Are you looking to get your side hustle on and make extra money by starting an online store? You’re not alone. Many others are creating shops on sites such as Amazon, Etsy, and eBay.

 If you’re struggling to figure out where to even get started with creating an online store, consider using an online course to help you get started. Check out this review from Hustle Life about the Amazing Selling Machine, a course that can teach you everything you need to know about selling through Amazon.

Making your online shop stand out from the other shops can be hard, which is why it is necessary to learn how to properly advertise your online store. Here are 3 ways to advertise your store and make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Promote your products on social media

If you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on a huge customer base. While gaining followers takes time and effort, it is worth it when they start regularly visiting your store and buying your products. If you’re not on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, create an account today! Make sure to create a similar branding on social media to what you’re using on your store. Use the same header, logo, and motto across all platforms.

Once you have a social media account, post regularly. Put up enticing photos of your products. Don’t simply put up a stock image of the product and expect people to find it appealing. Show the product in action, add a fun description, and include a direct link to the product within the description. If you have any promotions going on, post about them on your account! Once you start gaining followers, ask them to share photos of themselves using your products. You can then reshare these photos. Use a social media content calendar to help organize your posts.

Another feature of social media is paid to advertise. This allows you to directly reach customers that might be interested in buying your products. For example, if you’re selling baby products, you can run a paid advertisement that goes out to individuals that have indicated they’re a parent. This ensures that you’re reaching the right customers. No need to run advertisements to individuals who won’t have any interest in what you’re selling.

Start blogging

Another great way to sell your products is to start an online blog. Write quality blog posts about your industry and link to relevant products you’re selling within your blog. Establishing yourself as a leader within your industry takes work, so only invest in creating a blog if you have the time and skills to regularly update with fresh content.

Once you have an established blog, you can also consider affiliate marketing as a way to increase your income. Affiliate marketing is when you advertise the products of other sellers and earn a percentage of the sells.

If you’re not ready to create your own blog, consider guest blogging instead. Many blogs out there are always looking for quality content. Offer to write a blog post for them. Most of the time, other bloggers will allow you to link to your products within the post or will allow you to include a link to your store at the end of the post.

Create an e-newsletter

E-newsletters are a great way to communicate regularly with your customers so that you can inform them of any new products you’re selling.

Creating an e-newsletter will take time, but it is worth it. To start an e-newsletter, you’ll first need to create a contact list to send it to. Make sure to keep the contact information of your customers in an organized Excel sheet so that you have the data readily available for your newsletter. Once you have a contact list, you’ll have to decide on a platform to send your newsletter from and decide on what type of content to write.

To keep customers subscribed to your newsletter, you’re going to want to produce quality content that they’ll want to read. Don’t simply provide them with a list of products. Tell them what makes your store and your products worth investing in.

Conclusion

If you’re starting an online store, you’re going to have to figure out a way to draw customers in. Use the tips above to help you get started. There are so many online stores out there, so you need to make customers want to visit your store and buy your products. Failing to advertise your store will result in low sales and, ultimately, could force you to close your store.