Here’s what you need to know:
-
Choose relevant platforms: Focus on communities related to your niche. For example, if you’re starting a clothing brand with fitness apparel, look for fitness forums or Facebook groups.
-
Understand the rules: Each community has its rules. Some may restrict promotional content, so it’s essential to get familiar with and respect these guidelines to avoid being banned.
-
Engage authentically: Rather than just posting ads, engage in conversations, provide valuable insights, and become an active member of the community. This builds trust and increases the likelihood that members will check out your store.
-
Offer value: Share exclusive discounts or special offers with community members. This incentivizes orders and makes members feel valued.
-
Monitor responses: Listen to feedback and adjust your approach based on what you learn about the community’s preferences and interests.
By thoughtfully engaging with online communities, you can build a loyal customer base and promote your products. Let’s look closer at 2 of the most popular options.
Reddit
Reddit is a network of communities (or subreddits) where people can connect and talk about what they’re interested in. It’s one of the best places to get to know your community.
If you’re not familiar with how Reddit works, let’s briefly touch on that. Each community (community = subreddit = group of people who share a common interest) has its own page, subject matter, users, and moderators.
What sets Reddit apart from other social media platforms? The whole community determines the voting mechanism.
Put simply, every user has the option to upvote (show support for) or downvote (disapprove of) any post. By doing so, it’s either raised closer to the top position or sinks further down in the subreddit. Posts closer to the top are more easily seen and read.
Before getting started, carefully read the site’s guidelines, wittily called “Reddiquette.” The big one to pay attention to is that too much self-promotion will lead to your account being banned. Reddit guidelines state that only about 10% of content should be self-promotion.
Additionally, each community has individual guidelines to follow. Let’s take an example: you want to join the subreddit r/AskReddit. In addition to Reddiquette, you’d follow these rules:
Source: Reddit
Facebook Groups
Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the internet, with more than a third of the world’s population using the platform monthly. This means you can reach a large audience and communicate with them directly.
Use this direct line of communication to bring in future customers! Ask for feedback on your designs, get inspiration, and grow together as a community. Also, be active: post valuable content that your audience likes and reacts to.
Staying active on Facebook is beneficial for two reasons: first, you’ll get to know your audience better and you’ll be able to develop a detailed customer profile. Second, the more active you are, the more Facebook’s algorithm will show your Group to new people (Facebook prioritizes content from Groups that users frequently engage with).
As with Reddit, read the group’s rules before joining because not every group allows promotion:
Source: A cat page on Facebook
5. Showcase your products on TikTok
With 1B monthly active users, it’s one of the fastest-growing social media platforms to date.
Source: Backlinko
Considering it’s famous for dance challenges and lip-synching, you might wonder if marketing on TikTok is worth it. We’d say definitely—depending on your target audience.
It’s a highly creative and playful environment for business owners to engage with but is popular among a more limited demographic. Most TikTok users are 10–29 years old.
If that’s the audience you’d like to connect with, explore creating a branded channel and experiment with content types. Short videos can be produced relatively quickly and with no budget. To make your first sale through TikTok, follow trending hashtags, get involved with the latest memes, and apply them to your brand.
Liz Bertorelli, the owner of Passionfruit (profile below), has successfully promoted her store on TikTok and says it’s a great way to acquire customers.
Source: Liz Bertorelli’s TikTok account
Valuable reads:
6. Collaborate with influencers
Influencers can dramatically extend your brand’s reach, providing credibility and targeted exposure to your dropshipping products.
For new ecommerce store owners, start by identifying influencers who align with your niche and whose followers mirror your ideal customers. Begin with micro-influencers, as they tend to have higher engagement rates and are often more approachable and cost-effective.
For example, Christiana Thanou, a micro-influencer in the gaming industry, would be perfect for a print-on-demand brand that specializes in tech gear.
Source: Instagram
How to create a collab with an influencer
Reach out with a personalized message, clearly stating what you admire about their work and how a partnership could be mutually beneficial. Offer free products for them to review and share with their audience. Such collaborations can boost visibility, increase traffic, and drive sales, using the trust influencers have built with their followers.
Valuable read: 5 Steps for Running the Perfect Microinfluencer Campaign
7. Use email marketing
Email marketing is highly effective for several reasons:
-
It allows direct communication with your audience
-
Can be personalized to increase relevance
-
Typically offers a high return on investment (ROI)
Plus, email marketing helps in building customer relationships and loyalty by keeping subscribers informed about new products, promotions, and content.
Click-through rate is the main metric marketers use to track the success of their email marketing campaigns.
Source: HubSpot
Valuable read: How to Increase Your Email Open Rate
A fun fact: marketers report that their emails achieve the highest engagement rates between 9 AM and noon.
8 steps to an effective email strategy
Your email marketing strategy should include:
-
Segmentation: 78% of marketers say segmentation is the most effective email campaign strategy, so group your customers based on their preferences or shopping behavior to send more targeted emails
-
Personalization: Tailor emails to individual tastes, like suggesting products similar to past buys
-
Engaging content: Offer value through promotions, product news, or useful tips
-
Clear call-to-action (CTA): Make it easy for recipients to understand what you want them to do next, like Shop now or See more
-
Consistent timing: Email regularly but not too frequently to keep your brand in mind without spamming
-
Mobile-friendly design: Since 41% of all email views come from mobile, ensure your emails look good on phones
-
Follow laws: Stick to email marketing laws (e.g., CAN-SPAM Act in the US) to build trust and avoid penalties
-
Test and learn: Experiment with different email elements to get valuable insights and improve accordingly
Subject line is the first thing the recipients see, and, in large portion of the cases, it’s the deciding factor in whether people will read your email. 47% of email recipients say they open an email based on the subject line, and 69% mark an email as spam based on the subject line.
Create urgency and boost sales with limited-time promotions:
Emphasize the time-sensitive nature of the offer to encourage quick action, using countdown timers or phrases like “While supplies last” or “Offer ends soon.”
For example, an American clothing retailer, Everlane, ran a limited-time offer where customers could choose the price they pay for selected products.
Source: WiserNotify
Promote these deals through your email marketing, social media channels, and website banners to maximize visibility. Monitor the campaign’s performance to understand customer response and refine future promotions.
9. Aim for organic traffic
What’s organic traffic? Organic traffic means visitors who come to your store from unpaid search engine results. Unlike paid traffic, which comes from ads, organic traffic is generated when people search for keywords related to your content and choose to click on your dropshipping ecommerce store or product because it appears relevant to their search.
Did you know the majority (51%) of content consumption comes from organic search? That means most people use search engines like Google to find information and products.
Source: Seoprofy
The takeaway: when you sell custom products online, you have to make your store or content discoverable through search engines. How to do that? By focusing on search engine optimization (SEO).
10. Optimize for SEO
SEO is one of the most cost-efficient marketing tactics. Content that contains relevant keywords and provides value will increase your store’s visibility and attract more people to your website. Or storefront.
