How to Build an E-commerce Brand Using Instagram When You Have No Followers

There’s a ton of advice about using Instagram as an effective online marketing tool, but it can be challenging to scale your e-commerce brand on Instagram if you are a new brand without many followers yet.

New accounts often have low engagement rates, which can be disheartening, but there are ways to navigate this period strategically.

Let’s talk about why Instagram as a marketing tool matters, how it can help you grow your business, and look at effective strategies to grow your e-commerce brand—even when you have no followers.

Why Is Instagram a Powerful E-Commerce Tool?

Today, 81 percent of people use Instagram to research products and services to buy. Therefore, using strategies to stand out from the competition and attract potential customers to your Instagram e-commerce page can reach a wider audience.

To do this, you have to understand what makes Instagram a powerful e-commerce tool.

Research shows we remember more of what we see through photos and videos than what we read through plain text. This makes visually-oriented platforms like Instagram a prime tool for marketing.

Instagram lets you upload product photos, share demo videos, launch partnerships with influencers, connect with engaged followers, and boost your ROI.

This can help you grow your e-commerce business faster than marketing only through Facebook and Twitter (which have less than half of Instagram’s brand engagement rate).

10 Ways to Grow an E-Commerce Brand on Instagram

We now know Instagram has a lot to offer marketers at all levels, but how do you capitalize on these benefits when you have no followers?

Don’t worry. Here are actionable strategies you can use today to start growing your Instagram following.

Engage With Comments and Review Feedback

Having a ton of followers is useless if you are not engaging with them. The best way to gain and maintain a large number of followers is to engage with potential customers.

Engaging with users takes mere minutes but has the potential to boost your revenue significantly.

Here’s how to get started.

Turn on notifications for all comments.
Respond to every comment you receive, be it positive or negative. This will help increase engagement on your posts.
Review feedback and see if there are areas you can improve in.
Thank users for taking the time to interact with your posts.
Avoid starting fights in your comment sections, even if you disagree with a user’s perspective. This will help you maintain a positive impression online.

Research Competitors

If you’re not sure about how to get started, look at what your competitors are doing.

Your competitors have already done a ton of the heavy lifting and collected a huge base of engaged followers. You can use this to your advantage.

All you have to do to attract your own following is to head to the Instagram profiles of your competitors and steal their audience.

You should already have a pretty good idea of who your competitors are. If you don’t, try using Instagram’s discover tool to find popular accounts in your industry.

You can also search for keywords and hashtags that relate to your brand to get started. The top accounts relating to that keyword should appear.

Host Giveaways in Exchange for Engagement

Instagram giveaways can be an excellent way to generate user engagement. You may have seen some of these in your feed.

They typically say, “like this post and tag a friend to win a free product, but that strategy might not be the most effective way to gain real followers.

Giveaways often attract people who want free stuff and are willing to like your images to get it.

Instead, ask users to upload Instagram photos about your e-commerce brand or follow your page. If you ask users to post content, be sure to share a branded hashtag to get discovered by more users.

To start, announce your contest with an Instagram post. Include the rules in the description section so people will know how to enter.

If you need help coming up with giveaway ideas, try out a tool like Woobox. The tool helps brands of all types and sizes create social media contests that drive sales, increase followers, and collect leads.

Consider offering your own products for free instead of prizes unrelated to your niche or brand, like a free iPad. Otherwise, people may only follow you for the prize rather than their interest in your brand.

Post User-Generated Content (UGC)

If you want to drive engagement, make a habit of posting user-generated content. This can be as simple as asking users to review your product in exchange for a free sample.

You can also choose to host bigger UGC contests where dozens (or hundreds) of users share their experiences related to your product and industry. This can help you reach new users you wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Customize and Optimize Your Shop

Giveaways and hashtags might be easier than a customized, well-optimized shop, but they aren’t more important.

In fact, having an easy-to-navigate and memorable storefront may increase your sales.

Here are a few ways to customize and optimize your Instagram e-commerce store for maximum visibility.

Offer promotions right in the photo or the first line of the description, so users don’t scroll past it.

Add shoppable links to your photos so customers can buy your product directly.
Keep your descriptions simple, clean, and easy to understand so new users can quickly get an idea about what your Instagram e-commerce brand stands for.
Add links to your store on other channels, including your Instagram description (or bio), website, other social media pages, and email signature.

Create a Branded Hashtag

A simple way to keep track of who is talking about your e-commerce store on Instagram is to create a branded hashtag. You can use your business name, an existing slogan, or another creative phrase.

Then, let your customers know what the tag is by adding it to your bio and encouraging followers to use it in their posts.

Later, you can search for your hashtag to find and quickly share user-generated content. You should also add these tags to your images to remind your followers about it.

For instance, when you search the tag “#topshop,” millions of photo results show popular UGC related to the brand.

User-generated images don’t just give your brand more exposure; they also give other Instagram users exposure so they can gain more followers, too. It’s a win-win situation.

Prioritize Customer Experience

Sometimes you can do all the right things and still not get satisfactory results. You used all the right hashtags, engaged with your customers, and created tons of user-generated content, but you’re still not getting many sales.

Why is that?

It could be because your customer experience is lacking.

The easier you can make for users to find, browse, and buy from your shop, the more sales you can see.

A simple way to try to catapult your sales numbers is to prioritize the customer experience.

Are you making it easy for Instagram users to find your website or buy your products? Is your storefront easy to navigate? Do you have alt-text for your images? Do you offer a prompt response to questions?

These may seem like trivial things, but a good customer experience can go a long way in helping you find lifelong customers.

Partner With Influencers in Your Niche

Instagram influencers are users with a large number of followers and a great engagement rate.

Why do they matter for your Instagram e-commerce business?

They can help you expand your brand’s reach. These individuals have hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of followers interested in hearing what these influencers have to say.

So if they recommend your product on their account, you are likely to see an uptick in sales.

How can you partner with influencers to grow your Instagram e-commerce business?

Find influencers and large accounts in your niche. For example, if you’re a beauty company, reach out to beauty bloggers and ask them for a product post.

If a user puts an email address on their profile or says something like “DM for business inquiries,” it typically means they’re interested in sharing sponsored posts.

Email or DM these accounts and ask what their standard pricing is for sponsored posts. Try and establish a relationship with these users.

If they’re willing to work with your competitor, they may be willing to work with you.

Then, make a spreadsheet comparing each account’s followers, cost per post, CPM, average likes per post, and followers divided by the average likes per post.

Pick the account(s) with the biggest payoff and lowest price.

If you’re selling an original or unique product, it may be better to ask for a review instead of a product post.

Don’t think you have to go for the big names. Sometimes micro-influencers with just a few thousand followers have a better ROI because they have a more targeted audience.

Use Product Tags

Another way to increase customer convenience is to use product tags to amplify your Instagram e-commerce sales.

Product tags let users buy products directly from the app without having to jump through many hoops.

This makes it easier for them to purchase, especially if they are browsing on the go (like most of us.)

Create Product Collections

Instagram has been working hard to create user-friendly shop interfaces to increase e-commerce activity.

Along with handy features like product tags, Instagram launched product collections, where users can browse through products from a similar category.

This image from the Instagram business blog shows that product collections make it straightforward to find what you want while scrolling through attractive pictures of the products.

Instagram E-Commerce FAQs

Do I have to pay for an Instagram e-commerce shop?

Creating an Instagram account highlighting your products is free, but you may have to spend money on advertising, shipping, taxes, transaction fees, and other tools to make a sale.

How to know if I’m eligible for an Instagram e-commerce shop?

Instagram has posted official eligibility guidelines on their help page. These include having a legal product, being located in a supporting market, and providing accurate information about your business, among other rules.

How many followers do you need to get Instagram shopping?

Unlike the 10,000-follower rule for the swipe-up feature on Instagram Stories, anybody can access Instagram e-commerce features as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

Do you need a website to sell on Instagram?

Yes, Instagram’s e-commerce rules state that your business must own a website domain from which you intend to sell your products to qualify for an Instagram shop.

Conclusion of Instagram E-Commerce Guide

Building a successful Instag r am e-commerce business won’t happen overnight, but it can be done.

Start with these strategies to get your business up and running, then look for tools, tips, and strategies to make your first sale.

Which of these Instagram e-commerce tips will you try today?

5 Ways E-Commerce Companies Can Use BrickSeek to Increase Sales

If you’ve heard of BrickSeek, you likely know it’s a powerful tool for consumers, allowing them to track down inventory and find the best deals at big retailers.

However, once you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find out there’s a lot more to BrickSeek. Far from just a customer-facing app, it has a lot to offer e-commerce companies.

In this guide, I’m going to explain how e-tailers can start using BrickSeek right now to boost their sales and revenue.

What Is BrickSeek?

I’ve written before about BrickSeek’s feature set and how consumers can use it to find hidden inventory sales, so for a more in-depth explanation of the app, check out my previous article.

However, to give a brief overview, BrickSeek started out in 2014 as a web application enabling LEGO collectors to track down popular sets online and in-store.

Then it branched out, leveraging the same technology to help users find inventory levels, sales, and clearance deals at some of the nation’s largest retailers, including:

Amazon
Best Buy
Lowe’s
Macy’s
Office Depot
Target
Walmart

Why Should E-Commerce Companies Use BrickSeek?

The same things that make BrickSeek such a useful tool for consumers also make it a potentially invaluable resource for online retailers. Think about it. Wouldn’t you love to know:

How much of a certain product your biggest rivals have in stock?
How much other brands are charging for a specific item?
Which products are being marked down, and in which locations?
Which products are attracting the most interest from shoppers?

You can find all that information and much more on BrickSeek. In other words, it can be a vital source of competitive information if you know how to use it intelligently. It’s almost like having your own network of spies inside your rivals’ warehouses. Who wouldn’t want that?

Ways E-Commerce Companies Can Use BrickSeek to Increase Revenue and Sales

If you’re an e-commerce store owner, here are a few ways you can use BrickSeek in your business:

1. Use BrickSeek to Help You Set Your Prices

Do you sell the same products as your rivals? Then it’s vital you get your pricing right. After all, 91 percent of consumers say product price impacts their online purchase decisions, ahead of factors like free shipping (78 percent), brand preference (65 percent), and recommendations from friends and family (60 percent).

Set your prices too low and you won’t earn enough margin, which eats into your profits. Set them too high and you won’t drive enough sales. Get them just right and you’re well-placed to increase sales and revenue.

That’s where BrickSeek comes in.

First, search for a product’s stock-keeping unit (SKU) or universal product code (UPC). You can either find this through the website of the retailer in question or by using BrickSeek’s built-in SKU finder:

Then run a search on the SKU, using a zip code that aligns with an area you cover, to be presented with all the pricing information for your chosen product. Now you know how much you can afford to charge.

2. Use BrickSeek to Buy Materials for Cheap

Just because you sell products to consumers doesn’t mean you’re solely a B2C business. After all, your products need to come from somewhere. If you do some of your own manufacturing, you’ll need to source your own materials, too.

In those instances, you can simply access BrickSeek as if you’re a consumer, using the app to track down wholesale-standard prices on the products and materials you require.

3. Save Time Checking Retailer Inventory

Looking for the best prices on products to sell is a time-consuming endeavor. BrickSeek helps you do it faster as you can quickly check the inventory from many different retailers.

Just enter the SKU or UPC using the same steps I described earlier, enter a relevant zip code, then hit “Check Inventory” to immediately see stock and pricing information from a given retailer on a specific product:

4. Discover Hot Sellers

Running a successful e-commerce business hinges mainly on knowing the right products to sell. This is something else BrickSeek can help you with. By checking the inventory of the retailers the platform supports, you can pick trends in products that move fast. That’s an indicator of which products you should consider selling.

5. Monitor Market Trends

The secret to success and longevity in the e-commerce industry is understanding market trends. That’s where BrickSeek’s top product searches feature comes in. By observing the products your customers frequently search for, you can anticipate trends in your niche. Monitoring market trends will help you make data-based decisions to help you stay ahead of the curve and your competitors.

FAQs About BrickSeek

Is BrickSeek.com legitimate?

Yes, BrickSeek is a legitimate tool for finding pricing information and inventory levels, as demonstrated by its A- rating from the Better Business Bureau.

How accurate is BrickSeek?

While it’s definitely legitimate, BrickSeek isn’t always 100 percent accurate, as with any third-party tool. The site freely admits retailers will not honor inventory or pricing discrepancies between BrickSeek and “real life.”

How often does BrickSeek update?

All the inventory information provided through BrickSeek’s inventory checker is collected in real-time when you do a search.

Is there an app for BrickSeek?

At the time of writing, the BrickSeek app is in beta testing and is only available to Premium and Extreme members. In other words, you can’t currently access it without a paid BrickSeek account. If you’re a paying subscriber, you can request access to the Android or iOS apps here.

BrickSeek for E-Commerce Companies Conclusion

In less than a decade, BrickSeek has gone from being a simple, niche tool for finding obscure LEGO sets to a potentially mass-market app offering huge value to consumers and retailers alike. That’s some transformation!

Use BrickSeek intelligently, and you can gain unique insights on your biggest rivals, which in turn can help you:

set competitive pricing
pick up bargain prices on raw materials and products
understand when other retailers are struggling to access stock on key product lines
figure out whether a new product is worth selling based on levels of consumer interest
keep track of trends in your market

Best of all, BrickSeek is still comparatively underutilized among e-commerce companies. By learning how to make it work for your brand, you can position yourself to beat your competition.

What do you think are the biggest reasons for retailers to start using BrickSee

Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing

How Can Ecommerce Business Startup Inventory Financing Help Your Business?

Selling goods online? Then you might need Ecommerce startup business inventory financing.

Our World Has Changed – and It’s Gone Even More Online

Ecommerce is where it’s at.

Not convinced?

While there was already a lot of online commerce, in March of 2020, due to COVID-19, a good 42% of Americans bought groceries online at least once per week. Orders for grocers from Amazon increased 50 fold!

Statista says about 227.5 million Americans were buying online in 2020, so with 330.7 American citizens, that’s just under 69% of all Americans. They are buying a lot more than groceries online. And that’s only continuing in 2021.

What is Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing?

According to Investopedia, “Inventory financing is a revolving line of credit or a short-term loan that is acquired by a company so it can purchase products for sale later. The products serve as the collateral for the loan.”

Why Can Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing Work Right Now?

Online businesses are doing relatively well right now. You already have experience with doing all of your commerce online. With a lot of brick and mortar businesses closed right now, or only tentatively reopening, ecommerce businesses can continue to do well.

Consider Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing

Use your existing inventory as collateral for business financing. You’ll need inventory valued at $300,000 or more. You can get approved for a line of credit for 50% of inventory value. Rates are usually 5 – 15% depending on type of inventory. Get funding within 3 weeks or less. It can’t be lumped together inventory, like office equipment.

But there may be restrictions on the type of inventory you can use. This can include not allowing cannabis, alcohol, firearms, etc., or perishable goods. There can be revenue requirements. There may also be minimum FICO score requirements.

Alternatives to Startup Inventory Financing

There are a number of other ways to get financing for your online business. Your business – and you – have assets beyond inventory. You can tap these assets as collateral. You can use: a 401(k) or IRA, accounts receivable, or stocks or bonds. The 401(k), stocks, or bonds don’t have to be yours. You can work with a partner with these kinds of assets.

Securities-Based Financing

Use existing stocks as leverage to get business financing. Borrow as much as 90% of their value. You continue to earn interest on the stocks pledged as collateral. Closing and funding takes less than 3 weeks.

Rates can be as low as 1.6%. This is a working capital line of credit. You will have challenged personal credit.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

401(k) Financing

Use your existing 401(k), or IRA as collateral for business financing. This program uses IRS proven strategies. You will pay no tax penalties.

You still earn interest on your 401(k). pay low rates, often less than 5%. Close and fund in less than 3 weeks. You can usually get up to 100% of what’s “rollable” within your 401(k).

Follow these steps. A new corporation is formed; a retirement plan is created to allow for investment into the corporation; funds are rolled over into the new plan. Then the new plan purchases stock in corporation and holds it. The corporation becomes debt free and cash rich.

Accounts Receivable Financing

Use your outstanding account receivables for financing. Get as much as 80% of receivables advanced ongoing in less than 24 hours. The remainder of the accounts receivable are released once the invoice is paid in full. Closing takes 2 weeks or less. Factor rates as low as 1.33%. Accounts receivable credit line with rates of less than 1% with no consumer credit requirement

Receivables should be with the government or another business. If you also have purchase orders, you can get financing to have those filled. You won’t need to use your cash flow to do so.

Amazon Corporate Credit Line

Get revolving or pay in full. You can authorize multiple buyers on a single account and download order history reports and pay by purchase order.

With the pay in full credit line, you get net 55-day billing terms to pay in full with no interest. You can set up primary and secondary accounts for multiple purchasers. And you will get a Dedicated Account Manager.

For the revolving credit line, you can make minimum payments or pay in full monthly. Pay 12.99% purchase APR (the minimum interest charge is $1). You get an option to apply as a personal guarantor to build business credit. And enjoy 24/7 Customer Service.

Amazon Lines of Credit and Working Capital Loans

If your business is eligible, you will see funding options when you log into Seller Central. Currently, lines of credit are offered by Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Loans come from Amazon Lending – specific terms are tailored to the business. Get access to loan funds within 5 days.

Kickfurther

You can finance your next inventory purchase with financing from customers and brand supporters and fundraise directly to them. The way it works is, customers buy through what’s called a Consignment Opportunity. Customers own the products they helped fund until they are sold by the brand. As soon as the products sell, the customer earns payments. Kickfurther also offers an online store for businesses to market and sell their products.

Shopify Capital

With Shopify Capital, you can get 12-month terms. Pay back with a percentage of daily sales. Borrow between $200 and $1 million. The total owed and daily repayment rate depend on risk profile.

OnDeck

OnDeck offers inventory loans and business lines of credit. Term loans runs $5,000 to $250,000, with 12-month terms paid back daily or weekly. Lines of credit run from $6,000 to $100,000. Pay back over 12 months, with automatic weekly payments.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

Get to know Our Hybrid Credit Line Program for Startup Inventory Financing

Check out this form of unsecured funding. Unsecured funding does not require collateral, but the lender’s risk is mitigated by higher interest rates. Our credit line hybrid has an even better interest rate than a secured loan. Yet you can get the money faster and easier than any type of traditional funding. Get business funding without having to supply bank statements or credit stubs. You can get funding in a few days rather than weeks without supplying any collateral or documents.

You can get some of the highest loan amounts and credit lines for businesses. Get 0% business credit cards with stated income. No financials required. These report to business CRAs. You can build business credit at the same time. This will get you access to even more cash with no personal guarantee.

You can often get a loan of 5 times the amount of current highest revolving credit limit account. This is up to $150,000. Easily five times what you could get on your own when applying for cards. Get cash out on this program as well.

Advantages

There will be NO impact on your personal credit with this type of financing. You need a good credit score or a guarantor with good credit to get an approval. With good personal credit, get unsecured credit cards with a personal guarantee. And with good business credit, get unsecured credit cards without a personal guarantee.

Check out business credit. It should be your goal to build business credit, even if you can get funding elsewhere. Business credit will help your company for years to come. Business credit is credit linked to your EIN and not your SSN.

This credit is available without a personal guarantee. It is available regardless of personal credit. You can get business credit immediately. Business credit is the only way to get money for a business when you don’t have collateral, cash flow, good personal credit, or a guarantor.

Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing: Takeaways

Due to current circumstances, online businesses are doing relatively well. You can get inventory financing for your ecommerce startup. Or use personal or business assets as collateral for business loans. Amazon and Kickfurther offer even more options. Our hybrid credit line is a stellar choice if you or a guarantor have good personal credit. And don’t forget to build business credit, for even more money for your ecommerce startup business.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

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Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing

How Can Ecommerce Business Startup Inventory Financing Help Your Business? Selling goods online? Then you might need Ecommerce startup business inventory financing. Our World Has Changed – and It’s Gone Even More Online Ecommerce is where it’s at. Not convinced? While there was already a lot of online commerce, in March of 2020, due to … Continue reading Ecommerce Startup Inventory Financing

How to Create Unique Gift Guides for E-Commerce Content

Whether it’s for a loved one or a colleague at work, getting a gift for someone is never easy.

One reason is there are billions of options to choose from. The other reason is most people don’t have the time to look through millions of catalogs to pick one.

That’s why if you run an e-commerce store, you should make it easy for your customers to select one of your products as a gift.

To do that, you must equip your customers with a gift guide to help make the selection process easier.

Why Should You Create Gift Guides for Your E-Commerce Site?

Besides making it easier for your customers to decide which of your products to buy as a gift, gift guides serve many other purposes. Here are a few more reasons why you should create a gift guide for your e-commerce site:

Gift Guides Boost Brand Awareness

One of the most significant reasons to create a gift guide is to help boost brand awareness. Particularly during holiday seasons, holiday gift guides are a popular form of content. Because they’re helpful in inspiring purchases, consumers are likely to share them with their networks. As a result, you’ll enjoy a boost in brand awareness.

Gift Guides Can Increase Sales

Every business-related activity you undertake must ultimately have an impact on your bottom line. That’s exactly why you must invest in a gift guide for your e-commerce store. A well-designed gift guide is an effective tool in helping you increase sales on your e-commerce store.

Gift Guides Provide Blog and Social Media Content

Another reason to invest in creating a gift guide for your e-commerce site is gift guides provide you with engaging content for your blog. They also make for excellent social media posts. As a result, you’ll be able to maintain high engagement rates with your target audience.

Gift guides are also able to help you achieve many of your marketing and sales goals.

How to Create Unique Gift Guides for Your E-Commerce Business

Now that you know what a gift guide is and why having one on your e-commerce is essential let’s dive into how you can create one.

1. Identify Your Audience

Audience research is one of the most critical steps in creating a gift guide. That’s because knowing your audience is key to developing accurate buyer personas.

Audience research plays a critical role in developing effective gift guides.

For your gift guide to be appealing, you must understand your target audience enough to create personalized recommendations.

Here are a few tips:

Collect Demographic Data

Demographic data refers to your target audience’s physical attributes. Examples include:

age
gender
marital status
occupation
geographic location

Understand Your Audience’s Psychographic Data

Psychographic data is information about your target audience’s:

values
attitudes
interests
personality traits
beliefs

Both demographic and psychographic data are essential to understanding your customers’ needs, pain points, and aspirations. As a result, you can tailor a gift guide that will be relevant by offering personalized product recommendations.

2. Choose Items to Include in Your Gift Guides

Once you understand your audience, the next step of creating your gift guide becomes easier: choosing the products to include in your gift guide.

Though you may be armed with rich customer data, choosing the right products to include in your gift guide can be a daunting task. A few tips to guide you in choosing unique gift ideas include:

Look at Your Sales Data

The most effective way to choose items is to look at your sales data. Your data will give you insight into:

buying trends and habits
popular products
unique segments

Besides your own sales data, you can also leverage tools like Google Trends to identify emerging opportunities in your niche.

Ask Your Customers

Another effective way of figuring out what to include in your gift guide is to ask your customers. The best way to do this is to leverage interactive content like surveys, polls, and quizzes. These will give you insight into your audience’s preferences. To leverage interactive content, you can invest in an interactive content tool. Alternatively, you can create polls on your favorite social media channels.

Consider Creating Gift Bundles

Not sure what to include and exclude in your gift guide?

Then consider creating gift bundles.

Gift bundles are an excellent way of showcasing your product range. For your bundles to be effective, you must get the right mix. Tips for getting the right mix include bundling:

complementary products from your product range
products you’ve succeeded in cross-selling
fast-selling products with slow movers

You can also consider collaborating with other brands that target a similar audience to yours but don’t sell the same products you do.

Consult Your Suppliers

Your suppliers are another avenue you can leverage to know which products to include in your gift guide. Ask them which products are moving fast in their inventory or those they anticipate to be buzzworthy.

The success of your gift guide lies in knowing which products are relevant to the season. Invest time in ensuring the products you include will resonate with your target audience.

3. Craft Headlines for Your Gift Guides That Evoke Emotions and Inspire Action

Like all other types of content, your gift guide depends on a powerful headline for success. Take your time to craft one that:

Evokes the Readers Emotions

Gift buying is usually an emotion-driven endeavor. When your customers shop around for a gift, they do so (in most cases) for someone they have an emotional connection with. Hence, they want a gift that will have an emotional impact.

That’s why your gift guide headline must evoke your target audience’s emotions.

To craft such a headline, use personalization. Speak directly to your customer by using the word “you.” You can also create emotion-evoking headlines by using words that trigger an emotional response in your readers.

Inspires Readers to Take Action

Your gift guide headline must also inspire readers to take action, preferably purchasing one of your products. To do this:

use active voice and avoid passive voice
use power words
paint a picture of the benefits of reading your gift guide

A well-written headline is essential to hooking your target audience and getting them to browse for the perfect gift for their loved one or colleague.

4. Find Quality Product Images

Once your customers click through into your gift guide, you must immediately grab their attention. The best way to do that is to use high-quality product images. Here’s an excellent example from Brightland’s gift guide:

Gift Guides - Find Quality Product Images

Besides attention-grabbing, images also help:

Give instant information: Human beings are visual creatures and process images faster than text.
Make your gift guide easy to scan: Images are an excellent way of helping your readers scan your gift guide.
Images encourage sharing: People love sharing helpful stuff they find on the internet. Those who love your gift guide are more likely to share it if you use high-quality images.

Getting the images to use in your gift guide is quite easy. Your first port of call would be to get your manufacturer’s product images. However, a better option would be to hire a professional photographer and take your own images. Doing so allows you to place your products in a setting of your choice, resulting in personalized images.

5. Determine the Format of Your Gift Guides

Gift guides come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. As you plan on creating your own, you must determine which is the best format for your guide. Examples of the gift guide formats include:

blog post
slideshow
infographic
video
social media post (like Instagram posts)

How do you know which content format to use?

There are a couple of factors you can use to guide you on the best format for your gift guide:

Your Audience

When deciding which content format to use, the first port of call must always be your audience. Check your blog and social media analytics to see which content types perform well with your audience.

The Platforms You’ll Market Your Gift Guide On

The platforms you use to market your gift guide are another factor determining the format of your guides.

Your Niche

Finally, another essential factor that impacts the format you should use for your gift guide is your niche. If you’re in a visual niche, your gift guide may not need as much text as one in a niche where info plays a bigger role in driving conversions.

6. Market Your Gift Guides

With your gift guide ready, it’s time to show it to the world.

How do you get eyeballs on your gift guide?

Here are a few tips to help you market your gift guide to the right audience.

Share It on Social Media

One of the best marketing channels for your gift guide is social media.

Market your gift guides on social media to get it in front of more people.

With over 3.6 billion monthly active users, social media gives you access to over half of the world’s population.

That’s not the best part.

Particularly when you run paid ads, you can hyper-target your campaigns to reach people who match your ideal customer profile (ICP).

Send It to Your Email List

Another excellent marketing channel for your gift guide is email. Although it’s one of the oldest and most basic digital marketing channels, email is still one of the best when it comes to marketing your gift guide.

One of the best advantages of email marketing is most of the people on your list are already interested in what you have to offer. The chances of them knowing other people interested in being gifted with your product are also high.

Another advantage of email is you can segment your email list, enabling you to create personalized messaging. You can also consider making a personalized gift guide for each segment, increasing the chances of conversion.

Leverage SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is still applicable to marketing your gift guide. While basic, it’s easy to forget to implement best practices like:

keyword research
adding tags to your images
strategic linking
focusing on user experience (UX)

Make it easy for your customers to find your gift guide when they’re looking for gift ideas. Having an effective SEO strategy is exactly what you need to do that.

Creating your gift guide is only half the battle. Getting it in front of the right people’s eyes is the other half. With your well-designed gift guide and these three gift guide marketing tips, chances of your gift guide succeeding in driving sales.

FAQ: Gift Guides Best Practices

Shopping for gifts is never easy. It becomes a more difficult task if you have a long recipient list. That’s why your customers appreciate a helpful gift guide. While we’ve covered how you can create a unique gift guide for your e-commerce site, you probably have a few questions regarding gift guide best practices. Let’s quickly answer a few before we wrap up.

Do Gift Guides Really Help Boost Sales?

There are two main reasons gift guides work so well. The first is people don’t have time for gift shopping—yet they have to. The second is there are just too many products to choose from. Gift guides solve both problems by helping your customers find and decide on what to gift their friends and loved ones.

How Do I Improve the Chances of My Gift Guide Converting?

One word: data.

Before getting started with your gift guide, you must gather all the data you can about your target audience and market. Scour your sales records, and use competitor analysis tools and any other data collection tool you can get your hands on. Use these to mine every piece of data that will help inform the design and creation of your gift guide. Doing it this way will ensure you create a hyper-targeted gift guide.

Conclusion

Creating a gift guide is a must if you run an e-commerce business. They don’t just boost your sales during holiday seasons; gift guides also help raise your brand awareness.

Gift guides are the perfect marketing tool as they attract high-intent shoppers.

That’s why you must include them in your marketing strategy. However, for them to work, you must ensure yours is unique and well-crafted. Use the tips above to create your first (or next) gift guide for the next holiday season.

Have you ever used gift guides to boost sales on your e-commerce store?

Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing

How Can Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing Help Your Business?

Selling goods online? Then you might need Ecommerce business inventory financing.

Our World Has Changed – and It’s Gone Even More Online

What is Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing?

Why Can Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing Work Right Now?

Consider Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing

Alternatives to Inventory Financing

Securities-Based Financing

Rates can be as low as 1.6%. This is a working capital line of credit. You will have challenged personal credit.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

401(k) Financing

Use your existing 401(k), or IRA as collateral for business financing. This program uses IRS proven strategies. You will pay no tax penalties.

You still earn interest on your 401(k). pay low rates, often less than 5%. Close and fund in less than 3 weeks. You can usually get up to 100% of what’s “rollable” within your 401(k).

Accounts Receivable Financing

Receivables should be with the government or another business. If you also have purchase orders, you can get financing to have those filled. You won’t need to use your cash flow to do so.

Amazon Corporate Credit Line

Get revolving or pay in full. You can authorize multiple buyers on a single account and download order history reports and pay by purchase order.

Amazon Lines of Credit and Working Capital Loans

Kickfurther

Shopify Capital

With Shopify Capital, you can get 12-month terms. Pay back with a percentage of daily sales. Borrow between $200 and $1 million. The total owed and daily repayment rate depend on risk profile.

OnDeck

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

Get to know Our Hybrid Credit Line Program

Advantages

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing: Takeaways

Due to current circumstances, online businesses are doing relatively well. You can get inventory financing for your ecommerce business. Or use personal or business assets as collateral for business loans. Amazon and Kickfurther offer even more options. Our hybrid credit line is a stellar choice if you or a guarantor have good personal credit. And don’t forget to build business credit, for even more money for your ecommerce business.

The post Ecommerce Business Inventory Financing appeared first on Credit Suite.

How to Run an Omnichannel E-Commerce Marketing Campaign

Think back to the last time you made a big online purchase. If you’re like most consumers, there’s a good chance you interacted with the brand multiple times on different channels using different devices before you paid.

The customer journey isn’t straightforward anymore (if it ever was). It’s a meandering path where customers visit brands on different platforms before converting. To successfully target and convert consumers across every channel and platform, you need a unified marketing strategy. That’s the crux of an omnichannel e-commerce marketing campaign.

This article walks you through precisely what omnichannel e-commerce looks like, why it is crucial for e-commerce brands, and how you can create your own killer omnichannel e-commerce marketing campaign.

What Is Omnichannel E-commerce?

Omnichannel e-commerce is a marketing approach that creates a unified customer experience across multiple platforms. Specifically, omnichannel retailers deliver the same experience across every channel and create a seamless experience that transcends individual platforms.

This is different from multichannel e-commerce, where brands sell across different channels but offer different experiences. While consumers may be able to shop on social media, a website, and a brick-and-mortar store, they can’t move seamlessly between them.

There is one other form of commerce: single-channel e-commerce. This is when brands only sell through one channel. That could be a traditional store, an online shop or a marketplace like Amazon. This approach limits brands to just one platform, which can be devastating if that platform makes changes.

With omnichannel e-commerce, customers hop from device to device, or platform to platform during the conversion process. As a brand, you need to keep up.

Why Is an Omnichannel E-commerce Strategy Important?

An omnichannel e-commerce experience sounds better than a multichannel or single-channel experience, right?

That’s reason enough to adopt an omnichannel approach, but it’s not the only reason you should. Omnichannel e-commerce provides a better customer experience and allows your brand to take advantage of new platforms, increase customer retention rates, and boost sales.

Omnichannel E-Commerce Strategies Provide a Better Customer Experience

Google reports that 85 percent of online shoppers start the purchase process on one device and finish it on another. Why does that matter?

Convenience rules when it comes to e-commerce; just ask Amazon. It’s not enough to offer a great selection, competitive pricing, and next-day delivery, however. Brands must show up where their customers are and offer a seamless experience when they switch devices or channels.

Take off your marketer’s cap for a second and remember that most consumers don’t view their shopping experience as separated. It’s all one journey to them, and that’s exactly how an omnichannel e-commerce experience approaches it.

As you can see from the infographic by Invesp below, customers can use an omnichannel experience in several different ways. They can:

check the availability of products
reserve or buy items and pick them up in-store
have constant access to their profile information
enjoy a personalized shopping experience regardless of platform

Omnichannel Is the Future of E-commerce

Want to future-proof your brand? Omnichannel is the way to go. Statista found e-commerce accounted for 14 percent of omnichannel sales in 2019, but it accounted for a whopping 63 percent of omnichannel growth—which means omnichannel is growing fast.

According to BigCommerce’s Omnichannel Retail report, consumers shop fairly evenly between different online stores, even though the bulk of spending happens on marketplaces like Amazon and large retailers.

omnichannel e-commerce sales distribution

Increase Customer Retention Rates and Sales

An omnichannel marketing strategy isn’t just good for customers; it can be incredibly profitable.

Customers keep coming back to stores that offer an omnichannel approach. A survey by Aspect Software finds organizations that leverage an omnichannel strategy see 91 percent better year-over-year customer retention rates than businesses that don’t. If you’re serious about generating repeat online sales, omnichannel marketing is the way to go.

Omnichannel customers are better customers in the long run, too. IDC finds these consumers have a 30 percent higher lifetime value than single-channel shoppers.

Research also shows 47 percent of shoppers who engage with brands on 10 or more channels purchase from their favorite brands at least once a week. That’s compared to 21 percent of shoppers who engage across one to four channels.

8 Tips for Building a Successful Omnichannel E-commerce Marketing Campaign

Omnichannel e-commerce marketing is essential for brick-and-mortar or digitally native brands that want to drive more e-commerce traffic and increase e-commerce sales in the years ahead.

Here’s what it takes to run a successful campaign.

Identify Each Channel’s Opportunities

Every channel is important in an omnichannel e-commerce strategy, but they play different roles. Begin by identifying where your customers spend the most time, how they interact with these channels, and the types of products they normally buy there.

Some channels are more suited to advertising particular products, while others may be better for customer service. For example, an enterprise software company probably won’t get many direct conversions from Twitter, but they can still engage prospective customers there.

Keep in mind, your omnichannel strategy shouldn’t include every single marketing platform. If none of your customers use TikTok, there’s no point creating a presence there. Omnichannel should focus on the channels your customers use.

Understand Your Customer’s Needs

An omnichannel approach should put your customers front and center. Every business likes to think they know their customers, but how much do you really know about them? Now is the time to find out.

Think about the channels where your customers hang out. What content do they like to see on those channels? When are they most likely to convert? These are the questions you have to answer.

You can use data to understand how customers interact with your brands across each channel, but don’t be afraid to speak with them directly through surveys and polls. This may help you uncover things you didn’t know about the buyer’s journey.

Personalize Ads and Messages

Customers expect more than an omnichannel experience; they expect personalization at every touchpoint on every channel. They want to land on your website and see the products they frequently buy. They expect the emails in their inbox to contain offers and marketing messages relevant to them.

The trouble is, 67 percent of marketers are not providing customers with contextual, personalized messages.

You don’t need to personalize your messaging for every individual customer, however. Instead, segment your audience into smaller groups that have the same traits. These traits can include:

demographics
shopping patterns
favorite channels
favorite products
spending amounts

Personalization strategies can even be implemented in stores. It may be a little more complicated recommending related products online, but setting up kiosks or equipping shopping assistants with mobile devices can help bring the online experience in-store.

Keep Your Brand Voice Consistent

Apple, Nike, Wendy’s; there are some companies with instantly recognizable brand voices. Why? Because they have an unfailing commitment to maintaining consistency across every channel.

It doesn’t matter if you see an Apple ad on TV or in print, read the copy on their website, or even watch one of their product launches. The language and tone of voice are exactly the same. That’s the secret to developing a great omnichannel e-commerce marketing strategy. The more consistent your messaging and tone of voice are, the less likely consumers are to get confused and fall out of your marketing funnel.

At the same time, they’ll find your message much more engaging. It’s one thing to be hit with a promotional message in an email. It’s another thing to see that same message on social media, your website, and in-store.

Your promotional strategies should also be consistent. It’s not an omnichannel marketing strategy if you’re running separate promotions in-store and online and aren’t allowing either shopper to use the other channels’ promotions.

Make Each Channel and Touchpoint Shoppable

With an omnichannel experience, customers should be able to purchase wherever they interact with your brand. Your online and brick-and-mortar stores are a given, but can they make purchases on social media channels or your app?

This wasn’t possible a couple of years ago. Thanks to some pretty significant updates on the major social media platforms, it is now possible to drive sales through Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Don’t stop there, though. Consider expanding your reach to marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy, if appropriate. As we saw in the breakdown of omnichannel e-commerce spending above, marketplaces have the second-largest share of shoppers and drive the most sales.

Sure, in an ideal world, it’s better if customers buy your products on your own website. But having customers purchase on Amazon allows you to engage with them and bring them to your website.

Keep Testing and Gathering Data

Your omnichannel e-commerce marketing campaign will need to evolve over time. Consumer habits change, new channels emerge, and existing platforms become less important. That’s why gathering data and continuing to test and refine your campaign is so important.

More data allows you to better optimize your campaign, and, ultimately, be more successful. Test your campaign as a whole and run live A/B tests on your personalized messaging to each customer segment. Tweaking headlines, body copy, and images can dramatically improve engagement and conversion rates.

Back It Up in the Back Office

There’s no point in developing a killer omnichannel marketing campaign if your backend operations can’t follow through on your promise.

Specifically, inventory visibility and management should be top of the list. Use an inventory management system that centralizes inventory across warehouses and physical storefronts, so no customer orders an out-of-stock product.

Shipping, fulfillment and returns are also important. Customers should have the ability to purchase their products in several ways, whether that’s having purchases delivered to their door or picking them up from their nearest store. The same goes for returns. In-store and online returns are essential components of a true omnichannel approach.

Conclusion

Omnichannel marketing for e-commerce stores is becoming the norm. Customers expect a seamless experience when switching between devices and channels, and it’s your responsibility to deliver it.

Omnichannel marketing significantly improves the customer experience, but it also drives better engagement, creates better customers, and leads to more sales. That puts it up there with some of the biggest factors of e-commerce success.

If you want to succeed with e-commerce, omnichannel marketing isn’t a strategy; it’s a requirement.

Want help setting up your marketing campaigns to align with your omnichannel e-commerce strategy? Let us know and our agency can help.

Which are the most important channels for your omnichannel e-commerce marketing campaign?

The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for E-Commerce

Social media for e-commerce has become a critical element in sales growth for many businesses. Using social media to boost your marketing offers many benefits to help build your business, so don’t wait to explore these valuable channels.

Sprout Social reports that after following a brand on social media, consumers continue to engage in other ways. Ninety-one percent check out the brand’s website or app, 89 percent make a purchase, and 85 percent recommend the brand to someone they know.

Let’s look at what you can do to promote your e-commerce business with social media and which tools and best practices you should use.

14 Steps for E-Commerce Companies to Find Success Using Social Media

The more people integrate social media platforms into their daily routines, the more it makes sense to market to them here. Consumers spend almost two and a half hours per day on social media channels.

Why not reach them with social posts where you know they spend a significant amount of time? For example, eye-catching posts with appealing visuals like these posts from Sephora are a great way to market products on Instagram.

Social Media for E-Commerce - Sephora on Instagram

How can you stay on top of new developments and know what you should be doing to serve your customers best? Follow industry leaders in your feeds and keep tabs on trending topics in your industry. You can also discreetly watch what other companies are doing that seems to gain traction.

While social commerce is still relatively new, it’s making a significant impact on e-commerce businesses and how they market to customers. As each platform improves its features to help users sell, opportunities grow for businesses to tap into these audiences to boost their marketing.

The steps below can help you develop best practices in your business to optimize your social media for e-commerce.

1. Define Your E-Commerce Company’s Social Media Goals

There are two main ways to use social media for e-commerce: to drive traffic to your company website or drive sales. While each can be important in its way, it’s essential to identify which you value most so you can effectively plan how to use your resources.

It’s essential to establish your goals before investing time into strategy and implementation to ensure you’re taking action to move you closer to your goals.

If you don’t set goals, you can’t measure your success or repeat what works.

2. Decide If You Want to Become a Social Commerce Company

Social commerce is selling directly to your customers on social media platforms. Everything from discovering your product or service, to a buying decision, to the checkout process happens in the app or platform they are already using.

Target’s Facebook page, for example, has a shop built right into it where customers can browse and purchase products.

Social Media for E-Commerce - Target on Facebook

You might find success with social commerce if you sell products that a potential customer can quickly evaluate online from a photo and might buy on impulse. Think lower price points and items that aren’t likely to need returning.

An apparel company might successfully sell their clothing and accessories on social media as the process suits how people tend to buy these products.

When is social commerce perhaps not a great fit? If your products or services are higher ticket items where customers want to discern quality in-person. A customer buying an engagement ring will want to spend more time evaluating options and vetting sellers than social commerce might allow.

Start by focusing on the networks your ideal customer and target audience uses the most. Take time to engage your audiences and respond to their comments and questions.

Whether or not you want to pursue social commerce for your business, you should still be investing in social media marketing. Social channels can help boost your visibility, increase website traffic, generate leads, and help you engage with your customers.

3. Create a Social Media Strategy for Your E-Commerce Company

You’ll need a social media strategy for your e-commerce company that considers your goals, your resources, and the best platforms that will help you reach your customers. Once you clarify these parts of your strategy, you can expand on each element to create effective campaigns that fit your goals.

When you work from a social media strategy, you’re also more likely to use best practices to help you be more effective overall. Get a clear idea of your target audience, where they spend time, and their worries. From here, do some research to check which platforms are most popular with your target demographic.

With this information, you’ll be better able to plan where your time and effort will pay off.

4. Determine Which Social Media Channels Your E-Commerce Company Should Target

First, look for established platforms that offer a range of features, different ways to advertise and sell products, and focused targeting. Some may appeal to you because they are an excellent fit for your products.

The apparel brand we mentioned earlier would likely want to use Instagram because it is image-focused, and consumers are already used to discovering and purchasing apparel on the app.

Next, consider which platforms attract your target demographic. You’ll want to go where your ideal customers spend time.

What kind of data might inform your decision? With some research, you might discover 60 percent of Pinterest users are women, and 98 percent of Facebook users access the site via mobile devices. From these and other data points, you’ll be able to pinpoint which platforms might be best for your business.

5. Optimize Your Social Media Accounts for E-Commerce

One of the first steps you’ll need to take is to optimize your social media accounts. Fill out your profiles completely, adding helpful information wherever you can.

Make it easy for people to find the information they need at a glance to understand your business and buy from you. Perform research to identify relevant keywords and hashtags to use so you show up in search results. Make your location obvious.

Be sure to link to pages where customers can find the products they clicked through to see. Use clear CTAs so people know what to do to buy from you.

6. Run Social Media Paid Campaigns Optimized for E-Commerce Companies

Nearly every social platform has a version of paid advertising that can allow you to raise visibility even as organic reach becomes more challenging to achieve.

There are also different ad types on each, so it can be valuable to explore the various options. You may try different types of ads on each platform. You might try retargeting ads on Facebook, but use Shoppable posts on Instagram. Take advantage of audience targeting capabilities on each.

7. Use Automation Tools

If social media is a part of your sales strategy, you’ll need to explore automation tools and use what you can. Why is automation so key to social selling? People expect timely and personal interaction on social media networks. To meet their expectations, you’re going to need help.

It’s simply not possible to run a successful business and spend every waking moment online replying to comments and answering questions. Social media is like a storefront that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week (plus holidays!), so don’t take the chance of turning people away or missing crucial requests or concerns.

8. Consider the Mobile Experience

More people are accessing social media networks and websites via their phones than ever before. When it comes to social media for e-commerce, however, mobile design is just the first step. The whole purchase journey needs to be seamless.

Payment options should be mobile-friendly. Apple Pay, for example, allows you to let users make purchases from their phones. We’ll look at more payment options further down the page.

Consider content formats as well. With more than 100 million hours of video consumed on Facebook every day, you’ll want to offer videos in vertical format for mobile users. People like convenience, a personalized experience, and to feel like they can easily navigate and engage with your site.

9. Optimize Landing Pages for E-Commerce

Optimizing your landing pages for e-commerce helps create a better user experience by providing people with all the information they need to make a buying decision.

If they click through to your site, you want them to understand quickly they’re in the right place. They should be able to move seamlessly to purchasing the item they wanted.

Ensure you have high-quality product images and videos, if appropriate, with well-written product copy outlining features and benefits. Include sizing or specifications on the product page and clear calls to action (CTAs) to help them convert.

10. Create Clear CTAs on Social Media Optimized for E-Commerce

CTAs are what motivate your user to convert to a customer. Take the time to craft these carefully and include them in each interaction you have with potential customers.

You can use different CTAs, like asking questions, including hyperlinks, or simply adding clickable buttons. Your page design might include banners with clear offers, sidebar clickable buttons, or pop-up ads to help customers convert.

11. Ensure Easy Website Navigation

User experience (UX) should be your priority when you launch your e-commerce site. You want shoppers to find products quickly and understand how to move from browsing to purchasing without confusion.

The easier you make it for people to buy from you, the better the chance they’ll convert from visitor to customer. Keep your navigation simple to understand and avoid design elements that are too unusual for people to use easily.

Organize your site information with clear labels for product categories and avoid tricky navigation styles that could create confusion.

Social Media for E-Commerce - H&M site navigation

12. Offer Easy Payment Options for Customers

If you’re going to run a successful e-commerce site, you need to offer reliable and trustworthy ways for people to pay for your products and services.

You can explore a wide range of payment options for your e-commerce business, each with its features and policies. Options include Square, PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and many others.

Some social media platforms allow customers to purchase directly from the app, depending on what features you choose to use. A few of these options include Facebook (with Facebook stores, Messenger Chatbots, and Ads), Instagram (with Stories, Shopping, Live, IGTV, and Ads), and Pinterest (with Promoted Pins, Rich Pins, and Shop the Look Pins.)

You also can investigate third-party websites as a way to advertise and sell your products. Keep reading to learn more about a few of these that may support your e-commerce business.

13. Advertise and Sell on Third-Party Websites

There are other options for boosting your sales beyond your website. Third-party websites allow you to benefit from established functionality and huge audiences while building your legitimacy and website traffic.

One example of third-party website selling is Amazon. While shoppers on Amazon may realize they’re buying from you instead of directly from the retail giant itself, you still benefit from the credibility of their brand and purchasing capabilities. You also get to tap into their vast audience of visitors with a solid intent to buy.

Another option is using sites like Like to Know It, which allows readers to purchase an item or items from an Instagram post by linking the product emailed to them.

RewardStyle is an invitation-only affiliate network focusing on lifestyle, fashion, and beauty products, allowing sellers to earn money through content creation featuring certain products.

14. Track the Success of Your E-Commerce Company’s Social Media Strategy

It’s essential to track your strategy’s results as you implement your ideas, so you can accurately analyze your successes and where you need to improve.

Choose quantifiable metrics representing engagement (such as likes, shares, comments, or retweets). Track your website traffic and how much traffic you are getting from your social media channels. Keep track of sales generated by social media marketing and sales completed online or through your campaigns.

It’s not always easy to tie your efforts to your results, but you can try. With specific metrics, you’ll be better able to repeat the working tactics and revisit the areas that don’t seem to be offering you the same return on investment.

Conclusion

Social media is a big part of everyday life for many people and offers an excellent opportunity to get in front of potential customers and sell your products and services. You can use various platforms to strengthen your brand, increase sales, and develop loyal fans.

If you also sell online, using social media for e-commerce is a natural step for your business as you plan future growth. If you haven’t tapped into the benefits of social media marketing yet, start now, so you don’t miss out on the opportunity it represents.

With the steps outlined above, you’ll be ready to reap the benefits of social media for your e-commerce business. If you haven’t explored these options or want some help to make them work for you, reach out for digital marketing support.

Have you invested in social media for e-commerce in your business? Which of the above tips will you try next?

10 E-Commerce Examples of the Best Instagram Bios

If you run an e-Commerce brand, there’s a good chance you have an Instagram account. How much time do you spend on your Instagram bio, though? You probably spend far more time crafting great-looking posts and engaging stories.

How long should E-commcerce companies spend writing their best Instagram bios?

It’s important to have an excellent bio since it’s one of the first things a user sees when they visit your Instagram profile. Often, however, it’s often an afterthought for brands that care more about their posts than their profile as a whole.

That’s a mistake. Bios aren’t user’s first impressions of your brand and set the tone of the whole account. Your brand’s bio needs to grab the user’s attention and get your core USPs across as quickly as possible.

Doing so is far from easy, however. That’s why I’ve drawn up a list of 10 of the best Instagram bios so you can see how it’s done.

10 Best Instagram Bios for E-commerce Businesses

When in doubt, I find it best to look at what’s working for the top brands in the industry. As they say, good artists copy, great artists steal.

Below, I’ve compiled some of the best ecommerce Instagram bios out there right now and highlighted what makes them so effective.

1. BarkBox

BarkBox is a monthly subscription box of dog treats and toys serving over one million dogs across the country. You knew that already, though, from their very descriptive Instagram bio.

That’s one of the reasons this bio is so good. Even if you’ve never heard of BarkBox before, you know exactly what they sell as soon as you read the first line.

That’s not the only reason I love it. BarkBox also does a great job of pointing consumers to other profiles they might like. Parent company Bark gets a shoutout, as does Super Chewer, the company’s extra tough toys. It’s topped off by a hashtag that shows users how they can get involved by posting their own content.

2. MVMT

Best Instagram Bios for E- commerce Businesses - MVMT

MVMT sells premium yet affordable, American watches, sunglasses, and other accessories. They have a big Instagram following, and for a good reason. Not only do the brand’s posts look cool, but almost all of them are shoppable with the click of a button.

MVMT begins its bio with an emotive call to action that sums up what the brand stands for. Like BarkBox, MVMT uses hashtags to encourage audience engagement and point users to a sister brand. Most important of all is the call to action at the end of the bio, which tells users about their brand new watch range.

3. Pela Case

Best Instagram Bios for Ecommerce Businesses - Supply

Pela Case makes the world’s first compostable phone case, along with several other accessories like sunglasses, watch straps, and AirPod cases.

Sustainability is key for this brand, and they use the globe and seedling emojis to make that point very clear. They also use emojis to highlight their CTA link as well as bullet points to give the bio a clear layout.

The succinct way that Pela sum up their USPs also makes this bio stand out. The most important facts about the brand are made clear in the first two lines. If that weren’t enough, they also update the bio regularly. In the screenshot above, for instance, they’ve got an International Women’s Day-related CTA.

4. Supply

Supply is a razor and grooming company that was featured on Shark Tank. Humor is the order of the day for Supply. Their bio lists a series of real-life reviews by well-known organizations and ends with a self-deprecating one-liner that shows the brand doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Supply doesn’t stop there, however. Their CTA also uses humor and intrigue to increase the likelihood that users click on their URL significantly. This brand knows their target audience loves this kind of humor, and they execute it perfectly.

5. Who Gives a Crap

Best Instagram Bios for Ecommerce Businesses - Who Gives a Crap

Who Gives a Crap sells bamboo and recycled toilet paper. It also donates 50 percent of its profits to improve sanitation in the developing world.

Who Gives a Crap is another brand that uses emojis to grab user’s attention and structure their bio. In doing so, they’re able to get across a huge amount of information in a small space. You know what they do, why they do it, and the product’s USPs. You even know where they ship, too. It’s not even a struggle to read it!

6. Brooklinen

Best Instagram Bios for Ecommerce Businesses - Brooklinen

Brooklinen is a DTC brand selling luxury bedding. They put comfort and quality before everything else and that shines through in their stylish bio and account.

At first glance, Brooklinen’s bio may not look particularly special. There are no emojis, for instance, but that’s because they aren’t on brand. Instead, there is a very specific call to action, which is to visit their store in person.

This is what makes Brooklinen’s Instagram bio so good, in my opinion. While other brands focus on driving you to their online store, they show they aren’t just an ecommerce store—you can see their products in person, too.

7. Haus Laboratories

Best Instagram Bios for E-commerce Businesses - Haus Laboratories

Haus Laboratories is the beauty brand from Lady Gaga and that’s not something they hide in their Instagram bio. That’s a good thing since it’s probably the brand’s biggest selling point.

Next, the brand sends a powerful and emotive message to readers, showing they aren’t just a faceless make-up brand. Finally, they use emoji to capture Lady Gaga’s tone of voice and point users in the direction of their CTA. A Gaga-reat job all around.

8. MeUndies

Best Instagram Bios for Ecommerce Businesses - MeUndies

MeUndies sells what they claim to be the most comfortable underwear in the world. Their branding is fun, bold, and colorful, and they make a point of getting that across in their Instagram bio.

A clever pun in the first line gets the bio off to a great start and is quickly followed up by a cheeky peach emoji. The heart emoji is in an on-brand color and highlights the fact that a new design is on sale (a common feature of MeUndies). If that weren’t enough, another emoji points users in the direction of the CTA link where users can shop. Peachy.

9. The Sill

Best Instagram Bios for Ecommerce Businesses - The Sill

The Sill sends indoor potted plants directly to your door. Their offering is all about making your home look great and their branding reflects the elegance plants can add to your home.

Their Instagram bio drives that brand promise home in the first line. Selling “the best looking plants on the internet” is a bold claim, but it’s the kind of claim that will make users spend time browsing their posts to find out. That’s a win right there.

The Sill also uses a hashtag to let consumers browse user-generated content for added social proof and uses an emoji to break up the copy. A beautiful job all around.

10. American Giant

American Giant is an American clothing brand that aims to make better clothes right here in the U.S.A. This belief in making better quality products, with better materials, and better techniques is one of its core USPs.

No wonder their tagline is mentioned in the very first line of the bio. They reinforce that tagline with a crystal clear message about making high-quality clothing in the U.S. and back that up with an American flag emoji, in case there was any doubt.

The bio is topped off with call-to-action encouraging users to create their own content with the brand’s hashtag and a link to their store.

How to Create the Best Instagram Bio for Your Ecommerce Business

You’ve seen how the biggest brands in the industry do it; now it’s time to create your own. Here are a few tips to help you get it right.

1. Include a Call to Action

Is it a piece of marketing material if it doesn’t have a call to action? I don’t think so, and your Instagram bio definitely is one.

Instagram followers shouldn’t land on your profile and ask “now what?” Instead, give them a clear and obvious action to take. It’s even more important on Instagram because your bio is the only place in your profile where you can place an outbound link. Don’t waste it!

Calls to action for E-ommerce brands could be to visit your store, shop your profile or sign up for your email list. You don’t have to stop at one CTA, either. You could recommend users follow your sister brand’s account (like BarkBox), visit your store (Brooklinen), or get in touch with support (The Sill).

2. Incorporate a Brand Hashtag

Hashtags are a great way to encourage user-generated content (UGC). Encouraging UGC should be one of your top goals on Instagram. User posts featuring your products are great at generating buzz and providing much-needed social proof.

Adding a hashtag also gives consumers a way to quickly search your own and other users’ posts about your brand, which is great for users who aren’t familiar with who you are and what you sell.

2. Be Creative

Trust me, when you look at dozens of Instagram profiles a day, the creative ones really shine through. The more your bio stands out from the crowd, the more likely users are to stick around, view your posts, and maybe even hit follow.

It could be how you layout your profile, what you say, how you say it, or the emojis you use. While you should definitely learn lessons from the brands above, please don’t copy them completely. Forge your own path. 3.

3. Show Your Brand’s Personality

One of the best ways to be creative is to let your brand’s personality shine through in your bio. You’ve worked hard to develop your brand’s unique tone of voice, so make sure you use it when crafting your copy.

It won’t just give new users insight into the kind of brand you are, it will make regular customers feel at home.

4. Be Concise

You only have 150 characters to work within an Instagram bio, so brevity is essential. Don’t waste time explaining who you are. That’s what your name and profile image are for. The focus should be on the what and the why.

You need to explain what sets you apart from competitors and what your brand stands for if you want users to hit follow. If it’s not obvious to users, they won’t waste time trying to work you out.

6. Make It Readable

While you may not have many characters to use in your Instagram bio, you do have plenty of space to play with. Make sure you use it.

Rather than write two or three sentences in a row (however witty or concise they are), try adding line breaks or emojis into your bio to make it as easy to read as possible.

A bullet point list of short, punchy sentences is much easier to read. Don’t forget to prioritize your layout for mobile devices, either. Very few people, if any, will be looking at your Instagram page on a laptop or desktop computer.

7. Use Emojis

Emojis are a great hack to make your bio both readable and concise. They may not say one thousand words, but they can save a few dozen characters when used well.

They are also a great way to break up your copy and help users see what your brand is about.

Emojis don’t work for every brand, however, especially if you sell serious or business-orientated products. Even brands that don’t rely on humor (like American Giant) can use specific emojis in a subtle way.

8. Add Keywords

I can feel you raising your eyebrows about using keywords on Instagram, but hear me out. While your profile name and handle help people to find you, Instagram will also use what you write in your bio to determine what your page is about.

That makes it essential to have your most important keywords in there somewhere. Look at BarkBox, as an example. They have “toys, treats, and chews” in their bio for that reason. Pela Case has “compostable phone case” too.

The good news is if you create a succinct and concise bio, you’ve probably included keywords already. If not, pick the one or two that are most important and include them in your first line.

Conclusion

Instagram is probably the most valuable social media platform for E-commerce brands, but bios are regularly left as an afterthought.

Not your brand, though.

You’ve seen some of the best Instagram bios and understand what features make their bios stand apart from the rest. Now it’s time to craft your own powerful bio that captures users’ attention and directs them to your store.

Be concise, show your brand’s personality, and don’t forget to include a clear call to action.

If you need help for developing your social media strategy (and content marketing and SEO), reach out. We can help you!

What steps are you going to take to improve your Instagram bio?

6 Alternatives to Amazon For E-commerce

With a net worth of $1.7 trillion, Amazon has dominated the e-commerce sector for years, leaving many of its competitors in the shade. But are there alternatives to Amazon?

With an audience as vast as Amazon, small business start-ups and solo entrepreneurs flock to the site to sell the products, get established, and build their enterprises. Despite the audience Amazon offers, you may want to look for other online venues to list your items.

There are many good reasons to broaden your e-commerce horizons.

First, it makes little sense to put all your eggs in one basket. Second, selling on a wider range of marketplaces gets your products in front of a larger audience. And finally, looking at the other choices available could save you money on fees, or get you closer to your target buyers.

Below are some viable alternatives to Amazon. We’ll look at their advantages, their fee structures, and what makes them different.

Why You Should Use an Alternative to Amazon for Your E-commerce Business

We already touched on one of the main reasons to seek other venues: the perils of depending on one sales platform.

It’s not unheard of for sellers to have their accounts blocked. If you haven’t already established yourself on one of the alternatives to Amazon, your business could tank.

However, by setting up multiple accounts with different marketplaces, you’ve got greater flexibility if things go wrong. Plus, you can use other online platforms to test out which ones are the best for your products.

And there are other benefits in finding additional marketplaces, like:

Greater Flexibility

All e-commerce sales platforms have some measure of control over your business. They determine:

What products you can list
The terms and conditions of doing business
Your payment options
Shipping fees

These terms might not be suitable for your business. So, If you’re looking for greater flexibility, then seeking alternatives to Amazon is a good idea.

Better Customer and Vendor Support

Perhaps you feel the vendor or customer support is lacking. Amazon provides useful resources for sellers, like its university. But some sellers feel seller support is sometimes thin, especially when things go wrong.

More Shipping Options and Lower Fees With Some Amazon Alternatives

Amazon has changed its fee structure over the years, bringing frustration to some.

Amazon sets its professional selling plan at $39.99, with individual plans available free. And referral fees differ, depending on which category you’re selling in.

Shipping is a further reason to consider seeking alternatives as individual sellers on Amazon lack flexibility over their shipping costs.

If you’re looking to cut fees or branch out, then signing with some alternatives to Amazon may allow you to further scale your business while reducing costs.

Amazon Alternative Payment Choices

If you’re a seller on Amazon, you’ll know it makes payment via ACH or electronic funds transfer. Amazon distributes these payments to your bank account every two weeks, and they can take up to five days to clear.

But that doesn’t always work for everyone. If you’re a small business and cash is tight, signing up to e-commerce platforms with a broader range of payment options can improve your cash flow.

What to Look for in an Amazon Alternative

Before you search for alternatives to Amazon, you need to decide what you want from your business. You’ll need to consider the products you’re selling and your target customer, too.

For example, if you’re selling printable products, Etsy could be an excellent choice. Or, if you’re looking for consumers who understand tech, you may find Newegg works well for you.

Other areas you’ll want to think about include:

Ease of Use

Marketplaces that allow you to add items efficiently mean you can list more products in less time. But you’ll want to view any alternatives to Amazon from your customer’s perspective too.

How important is the ease of use? Well, if you note some recent research from Digital Commerce 360 and Bitrate, you’ll see this is a significant factor in the buying decision.

When researching new platforms, perhaps test them out for yourself and consider areas like:

Navigation
Ease of checkout
Payment options
Shipping choices

User Types

Think about your ideal consumer and the type of users the platform attracts. For example, eBay is huge, with 182 million active buyers. It’s great for snapping up limited-time deals, brand name products, and pre-loved items.

However, it’s not always the first place shoppers think of when looking for handmade goods or unique items. They’re more likely to head somewhere like Etsy.

Fees

Fees can take a considerable chunk of your profits if you’re not careful. Depending on the fee structure, some sites may not be suitable if you’re selling smaller, lower value items.

If you need some help in this area, fee calculators are helpful. Here’s a list of the well-known ones.

Best Alternatives to Amazon for E-commerce

What are some of the best Amazon alternatives when you’re looking to sell your products online? Let’s look at some of the top options, in no particular order.

Bonanza

Established in 2007, Bonanza has built itself a loyal following, with a vast range of categories. Sign up is free, and fees are straight forward. Final offer value fees are 3.5 percent for sales under $500. Sales over $500 attract an additional 1.5 percent fee.

Although it’s much smaller than Amazon, Bonanza has some advantages over its larger rival. They include a greater emphasis on building customer relationships and developing a sustainable business through repeat customers.

Equally appealing to sellers is the marketing tools Bonanza provides. These give you access to valuable data about product performance, allowing you to spot trends, optimize listings, and better market your items.

Other features include:

Automatic syncing with eBay, Amazon, and Shopify
Customized marketing tools
Image editing tools
Google integration
High level of customer support.

But what makes Bonanza stand out is its focus on unique items. It’s not trying to be another Amazon. As Bonanza puts it, it’s a site where you’ll find “everything but the ordinary”.

eBay

One of the most prominent alternatives to Amazon is eBay. Like Amazon, eBay has made considerable changes since its launch back in 1995. Over the years, eBay’s focus has moved away from the collectibles market it used to cater to, and it’s now more product-based.

Many famous brands like Rolex, Hasbro, and Microsoft make their goods available via ebay.com brand outlet site, enabling consumers to bag a bargain. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a place for more unusual or collectible items.

On eBay, listing fees and final value fees vary, but it sets many of its final value fees at 10 percent or less. If you need to calculate fees before listing, use an eBay fee calculator.

Some advantages of selling on eBay are:

A more comprehensive range of categories
More payment options for shoppers, like a credit/debit card, PayPal, and local collection. Sellers can also accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, and gift cards through managed payments.
Improved branding through eBay stores and marketing materials

What makes eBay stand out, though, is its auctions. Auctions may not be ideal for every business. However, sellers who specialize in collectible or rare items may find the bidding pushes their final sales price up higher than they could’ve imagined.

Etsy

If your business primarily sells printable products or art and craft items, then Etsy might be for you. Of the many alternatives to Amazon, Etsy has perhaps one of the most affordable and straightforward pricing approaches.

Each listing costs just 20 cents, and the listing is good for four months. Then there’s a five percent transaction fee for goods that sell. Payment processing fees are variable and depend on location. If you want to grow your business further, Etsy Plus is available at $10 a month.

Re-listing is simple, too. Just select the auto-renew option, and there shouldn’t be anything else to do on your part.

Advantages of selling on Etsy are:

Greater customization over how your store looks
Ideal for beginners
Lower fees
Sellers can list collectibles and vintage items on Etsy

That’s the advantages, but there are a couple of possible disadvantages worth mentioning. First, Etsy is much smaller than Amazon, which means there’s intense competition, so your products need to stand out.

Second, although fees are cheaper, you may make more sales on Amazon Handmade because of its larger audience share.

Walmart Marketplace

Amazon dominates e-commerce, but Walmart is gaining ground. Recent sales figures show Walmart’s e-commerce sales have soared by 74 percent. This stat means if you’re looking for alternatives to Amazon, Walmart could be promising.

Like Amazon, Walmart now offers a fulfillment service. Although storage and fulfillment fees apply, Walmart’s fee structure is less complicated than Fulfillment by Amazon, and referral fees are competitive.

alternatives to amazon walmart interest form

In addition, with Walmart’s marketplace, there’s no start-up or ongoing monthly fees. However, you’ll want to factor in other costs, like unique product codes (UPCs).

Advantages of selling on the Walmart marketplace include:

Lower costs
Less competition due to buyer/seller ratio
Price control over inventory

What makes the platform different? Unlike Amazon, Walmart’s marketplace is only open to invited brands. You can’t just register and start selling. But you can sign up.

To register your interest in selling, Walmart asks businesses to fill out the interest form.

Newegg

Newegg has gained a reputation as the top global tech marketplace online. But it also sells apparel, home and lifestyle products, sports/health-related items, TVs, and plenty more.

As for fees, non-elite membership is free. Elite membership has two tiers ranging from $29.95-$99.95 a month. Commissions vary, with the highest being 12 percent.

Advantages of selling on Newegg include:

Can be cheaper for tech products
Attracts tech buyers who are knowledgeable about products
The Newegg search engine makes finding electronics and components quicker
Customized marketing for businesses
Various payment choices for sellers including weekly ACH payments, PayPal, Wire Transfer, PingPong, Payoneer, and World First
A wide range of payments for buyers, including PayPal and BitPay

But it’s the multi-channel fulfillment option that may interest sellers the most. If you’re selling from various platforms, Newegg provides a central point to manage all your orders.

Shopify

When you sell on a third-party platform, you have limited control. Many online sellers favor setting up their stores the Shopify platform.

The site offers new sellers a 14-day free trial to get them started. After that, a basic Shopify store will cost you $29 a month. Online credit card rates are 2.9 percent + 30 cents. And you should find it easy enough to start selling.

Once you’ve signed up for the free trial, the next steps are to:

Add products
Selecting images
Set shipping details
Customize pages for search engines using keywords
Create main pages
Customize store

The benefits of Shopify include:

Highly-rated customer support and selling features
Greater customization
Large range of e-commerce tools and apps
Access to the e-commerce university
You can accept a large range of currencies

Conclusion

There are a variety of reasons you might be looking for alternatives to Amazon. Maybe you want a platform that provides a wider range of payment options, a site that’s more niche, or you just want a more extensive selection of online marketplaces to sell your wares.

As you can see, there are many venues available, and they all have their advantages. Sites like Bonanza have established a loyal audience, and Walmart’s e-commerce presence is growing strong.

Niche sites such as Etsy and Newegg are ideal for specialist items, and eBay offers greater customization and various selling methods, including auctions.

If you want to go it alone, there’s always Shopify, where you can set up and market your own e-commerce business.

Are you an online seller? Tell us about your favorite platform and your experiences below.

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