Promoting a Shopify store is easier said than done. There are hundreds of ideas, and finding the right first move can be confusing. 

This is why we have listed a step-by-step guide on how to start promoting a Shopify store. This guide shows where you can start and how to expand your marketing strategy. 

This way, you are neither putting all your eggs in one basket nor spreading yourself too thin. Let’s begin!

1. Get on Instagram

With over 1.4 billion users, Instagram remains the most popular social media channel. If you are just starting out with the promotion of your Shopify store, then Instagram is the best place to start. 

Why? Firstly, the impressive reach. Secondly, the platform is also eCommerce friendly. Being visual-heavy in nature, you can easily showcase your products. There are ample features available that can be used to further sell products, such as shoppable feeds, ads, and collaborations. 

On top of that, customers are also open to interacting with brands or consuming diverse content on Instagram. So, you meet them where they are. Start by thinking of your unique brand voice and creating organic content around it.  

How Frank Body became a $20 million beauty brand | Instagram success story

Frank Body, a popular skincare brand, started out as a side project by two college graduates. They had no marketing budget as beginners (as expected), so they turned to Instagram. They spent their maximum time on this channel to create a unique brand voice and presence. With time, they diversified to newsletters and other social media platforms. 

However, Instagram remained their primary channel, with over 744k followers. What stood out for Frank Body was their playful brand personality, which they kept consistent with their content. That's how a $5000 start-up became a $20 million beauty brand. 

2. Expand on TikTok

After Instagram, TikTok is one of the most widely used social media platforms, boasting over 900 million monthly unique users. With its focus on short-form videos, TikTok content is engaging for consumers, especially Gen Z. 

You can create offbeat, informative videos that showcase your products or highlight your brand values. TikTok also provides features like product links and integration options with Shopify to boost sales for eCommerce businesses. 

How Pure Daily Care increased sales by 450% | TikTok success story

Pure Daily Care, a health and personal care brand, started sharing videos on TikTok highlighting their product and demonstrating benefits. They collaborated with many creators to produce these videos. 

The creators used TikTok's in-app video creation tools to create authentic and raw TikTok content without any fancy editing. These videos resonated with the audience, and with time, they saw an increase in unit sales by 450%.

3. Run SMS marketing campaigns

Two in five consumers want to hear from brands via SMS. In fact, consumers from ages 25 to 54 prefer to communicate with brands via SMS over email. SMS is a growing marketing channel. 

Consumers are looking for quick SMS notifications that are not as elaborate as email and not as small as a push notification. SMS lies in the sweet spot. You can design various SMS campaigns for various use cases, such as abandoned carts, shipping notifications, flash sales or limited-time offers, personalized campaigns, and more for engaging customers. 

How Domino's acquired customers in as low as 15 cents per subscriber | SMS marketing success story

Domino's started its marketing initiatives with TV and Facebook ads. Slowly, they also wanted to use SMS also as a medium to gain more traction, and the results were astonishing. 

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By putting in only a $25 investment initially, the brand saw an increase of 125 orders from a single SMS message. Their SMS subscriber base was increasing, and with time, the cost per acquisition went as low as 15 cents per subscriber.

4. Start email marketing

Email remains one of the top marketing channels, with one in four consumers wanting to hear from brands via email. Emails are an excellent way to showcase your offers, as you can play around with graphics, incorporate storytelling, and personalize recommendations. 

You can design email campaigns for order fulfillment flow, limited offers, personalized recommendations, loyalty programs, and more.

How Dormify converts audience  almost two times the site average with email | Email marketing success story

Dormify, a lifestyle brand, was using email marketing only on an ad-hoc basis. They would send bulk emails in a go and then plan for the next campaign. They later improved their email marketing strategy, started segmenting users, and created three automated email series: a welcome series, cart abandonment, and a post-purchase.  

By implementing the new strategy, Dormify saw a 92% increase in email revenue and the email audience converting almost two times the site's average.

5. Collaborate with influencers

Collaborating with influencers is helpful as, firstly, they come with an already engaged audience who trust their recommendations. Secondly, influences create excellent content around products, which you can reuse later in other marketing channels. 

You can start influencer marketing by finding nano or micro-influencers with highly engaged audiences in your niche. As your marketing budget grows, you can also start reaching out to bigger influencers with higher follower counts.   

How Happy Skin Co generated $12 million in revenue | Influencer marketing success story

Happy Skin Co, an online retailer, did its market research and concluded that social media is the best place to reach their ideal customers. The company tried to partner with an average of one influencer each day. 

They initially started with smaller influencers doing barter collaboration, i.e., sending products for free and influencers promoting them in return. Now, their homepage is a carousel of influencers touting their product on Instagram, some with follower counts reaching into the tens of millions. The founder credits influencer marketing as a major reason behind their $12 million in revenue.

6. Build partnerships with other brands

By partnering with other brands, you can tap into their user base and reach a wider audience. Why do such brand collaborations work? 

Firstly, by combining two brands and creating unique products or combos together, you can create something that is useful for customers or keeps them hooked. 

Secondly, collaborating with credible brands also improves your positioning. 

Partnerships can also be cost-effective and may not necessarily require a high investment. You can find complementary brands and reach out to them for collaboration.

Balenciaga X Crocs | A brand collaboration success story

Balenciaga is a high-end fashion, and Crocs is known for everyday wear. No one expected the fusion of two. But the brands surprised their consumers by launching a collaboration. 

Their first Balenciaga x Crocs collaboration retailed for $850 and got sold out immediately. 

7. Run paid ads

Once you have done some brand-building work, it's a good time to run paid ads. Why so? Your customers will only bounce if they are redirected to any empty page by the ad. 

So, after you have created some organic content, you can run paid ads to increase brand visibility and reach the targeted audience. Another good part of running paid ads is they are measurable. You can easily measure the results of your campaign. 

You can first decide on the platform on which you want to run ads: Instagram and Google ads are the most popular. You can create compelling ads, start with small budgets, and further optimize with time.

How Seltzer Goods increased monthly revenue by 785% | Paid ads success story

Seltzer Goods, a retailer, runs paid ads to generate leads and nurture them through the sales funnel. They started with a small budget and further decided to increase their ad spend. They kept their ad creation simple and largely used automation to place ads. 

Their efforts resulted in a 785% increase in monthly revenue, a 319% increase in clicks, and a 105% increase in total brand impressions.

8. Promote user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) further helps you to build your brand's credibility. UGC looks more authentic than influencer collaborations. Shoppers are more likely to trust recommendations from real users. 

Also, when customers share their experiences on social media, it creates word of mouth and reaches a new audience.

How GoPro created an audience of over 20.8 million followers | UGC success story

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GoPro is an excellent example of a brand acing its UGC strategy. They promoted their branded hashtags #GoPro, #GoProCommunity, and #GoProAwards heavily on Instagram. Users share their GoPro videos by using the hashtag. 

Some of the best videos are also rewarded under the hashtag #GoProAwards. Currently, their main hashtag, #GoPro, has over 5 million posts. What an amazing way to have regular content on the product and keep it in front of users. 

9. Build a community

Building a community further helps you create a loyal user base. A community allows you to hear feedback directly, improve customer service, and create deeper connections with consumers. 

Also, by creating a two-way communication channel, consumers think of your brand as one that listens to its consumers and increases your brand reputation.

How Alo Yoga scaled to $247 Million in revenue | Community success story

Alo Yoga focused on creating a community of yoga lovers. They offered exclusive perks to community members, such as exclusive access to premium wellness content, virtual retreats, workshops, and challenges. 

The brand slowly became a regular among celebrities and crossed $247 million in revenue.

10. Create shoppable feeds

Creating a shoppable feed on Instagram and TikTok will improve your customer experience. Whenever they see an ad or any video and want to see products further, they can directly view products on your shoppable feed and hit purchase. No need to go to the website. Shoppable feeds reduce friction. 

Apart from social media, you can also create a shoppable feed (known as product feed) in Google Merchant Center so customers can see the products directly upon Google search. They don't have to go to the website to search for products.

How Carbishopper increased sales by 15% | Shoppable feeds success story

Caribshopper, an eCommerce marketplace for Caribbean-made products, started listing their products in Google Merchant Center. 

Their improved listing strategy increased customer acquisition through the organic search channel and enhanced shopping campaigns to increase sales by 15%.

11. Get press coverage

With the rise of social media, there are many ways to reach consumers, but good old PR is never a bad idea. It increases your credibility and helps you get links from reputable sites. 

You can check for reputable publications in which you want your products to be included and then reach out to them. You can also collaborate with any PR agency if required to get more press coverage. 

How Warby Parker reached a $3 billion valuation | PR success story

Warby Parker, an eyewear company, took advantage of old-school PR when starting out. They collaborated with a brand consultancy to increase their PR efforts. 

With the help of the consultancy, they were featured in GQ and Vogue. After the feature, the company fully sold out its inventory and had a 20,000-person waitlist. It gave the company an amazing start, and it has now reached a $3 billion valuation.

12. Invest in SEO

For any eCommerce brand, investing in SEO is the long-term game. While it doesn't give results immediately, it helps to consistently gain organic traffic. SEO helps you reach the right audience. 

By optimizing your website for relevant keywords, you will attract potential customers who are already looking for similar products. You can define your content strategy and identify relevant keywords to get started. 

How Etsy gets ~100 million site visits every month | SEO success story

Etsy consistently creates shopping guides for customers, targeting relevant keywords that show how their products would be a perfect fit for the occasion. 

Further, they have also optimized the pages for speed and good-quality images. With all the investment in SEO, they get consistent ~100 million site visits every month valued at $14 million. 

Promote Shopify Store with Plivo

With direct integrations available with Shopify, Plivo CX helps you reach your target consumers via SMS, email (upcoming), and WhatsApp (upcoming) campaigns. 

The platform, with its single window pane for multiple channels and self-service chatbots, is also extendable to the support teams, so you can attract new customers, consistently engage them, and provide excellent customer service via an all-in-one platform.  

You can also quickly launch campaigns with pre-built templates or create new campaigns quickly with our AI-powered copywriter. Our Audiences feature also helps segment customers effectively based on their online behavior, engagement levels, and purchase history and create well-targeted campaigns.

 Sign up for a free trial to increase the reach of your Shopify store.