Selling products online has become a standard in the age of internet, going back as far as when eBay started the trend in the 1990s. While eBay is still relevant, Amazon became a top choice for people to sell their wares.
Despite more places to sell online than ever, places like Amazon can’t always provide tools to make your products look appealing. You’re going to have to put some work in on your own to effectively sell well.
A lot of this hinges on photography, though not entirely. In this two-part series, we’ll look at 21 things you can do to sell better online and attract recurring customers.
Let’s look at the first nine steps.
1. Using Email Marketing to Attract Buyers
Companies use email marketing all the time to attract new prospects. Why not do the same when selling products online?
If you consider your online selling like an online store, it’s already a business. Sending emails to targeted prospects allows you to personalize the buying experience for them. Provide a link directly to your seller’s page in the email for easy access to your inventory.
Use automation software to send these emails at just the right times when you know they’ll be read.
2. Affiliate Programs
When you don’t have time to market your products on your own, affiliate programs provide a dedicated team to promote for you. The beauty behind this is that you only have to pay them when they make a sale.
It’s become a convenient way to have others handle your promotions when you simply don’t have time or enough money. Each person promoting your products gets a URL link they’ll use to lead visitors to your product page.
3. Using Pinterest as an Option
Amazon might sound like they dominate in online sales, but Pinterest has made huge gains. Statistics from a couple of years ago show 93% of active pinners at Pinterest intend to buy something.
With numbers like this, you shouldn’t ignore Pinterest as at least an equal of Amazon. The former is also a great place for product photography, a major part of selling products online.
4. Using Portrait Photography to Promote Your Brand
Don’t think product photography is the only important thing in the online selling market. Since this is a business, you should think about portrait photography as well.
An effective portrait of yourself can do a lot to make your online selling business look human. For shaping a brand, it’s also essential.
You’ll want a professional service to take your portrait.
5. Product Photography
Yes, product photography is still important, and you need to think about certain aspects of it to make it work well. Places like Amazon now demand high-resolution photography without any digital trickery. The question is, can you accomplish this on your own without investing in expensive equipment?
Your budget and skills may preclude this. With a professional product photography company, they’ll assure your product looks as appealing as possible with use in any format.
6. Using Facebook
Many people aren’t aware that Facebook can become a great place to sell your products in the online landscape. It’s possible to add a Facebook Shop Section to your main page where visitors can browse your products and buy directly.
Those who have Shopify stores frequently do this to find more customers.
7. Word-of-Mouth Through Referral Marketing
One of the oldest methods of marketing is still relevant in the digital universe. Referral marketing goes strictly by spreading word about your products and having others pass it on through social media.
You can look at this as influencer marketing as well. Influencers promote your products on their social accounts in exchange for free products, or a one-time fee.
8. Promoting Products in a Blog
Blogging is also one of the oldest marketing methods, yet not so rigid that you can’t break rules. There isn’t any reason not to blog about your online products in your blog. Doing so is one of the best ways to bring awareness if you already have a strong readership.
Regardless, avoid looking too salesy. Wrap a theme in your blog around one of your products to educate as well as promote.
9. Using Images of Your Products on Instagram
Maybe Pinterest has become the central place for product imagery, yet Instagram is still as strong as ever. Make every effort to post product images there and wrap stories around them with Instagram Stories.
What’s important is to make your products connect in a personal way with your buyers. Storytelling does a lot to turn your products into something directly helping to solve pain points.
Join us here at Visionair Photography for Part 2 of this blog as we look at 12 more ways of selling products online.