Marketing A Shopify Store The Do's & Don'ts

Do be specific with your customer targeting

If you are talking to one, you are talking to many. Specific targeting means you get right into your ideal customer’s persona, and what their buying mission is. A few customer traits to think about include demographics, behavioural, psychographics, what they do for a j.o.b and their fave social media platforms to engage with, which brings us to the next “Do”.

Do understand the ins and outs of Facebook, Instagram and Google

Think of social media like the kid you see tapping their mum’s arm for attention in the grocery store.  She’s focused on reading the ingredients of a cereal box. Not today, kiddo. The kid returns to the grocery store with Dad. The kid changes his body language, throws in some puppy dog eyes, and the Dad purchases. The kid is the ad. Mum and Dad are the targets. They’re on the platform.  Social media ads are interruption marketing. This means the ads won’t always result in a purchase, yet you can reach the target customer who is most likely to purchase. When you work with our team of Shopify experts, we help you find who is the best target audience with our inhouse team, some split testing on ad creative and copy so together we find the winning combo. Google search ads are industry dependent. Some industries work really well, others have better performance results on Google Shopping. The great news is, we have worked with 100’s of businesses across Australia, so we have the experience needed to help make the right decision when it comes to marketing your Shopify store.

Do bust a marketing move with retargeting

Thanks to a little piece of code known as the Facebook pixel, you can remind your prospective customers of just how amazing your products are with retargeting.   With a little correct tech set up, you can retarget customers  in ways such as these:

• Potential customers  who visit specific product pages
• Potential customers  who visit any part of your website
• Potential customers who engage with a specific ad set
• Potential customers who abandon their cart 

Retargeting sounds amazeballs, right? It is.  You will need to hit a few goals before you can unlock its true potential (don’t worry - we can help you do that, too).  To unlock retargeting on Facebook, you need a minimum of 1000 visitors on your pixel. You can retarget your visitors for up to 180 days on Facebook, and 540 days on Google. That’s some awesome customer reaching power, right there for your Shopify store. 

Do remember to utilize Google Shopping 

Google, Google. Who’s there. Customer. Customer, who? Customer who has already started searching for you.  This is a big opportunity. Huge. Why?   Because the searcher (your ideal customer) already has the intent to buy, making it the most qualified form of traffic for Shopify store owners. Direct brand searches work well, same as specific product searches. Shopify, SEO, Google, Ad design - knowing how to set this up is all part of the service when you deal with a Digital Agency that are Shopify experts.   

Before you say “here, take my money”, let’s talk about Shopify Marketing Don’ts

Prior to reading about the don’ts, let’s check in on a few things first 

• You want your business to make money
• You are passionate about your product
• You’ve invested both time and money into your Shopify store
• You want to get a return, and not be working 24/7 - you still want a life, right?

Awesome, we want you to achieve all those things (and more). So here goes.

Don’t throw money at ads without proper targeting

You might be tempted to try marketing your artisan macrame pot plant holders to craft lovers in Sydney’s northern beaches, but they may not be your ideal customer.  They may love to learn about how to make artisan macrame pot plant holders (good news, Shopify stores can sell digital courses and products, too), but advertising your physical product could see your ad budget go down the drain.

Don’t waste money on running ads without close management and optimisation

Split testing your ad campaigns, your ideal customer audiences, and knowing how to optimise those ads takes some time.  When you are running your business, you need to know whether that is the best use of your time, or if you run the risk of wasting time and money on Ads that you can’t get generating sales. As Shopify experts in Australia, our management fee includes optimisation, so your ads have the best chance at success.

Don’t set up shopping campaigns with your product names

Using the name of a product such as “Ellie bracelet” won’t take into consideration what people are searching for, if the Ellie bracelet is handcrafted from sterling silver, and suitable as a christening gift. Understanding what your customers are looking for, and why they are buying is an important part of succeeding when marketing a Shopify store, so be sure to do your keyword research.  Speaking of…

Don’t run ads without thorough keyword research

Sure, you can use the word “accessories”. You will be competing with all the types of accessories that exist in online shopping land, and miss out on reaching your preferred customer target market. Keyword research takes time, and missing this step is one of the biggest mistakes people can make that leads to terrible marketing results.   There’s a way to find the keyword sweet spot. Ready?

Don’t always go for the highest volume keyword

Consider the size of your customer niche and the size of your business.   If you are a small business with a small marketing budget, going in to compete against retail Goliaths who operate off mass-produced high volume product sales and skinny margins does not make sense.   You will end up bidding on high competition search terms, paid for by a large company with a large marketing budget.   Keep it tight, and you’ll keep it right.

Don’t feel you have to do it all on your own

Amongst all your other business tasks with your Shopify store, and algorithm updates happening on Facebook, Google and Instagram, know that you don’t have to do everything on your own to succeed.  And you don’t need to lock yourself into a contract. If you are awesome at sourcing your products, or producing your products and communicating with your customers, focus there. There’s a team of people you need right here at Dilate Digital that can help you with marketing a Shopify store.