So you have invested time, effort and money in building a website and launching a new product, now what? Do you think, all you have to do is just sit and wait for all the cash to fly in?
Hate to break it to you but customers are not going to find your website and start buying your product if you are not doing anything about it after the launch. So, how to get from the first phase where no one knows you to the second phase of your first 100 customers who are willing to pay for your product (or service)? Here is a comprehensive list of a few tactics that can help you in getting your first 100 customers.
Reach out to your existing network
When you are looking for those initial customers, the first step is to reach out to the people you already know. It is totally fine to contact your friends, family and professional connections as they all come under the existing network. Think of the people in your existing network who may be interested in buying your new product (or service) or if they know anyone else who might be interested. One main benefit of starting with your existing network is that you will be most comfortable around these people as you already know them.
Reaching out to your existing network does not necessarily mean you have to sell something to them. Think of it as an opportunity for you to learn something about potential customers and how your product (or service) can resolve any existing issue that these potential customers might be facing.
You can start with some questions such as:
- Have you ever tried a product (or service) like X?
- What are your thoughts on an existing product (or service)?
- What you dislike about an existing product (or service)?
- Have you tried anything else? Did it work? If no, why?
If you have a list of previous/existing customers, don’t be afraid to contact them. Even if none of them have a direct interest in using your product (or service), they might share your product (or service) information with their network.
Blog away
What’s holding you back from writing blog posts for your eCommerce business? It certainly takes a lot of hard work to write content but writing blog posts about your product (or services) and your business in general is a great long-term strategy. You can use your blog to give a sneak peak of your new products before the official release. Not only does this create anticipation, but it will create more engagement. This strategy can easily excite your customers towards your new product(s).
See Example: You can see in this example that a company is giving a sneak of their new product and how everybody is getting excited about it in the comment section while looking forward to the launch.
Blogging is one of the best way by which you can educate your customers about your products/services that you offer. This helps you as a business owner to bring more value to your brand. When you provide useful information to the customers about your products, they are more likely to buy products from you. You can use your blog for providing tutorials in regard to the use of your products.
For example: If you have an online store that offers computer parts. You can write tutorials about how to build a computer or how to make your computer’s performance better. While talking about these things, you can mention products in the tutorials and provide link to your products within the blog post from your website. Your potential customers might get different ideas of using your product and will likely to buy products from your online store.
A few tips for blogging about your eCommerce business are as follows:
- Post regularly
- Create a plan
- Share case studies
- Ask your readers to comment back
Fun Fact: Did you know that 92% of companies who decided to blog acquired customers through their blog? (Survey by Hubspot)
Start building that email list
If you are able to get first 100 customers from your existing network, GREAT! But, sooner or later you will have to approach strangers as potential customers and pitch your product (or service) to them.
Email marketing is one of the best ways to launch your product (or service) that virtually guarantees a sale. Today, online businesses are making use of all possible channels to market their store sites and attract more customers. Email marketing continues to be one of the top marketing channels that every retailer likes to use. ROI (return on investment) is one of the most captivating reasons why email marketing is beneficial in promoting your eCommerce store.
Some retailers think that email marketing was killed by spam, facebook, twitter and blogs. Well, the surveys tell a complete different story. If emails are kept short, interesting, and relevant by providing the customers (recipients) an option to unsubscribe, it does bring the revenue. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is responsible for bringing in $40 for every $1 spent (reference).
Start building an email list of potential customers and use email marketing to:
- Launch your product
- Descript your product
- Educate audience / potential customers about your product
- Promote your product
How you as a business owner (or startup) got those first 100 customers? Let us know in the comment section below.
Author: Lavish Kumar