How to Market Your Shopify Store with SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is all about making your website visible on Google. It is ideal for businesses looking to establish a long-term, sustainable online presence. It’s especially suited for Shopify store owners who want to attract organic traffic and build brand authority over time. If you have a strong product offering, a well-designed website, and the patience to invest in gradual growth, SEO can be highly beneficial.
SEO is best suited for:
Niche markets looking to dominate specific search terms.
Brands aiming to build a reputation for quality and reliability.
Stores that want to reduce dependency on paid advertising over time.
SEO costs
SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy but does require continuous investment. Hiring SEO experts or agencies to manage and implement your SEO strategy will cover some ongoing costs associated with SEO, such as content creation, technical SEO, backlink building and others.
While the exact cost can vary, a typical small to medium-sized Shopify store might spend anywhere from $500 to $5,000 (~£400-£4,000) per month on comprehensive SEO services. Anything lower than that is unlikely to bring you results.
SEO timeframes
SEO is a long-term strategy, and results are not immediate. Whilst individual results will vary, on average you can start seeing small improvements in rankings and traffic within 0-3 months. Then from months 4 to 6, you may notice more significant traffic increases and better rankings for target keywords. With consistent effort, your store should start to rank well for competitive keywords, resulting in steady organic traffic growth over the year.
How to Promote Your Shopify Store with Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is perfect for Shopify stores looking to tap into existing communities and leverage the trust and influence of popular personalities to boost brand visibility and sales.
Influencer marketing is best suited for:
Brands targeting younger demographics who are highly engaged on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Stores with visually appealing products, such as fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and fitness items.
Businesses looking to build social proof and quickly generate buzz around new product launches or promotions.
Oversaturated markets with big or established players, where reaching customers via paid ads or SEO will be too costly or will take a long time.
Influencer marketing costs
The costs associated with influencer marketing can vary significantly based on the influencers you choose and the scale of your campaigns. Typical ongoing costs include:
Influencer fees: payments for promoting your products. These can range from a few hundred dollars for micro-influencers to thousands for macro or celebrity influencers.
Product costs: providing free products to influencers for them to review or feature in their content.
Campaign management costs: any costs related to managing the campaign, including tracking performance and engaging with influencers. This could involve hiring an influencer marketing agency or using influencer marketing platforms like AspireIQ or Influencity.
Content creation: additional costs for creating high-quality visual content, such as video or staged photoshoots if required.
A monthly budget for a small to medium-sized Shopify store might range from $1,000 to $10,000 (~£800-£8000), depending on the influencer's reach and engagement rates.
Influencer marketing timeframes
Influencer marketing can yield quicker results compared to SEO, but it also requires strategic planning and execution.
In 0-3 months you can identify and engage with influencers, negotiate partnerships, and launch initial campaigns. Immediate boosts in traffic and sales can be seen once influencers start posting about your products.
In 3-6 months you can develop deeper relationships with key influencers, refine your approach based on initial campaign performance, and expand your reach. You should start seeing more consistent results and improved brand recognition. Over time, influencer marketing can significantly enhance brand loyalty and drive sustained sales growth.
How to Promote Your Shopify Store with Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is ideal for Shopify stores aiming to build direct relationships with their customers and create a vibrant online community.
Social media marketing strategy is well-suited for:
Brands with visually appealing products that perform well on image-centric platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
Businesses targeting a wide demographic range, especially those active on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
Stores looking to leverage user-generated content, engage directly with customers, and build brand loyalty through consistent interaction.
Social media marketing costs
Social media marketing can be done at a low-cost in-house. Use your phone and creative skills to show what your brand is about!
Generally speaking, social media marketing, whether done in-house or outsourced, will require a lot of time or money spent on content creation: producing high-quality posts, stories, videos, and graphics. This might involve hiring photographers, videographers, graphic designers, and content writers.
For a small to medium-sized Shopify store, monthly social media marketing costs might range from $200 to $1,000 (~£150-£800), depending on the scope and scale of your activities.
Social media marketing timeframes
Social media marketing can deliver both immediate and long-term benefits, depending on the size of your audience. If you are just starting, you may have to spend months if not years before getting any return on investment from your social media. Consistent posting and engagement will lead to stronger brand recognition and a growing community.
Once you have a substantial following, you will be able to turn your social media into a significant driver of repeat business and customer loyalty.
How to Advertise Shopify Stores with Paid Ads
Paid ads, also known as paid advertising, refer to the use of paid services to deliver promotional marketing messages to targeted audiences. This includes Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads where you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, such as Google Ads, Display ads - visual ads that appear on websites or social media platforms.
Paid advertising is ideal for Shopify stores looking to quickly increase traffic, boost sales, and gain visibility among target audiences.
Paid ads are best suited for:
Brands seeking immediate results and willing to invest in scalable advertising campaigns.
Stores launching new products or promotions that need rapid exposure.
Businesses targeting specific demographics, interests, and behaviours.
Paid ads costs
Whilst ads can sometimes be run on a small, lean budget, larger budgets will bring you results quicker and will allow you to burn some of the budget on learning and achieving better results.
Ad spend can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month, depending on the competition and target audience. A typical small to medium-sized Shopify store might spend anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per month per platform on paid advertising, depending on the campaign's scale and objectives.
Paid ads timeframe
Paid advertising can yield immediate results, but it's important to plan for continuous optimisation and scaling. You can see immediate increases in traffic and sales as ads go live, but it’s essential to monitor performance closely and make necessary adjustments. You should start seeing more consistent results and a better return on ad spend (ROAS) after 2-3 months.
How to Promote Your Shopify Store with Email Marketing
Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending emails to subscribers to promote products or deliver content. It’s used to inform, drive sales, and build a community around your brand. Key elements include newsletters, promotional campaigns, and automated emails based on customer actions. Email marketing is perfect for Shopify stores aiming to build and maintain direct, personalised communication with their customers.
Email marketing is best suited for:
Shops with existing customer databases or those willing to buy a ready-made email list. Ensure to use GDPR-compliant data email lists!
Businesses with a diverse product range, looking to segment their audience and tailor messages to different customer segments.
Shops that want to use automated workflows for abandoned carts, welcome series, and post-purchase follow-ups.
Email marketing costs
Email marketing is relatively cost-effective, but there are ongoing costs to consider, such as subscription fees for platforms like Mailchimp or Klaviyo. Costs can vary based on the number of subscribers, ranging from $20 to several hundred dollars per month. Designing and writing high-quality emails may involve hiring copywriters, designers, or using in-house resources.
For a small to medium-sized Shopify store, monthly email marketing costs might range from $20 to $1,000 (~£15-£800), depending on the size of your email list, the complexity of your campaigns and the in-house resources available.
Email marketing timeframes
Email marketing can deliver both immediate and long-term benefits. Immediate boosts in traffic and sales can be seen from well-targeted email campaigns. Whilst automated email series will be bringing you less noticeable, but more consistent results.
Over time, email marketing can become a major driver of repeat business and customer loyalty, significantly contributing to your store’s revenue.
Other ways to market a Shopify store
There are plenty of other, smaller channels or tactics to promote a Shopify store. We would advise paying particular attention to the following options:
Referral marketing: use your existing customers to generate new leads and sales through word-of-mouth, offering incentives like discounts or rewards to encourage referrals. It's a cost-effective strategy that is perfect for high-quality products on competitive markets, such as skincare.
Web push notifications: use push notifications to bring customers back to your site with announcements and special offers.
Customer reviews: display customer reviews on your product pages to build trust and encourage purchases.
Networking involves building relationships with other businesses, local communities and industry professionals to create mutually beneficial opportunities, such as collaborations, partnerships, and cross-promotions.
Shopify Shop channel is free and it allows Shopify stores to reach a broader audience by listing their products on the Shop app, a digital marketplace connecting millions of shoppers with merchants
Google Shopping free listings enable Shopify stores to display products in Google Shopping search results at no additional cost, increasing visibility to a wide audience actively searching for related items. This channel boosts organic traffic, enhances brand exposure, and can lead to higher conversion rates by tapping into high-intent shoppers, however the initial set-up may require some time.
Remember, the key to successful marketing is to understand your target audience and tailor your strategies to meet their needs and preferences. It’s also important to track the performance of your marketing efforts and adjust your strategies based on what works best for your store.
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