What is the best platform for promoting  an online store?

If your business is based on e-commerce, or you are thinking about having your own online store, you probably want to find out how to effectively promote it on social media. But what platform should you choose and how to use it to achieve the best results? I this article, I will show you the ideas for five niches, that you can use while planning your own marketing strategy.

1. Sports shop

• YouTube is one of the best platforms, where promoting an online store is easy, because video is a good medium to show your products in action. If you’re not an athlete, contact personal trainers, fitness models, and other people from that industry, and ask them to be in your videos. They could be instructional videos, workouts with your products in them, gym vlogs and anything you can think of. It is an expensive option, because at some point you would need to hire a filming crew to make high quality videos. Those materials could be a great asset to your brand, as they would look professional, and you can use them on other platforms as well. A slightly less expensive option is to contact people who run channels about sports, and offer them a collaboration.

• Instagram, which, against popular opinion, is not only about photos. It allows you to add short videos to your feed, but there is also an option to upload slightly longer materials on your IGTV. Here, you can present your sports gear in action, workout videos, or sport look books. A lot of people use Insta Story, so you can buy and ad there. In addition, when you publish posts, remember to use the relevant hashtags for your niche.

• Facebook – promoting a company on Facebook is nothing new. Besides the obvious choice to buy sponsored posts, you can also join groups for athletes and sport enthusiasts. Being a part of a community is great for a couple of reasons: you can do your research, build your authority, and talk to your potential customers. In the end, they are the people you want to sell your products to. You have to find out what they want, what are their problems, and needs. Remember to read the terms and conditions before advertising anything on the groups, as not all of them allow promotion.

2. Clothes and jewelry

Photos

• Instagram is on the top on that list for a reason. It is the most popular app within the fashion industry, as it is based on photos. Fashion is a huge part of the site, and I highly advise you to create an account for your company. Buy sponsored posts, stories, collaborate with influencers who have audience from your niche. But what’s most important, take care of the aesthetic of your feed and quality of your photos. When your potential customer comes across your profile, they have to instantly see what kind of brand they deal with, so remember about consistency and establish your own aesthetic. Sometimes the first impression decides if they hit the “follow” or “buy” button. It is a great idea to color coordinate your posts. Your feed will look like it’s well-thought and people can scroll through it for a long time.

• Lookbook.nu is a social network for fashion lovers. As the name suggests, it allows the users to post photos of their looks. There are many search options: you can sort looks by brands, materials, patterns etc. The main demographic of this site are young women, so if you sell men’s clothes, your options are limited here. The platform gives you the opportunity to show your style and the products you sell. What could be a better PR than the shop owner wearing clothes from their own line?

Inspiration websites

• Pinterest is a platform for sharing inspiration in a visual form (mainly photos). Users may “pin” the posts they like to the boards they create themselves. As a shop owner you can create a business account on the platform, which gives you more possibilities. You can buy ads, and choose who you want to reach. Posting styling advice, looks, and ideas on how to use the product, is a great option for the niche connected with fashion.

• Weheartit.com works similarly to Pinterest, however, the users are slightly younger. A significant part of the community are teenage women. It is a great opportunity if your brand is for young people. Such a good place for promoting an online store!

Video

• YouTube would also be absolutely helpful. If you want to create a channel for your store, you can post video look books, styling vlogs, haul videos etc. It’s worth to invest in high quality camera and spend time on editing videos, as the quality of your materials has an impact on your potential customers impression about your store. Another way of promoting your shop on this platform is influencer marketing. You can send your products to people who want to review them, or use them in their videos. Also, offer your clothes as a price in a competition or giveaway. Remember to only contact creators who have audience from your niche.

3. Toys

• When it comes to promoting online store, Facebook is an obvious choice. But how to reach relevant people? Joining parenting groups is a good idea. You can observe the community and get inspired. Look for fanpages, run by parents for parents and buy a sponsored post. If you have your own business page for your store, post high quality pictures of your products, show them from all sides, organize competitions, give away promo codes. It is a great place for such activities.

• Youtube is an awesome marketing opportunity for toy store owners. It is a television alternative, where kids watch cartoons and shows with their parents. There is a huge number of creators who focus exclusively on creating content for the youngest audience and they have a great deal of views. Collaborating with such channels will allow you to promote your products and show them in action. You can also buy video ads on YouTube, which is another awesome way of promoting this type of business.

4. Home equipment

• Pinterest would work here just as good as with fashion promotion. This platform will be great for your store, if your products are visually appealing, well-designed, or innovative and useful. Pictures of interesting interiors, colorful pottery, or tips and tricks on how to creatively use the object in everyday life, perfectly fit the aesthetic of the site and taste of its users, who can share them with their friends.

• Instagram is also a great place to promote home equipment. Photos are the core of this platform, so try to make your profile visually appealing. You can present your products on flatlay photos, which means you arrange them in a nice composition on a flat surface (for example floor or a table), and take a photo of it from the top. This way of presentation is often used by popular cooking bloggers, where they show kitchen equipment, and ingredients they use for a recipe. If you sell candles, pillows, and other decorations, this is also a wonderful way of product presentation. If you inspire your audience, they will share your photos on their profiles and buy your products for their homes.

• Youtube is such a universal platform, that I couldn’t overlook it here. There are a lot of YouTubers who run cooking, DIY, and home décor channels. Contact them and ask for collaboration. It is a great way to reach their audience, who might be interested in your products.

5. Computer equipment

• Twitch is a streaming service, where creators can broadcast live streams. The platform is perfect for gamers, so they are the core of it. It is a perfect place to promote computer hardware. Contact the creators, and pay them to promote your products. This kind of marketing is really effective as you use the platform of a person, who has been building their authority and their audience trust them.

• YouTube – as mentioned above, it is a broad and complete platform, so you can use it to promote virtually any business. With computer equipment, it’s worth to reach out to people whose channels are about gaming, reviews, and technological news. Promoting an online store on YouTube is very effective!

• Internet Forums for gamers and technology enthusiasts are a good idea not only for promotion, but also for getting to know the community of your potential clients. You can buy a banner, or just answer the questions of the users as an expert, and provide them with your materials (blog posts, links to auctions etc). Again, you should read the terms and conditions before using the forum.

Summary

If your business is not connected with any of those niches, try to think what kind of platform would be the best for your business. Choosing a medium is crucial, as marketing text or a simple picture sometimes are not enough and you would have to make a short video. The main rule is to research the demographic of each platform and plan a campaign. It’s always worth to spend a little bit more money if you know that the action would be more effective. Whether you pay an influencer, or buy an ad on Facebook, remember that reaching the right audience is more important than the number of people that see the commercial.

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