"Working with bloggers isn't a new growth tactic for online retailers," says Dennis, "but the approach Frank Body took was interesting."
"From the very beginning, Frank Body focused on authentic, peer-created content to increase brand awareness. Even before they had a website, Frank Body sent thousands of product samples to what they considered Instagram micro-stars in Australia—mostly makeup artists and estheticians."
Below is one example of a real Instagram post.
What's unique about this post is that the blogger states upfront: "This is NOT an advertisement. I'm obsessed with @frank_bod products."
However, simply sending products to a few Instagram influencers isn't enough. The Frank Body team did three things that determined the success of their collaboration:
They had a great product thatwas unique and new to the market. Bloggers were excited to try it out.
They emphasized the need for real reviews from bloggers. All they asked for was reviews and posts on their Instagram pages if they liked the product. And they did. This demonstrates a trend away from "glossy" blog posts and toward more lively sharing of personal experiences with the product.
"They combined this campaign with a customer-focused user-generated content campaign, vietnam cell phone database using the same hashtags and image style. This increased the credibility of the bloggers' posts.
The result? This original collaboration with bloggers was a hit. The microbloggers' followers became envious. They wanted to get their hands on the product themselves and couldn't wait to order it.
What can we learn from this example? Dennis says, "Don't just aimlessly send products to influencers hoping for a viral effect. Focus on those who influence your niche audience, highlight the 'one thing' that makes you better than anyone else, and make that experience believable while maintaining the quality of your own product."
Promotion with Email Marketing
“We have the advantage of working closely with online retailers on their marketing initiatives, and we consistently see that email marketing generates a higher ROI than any other customer acquisition channel,” says Josh Reyes of SmartrMail.
Reyes: "The algorithms that underpin social media and the Facebook-Google duopoly have led to ever-increasing costs of doing business and reaching customers for online retailers. Email allows retailers to maintain close relationships and reach their most loyal customers, while budding startups can build armies of influential users."
Meg Coffey of Coffey & Tea agrees: "Focus on your email base. Email is the one thing that algorithms don't work on."
In fact, even if you initially use another channel to promote your online store, you should also use that channel to grow your email list. As David Balogh of BOOM Marketing puts it, "We use many online marketing channels—bloggers, social media, and paid advertising—but we only want one thing from our customers: a newsletter subscription."
"Right now, we're doing this through a giveaway campaign," says Balogh. "That's how we build our email list, and we primarily promote our giveaways on social media. Once we receive someone's email, we use our built-in email marketing automation system so that once they're on our list, we're ready to sell to them if their actions indicate they're ready to buy."
But even if you don't focus on social media marketing alongside email marketing, you can start building your email list from day one. Katie Bolton of Jaywing Australia says building such a list is as simple as "embedding an email subscription form on your website."
According to Arvind Krishnan of Swym Corporation, collecting contact information from your earliest visitors "allows you to engage with them over time and leverage that engagement to drive conversions. It's a great way to maximize value on a sustainable basis."
SMM for online stores
"It's important to start with social media marketing from the very beginning," says Zach Johnson of Blogging.org. "This includes building a follower base and ensuring a presence on all platforms."
Samuel Meyers of Glacier Wellness agrees: "The genius of social media marketing is that it's designed to spread ideas and news quickly. As a result, it should be one of the first channels for new businesses to gain reach and drive traffic to their stores."
As for which social channel to focus on, Meyers highly recommends Instagram for online stores: "Thanks to its unique format, we've found Instagram to be particularly effective at growing an audience. Unlike other social networks, which focus on delivering what you already like, Instagram anticipates user interests and delivers new content."
While you're organically growing your social media following, you might also want to