.

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All you have to do is share details of your brand on different networks in the form of texts, videos, images, and email to announce your brand’s launch. Here is how you can build connections & reach out to your network:

• Write social media posts announcing the brand’s launch 

• Expand your network by connecting with new people

• Share free samples of your product to deserving connections

• Request people to Like, share & comment on the company’s brand page

• Request to use & write reviews about your products

• Request connections to share brand information to their network

• Build engagement with anyone expressing interest & giving feedback for your products.

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These steps may help you generate the first sales, though not in bulk numbers. But they still matter a lot as you learn about the online store performance and product feedback from the first users.

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2) Give discount Codes/coupons  

It can be difficult for new buyers to purchase your products at the quoted price if you are a new eCommerce brand with no market visibility, followers, or network connections. If you give discounts on your best or most affordable products, you are drawing customers' attention to your online store and giving them a unique reason to purchase from you.

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Discount pricing on eCommerce websites has the power to influence consumers' buying behavior. Research says that more than 59% of online consumers search for discounts before buying anything, and more than 64% do not make a purchase until they are on discounts.

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Here is what an eCommerce business gets if they offer discounts to the customer:

• Attract increased traffic to your online store website

• Acquire pre-qualified customers for sales

• Increase word of mouth marketing about the brand

• Reduce the cost of acquiring new customers

• Establish yourself as an emerging brand in the market

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Fynd platform lets you create customized coupons using different parameters like percentage value, amount value, buy X amount & get Y amount free and a lot more.

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3) Grow Organic search:

A crucial research from a content marketing firm says the organic search is the primary driver of website traffic to business sites. The study found that organic search drives 53 percent of all visitors to B2B and B2C websites, trumping all non-organic search channels, including paid search (10%) and social (5%).

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Suppose you want consistent organic traffic into your online store. In that case, we suggest using the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, which includes easy steps to optimize your eCommerce store for different keywords that can attract traffic.

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For example, if the eCommerce store Body Café deals with facial kit and intends to use the keyword “best facial kit” to attract online customers searching for this product. It's a good keyword as, on average more than 50000 online users are searching for this product every day. 

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How can you use this keyword in Body Café's website to drastically improve its search results on search engines?

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1) Create helpful content in the form of a helpful blog like – “How to choose the best facial kit?”, “Benefits of the best facial kit”

2) Use it in Body Care facial kit page elements like – page URL, SEO title, headers, Images alt text, products descriptions as well as Meta description

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Along with keywords, another factor in SEO is the need for quality backlinks from authoritative websites pointing to the Body Café website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more authority you acquire for your business domain and page, necessary for top ranking on search engine result pages.

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4) Social Media Marketing:

Online stores that invest in social media pages and build a strong presence across the most popular platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can boost their sales up to 32% compared to sites that don’t invest in social media marketing.

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Over 73% of marketers believe that social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business. Not only that, 87% of eCommerce shoppers believe social media helps them make a shopping decision. Social media provides brands with new and innovative ways to connect with consumers across various platforms in an organic manner.

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Facebook

Facebook, the leading social network globally, has 2.80 billion monthly active users and is the most widely used social network for marketing purposes. A majority of the marketers also chose the platform as the single, most important social platform for their business. 

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Why go for Facebook social media marketing?

• The platform provides online shops with abundant sales opportunities to add a "Shop" link to their company page on Facebook.

• Users can purchase merchandise directly from Facebook as sellers can list an unlimited number of products. This free feature can generate tons of insights around clicks, views & purchases.

• 8% of social media marketers worldwide stated that Facebook had the highest return on investment (ROI).

• You can sell products through live shopping on Facebook.

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Instagram

Instagram is an online marketing powerhouse with over 2 million advertisers and 25 million business profiles. According to a Forrester study, it is second only to Facebook in popularity and has a brand-engagement rate 58 times higher than Facebook.

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86.6% of Instagram users post Stories, and nearly 80% of brands say that Instagram Stories have a massive impact on influencer content about their brand. 

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Why go for Instagram social media marketing?

• 68% of Instagram users engage with brands regularly.

• 50% of Instagrammers follow a business.

• 60% of Instagrammers say that they learn about a product or service on the platform.

• 75% of Instagrammers take action after being inspired by a post, like visiting a website, searching, shopping, or telling a friend.

Twitter

Twitter has 206 million monetizable daily active users worldwide and is ensuring that it does not miss the eCommerce trend in 2021. It has started helping eCommerce sellers by using a new Twitter card type that adds a “Shop” CTA button. 

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Why go for Twitter social media marketing?

The below statistics reveal why Twitter marketing is a short & sweet way to connect with customers.

• Promoted tweets result in a 29 percent increase in offline sales.

• 72% of brand followers are likely to purchase in the future.

• 53% of people report purchasing a product after seeing it on Twitter.

• Eighty-one percent of users feel Twitter has a more significant influence on their shopping decisions than tv.

• 70% of followers of small businesses use Twitter to retweet content.

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Pinterest

Pinterest is a prime location for eCommerce retailers to market their goods with over 322 million active users. The average order value driven by Pinterest is $50, one of the highest for all social websites.

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Pinterest pins generate $2 in profit for every $1 the advertisers spend. Looking at gross retail dollars instead of profit translated into a $4.3 return per dollar spent.

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Why go for Pinterest social media marketing?

• Almost 73% of active pinners—and 89 percent of everyday pinners—have purchased after discovering something new on Pinterest.

• 5% of Pinners make a purchase inspired by Pinterest at least once a month.

• 60% of active Pinterest users are more inclined to search and browse the platform than to browse catalogues.

• Nearly half of active pinners who noticed promotional pins on Pinterest clicked on them to learn more. Over 40% had made a purchase, implying that marketed pins motivate future action.

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How to get eCommerce sales quickly with paid advertising?

Though paid ads need planning & a dedicated month-on-month budget, they give you immediate results by targeting the correct audience the right way as you are paying for the keywords relevant to your target audience.

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Here are some proven advertising channels to drive quality traffic to your eCommerce website:

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‍Email Marketing

There isn’t a more powerful channel than email when it comes to conversion. The average click-through rate of an email campaign is around 3% of total recipients, whereas the average click-through rate from a tweet is around 0.5%

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A critical survey says that 4.24% of visitors from email marketing buy something compared to 2.49% of visitors from search engines and 0.59% from social media, making email marketing one of the essential marketing tools for an eCommerce business.

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Benefits of email marketing for eCommerce business:

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1) Highest ROI: Email marketing gets the highest ROI as for every $1 spent, ROI is $38, which is a 3800% return on investment

2) Boost sales: Two out of three customers make a purchase online due to an email marketing message

3) Grow your business: 81% of SMBs rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel, and 80% for retention.

4) Increase conversions using Cart abandonment emails: As per Statista, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.57%. You can send an automated cart abandonment email with a conversion rate of more than 10%. It means as compared to traditional marketing messages. You can expect a more excellent open and click-through rate.

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Fynd platform’s powerful email marketing tool keeps your customer engaged & informed at every stage of order processing, cancellation, return and refund by using customized templates designed for every event.

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eCommerce Advertising with Google

Google Ads uses a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model and is one of the most popular marketing channels, accounting for 18% of eCommerce business.

Google Ads helps connect with your ideal online shopper while they are actively searching for precisely what you're selling. By bidding on keywords or search terms, businesses can have their ads appear at the top or bottom of search results pages, in YouTube videos, and on other niche-relevant content on websites throughout the web – depending on the type of selected campaign.

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Winning the bids depend upon the relevance of your keywords, ad copy, and headlines, as well as your destination URL.

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Types of Google Ads used by an eCommerce store depends on their marketing requirements:

1) Google search Ads: The text ad search campaigns show on the top, bottom, or side of search results. These ads include a headline, display URL, and ad description using relevant keywords with substantial search volumes.

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2) Google remarketing Ads: You can test several remarketing ads, like display remarketing lists, customer list remarketing, dynamic remarketing, remarketing lists for search ads, and video remarketing. These ads help potential shoppers with more focused messaging & less ad spend.

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3) Google shopping Ads: Google shopping ads amount to 20% of paid retail search clicks. These ads are highly effective as they show high-quality product images at the top of the search results with the product brand name, price, and the online store URL.

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4) Google Display Network: These are images or text ads that appear on third-party Google partner websites as an image or block display Ad. Display Ad helps your reach shoppers looking at niche-related content and are best suited for visually appealing products. 

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5) YouTube Ads: According to Alexa, YouTube is the second most visited website on the web after Google. It is one of the best options for creating a cost-effective advertising campaign. Its advertising costs vary based on audience targeting, marketing goals & video.

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eCommerce Advertising with Facebook 

Facebook is an excellent platform for advertising & marketing as they offer a variety of ad formats to choose from:

1) Story Ads: Facebook has found that people hold their phones vertically 90% of the time. Story ads fit the entire screen and let the user enjoy a photo or video advertisement with ease.

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2) Photo Ads: It is one of the simplest ways to advertise on Facebook with texts and high-quality images related to the brand.

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3) Carousel Ads: Carousel Ads are the correct format for your business if you have a limited budget. As per Facebook, advertisers have witnessed a 30-50% decrease in cost per conversion and a 20-30 percent reduction in cost per click since the introduction of Carousel ads.

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4) Collection Ads: Facebook collection ads display a set of four or more products. It lets your audience view them all in one place and guide them on the path to purchase with clear CTAs, direct to product pages.

5) Instant experience Ads: Facebook offers instant experience ads that allow consumers to interact with your brand on full-screen with a single click. It enables advertisers to capture consumers' attention and share high-quality content. 

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Reasons to go for Facebook advertising:

Affordable Ads: The average Facebook advertising costs are $0.97 per click and $7.19 per 1000 impressions.

Reach out to website customers: Facebook retargeting allows you to show ads to customers who have visited your website.

Spread the word from friend to friend: When your target customers see your Facebook posts or ads, their Facebook friends will see them as well, doubling the efficacy of your Facebook marketing efforts.

Measure results quickly: You can track the results of your Facebook marketing efforts with the free Facebook Insights tool.

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eCommerce Advertising with Instagram

Instagram offers ads as same as Facebook like

• Story Ads

• Photo Ads

• Video Ads

• Carousel Ads

• Collection Ads

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Additionally, Instagram offers three other ad formats unique to its platform.

Instagram Shopping Ads: Businesses can use Instagram Shopping advertisements to tag products directly on images, making it easier for users to purchase instantly. With a solid call to action, such as "Shop Now," the shopping ads bring customers directly to the point of purchase and provide a seamless transactional experience. 

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IGTV Ads: IGTV video requirements need videos that must be at least 60 seconds long with a maximum length of 15 minutes when uploaded from a mobile device or 60 minutes when uploaded from the web. The ads are perfect for your eCommerce store to promote podcasts, webinars & long-form pieces of content.

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Explore Ads: Instagram users can use the "Explore" option to discover content outside of the profiles they follow. It would be best if you advertise in the "Explore" area to ensure that your company appears relevant, trendy, and reaches an audience already on the hunt for something new. These ads assist eCommerce businesses in reaching new audiences, increasing traffic, and raising brand awareness.

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Reasons to go for Instagram advertising:

Fits your budget: Instagram uses a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model that means you only have to pay if the user clicks on your post. If they don’t, you won’t pay anything.

Precise Targeting: Instagram Ads uses the Facebook advertising system, which has the most potent targeting ability & can reach the target audience location, demographic, interests & more.

Ad results: According to Instagram, which examined over 400 ad campaigns internationally, ad recall from Instagram ads was 2.8 times higher than Nielsen’s norms for online advertising.

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Conclusion

If you are just getting started with your eCommerce business, you may be wondering about the first step. You want to do things the right way, but you also want to get your first sales as soon as possible. We hope that this blog helped you understand how to get your first eCommerce sales quickly. 

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By using the Fynd platform to create your online store, you can start selling your products immediately. The team at Fynd leaves no stone unturned to give your brand good social media exposure & promotion as well. Wait no more! Book a demo now and get started today.