smurk75 Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 Just curious as to the different marketing avenues my fellow OsCommers use. I've dabbled with adwords, cross-marketed with ebay, and use forums and blogs to post informative content that link back to my site. How is print marketing? Banner adds? Affiliate programs? etc. I'm at a road block and need some helpfull ideas on getting more traffic to my site, while also working on my site to increase conversion rates. It's difficult to do now because I just don't get that much traffic being up for only a month now. :blink: But anyways, stories, suggestions, experiences and the like would be appreciated. Thanks, Sam "Get Loose!"
Chance Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 The most cost effective method of marketing for a new store is SEO optimization and search engine submission. My advice comes in two flavors- Pick the one that won't offend you. Hard and Cynical: How to Make a Horrible osCommerce Site Warm and Fuzzy: How to Make an Awesome osCommerce Site
kitchenniche Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 The most cost effective method of marketing for a new store is SEO optimization and search engine submission. I do froogle, google ads, and some shopping comparison sites but most orders I receive are through the SE's. Addionally, if you have lots of products, selling on amazon.com is very helpful too. The people who buy your stuff through amazon will never visit your site when he/she buys but you can receive lots of orders through amazon. Don't forget to include a business card or something alike when shipping an amazon-order though :) HIM - Dark Light - Out on 26/09/05
custodian Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 Google Adwords, Yahoo Overture, Froogle, Google Base, Google Sitemap, Banner ads with several companies we deal with, Mail flyers, printed inserts in local papers and word of mouth. Optomize word of mouth by talking to people that have large interactions with other people. Your favorite bank teller, the people working at the convenient store, the coffee shop, the bartender, etc... My Contributions Henry Smith
custodian Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 Oh.. also, I know a lot of folks tell other to get rid of things like the gender selection and birthdate options in the signup, but I strongly disagree. This is a huge marketing tool. My site for example is 94% female ages 20 to 45 in upper-middle to upper class pay scales as customers. That is vital information. I can focus on that group without wasting huge amounts of money in demographics that will do nothing for me. I can still advertise to those area to increase sales, but only on a small scale. I buy mailing lists from companies with requirments such as female, ages 25 to 45, homeowners, minimum of an upper-middle class pay scale, etc... Most people do not go all out decorating an apartment (unless that type of living is the norm - like in New York when an "apartment" is like a house on the 29th floor). Another example is that nearly 80% of my sales occur from 9am Pacific Time to 5 pm Eastern Time. WHY? Because from 9am to 5pm the kids are at school, the husband is at work, and the mom/wife/domestic goddess is at home alone. So to me that means my customers are Women, are married (since they are at home during the day which means they most likely are not working, which also means that someone must be working.. ie: Husband.. = married), Which means they probably have a house. Also I get only 1% of my sales on a weekend, which leads me to beleive that they have children also; which are home from school and therefore they can't get to the computer to buy stuff... Sure this may all be wild assumptions, but to me it adds up and has been quite accurate for my advertising purposes. I assumed all of this prior to even having oscommerce... which has now only backed my beliefs with the additional demogrpahics provided by the customer during signup. My Contributions Henry Smith
GraphicsGuy Posted March 13, 2006 Posted March 13, 2006 Another example is that nearly 80% of my sales occur from 9am Pacific Time to 5 pm Eastern Time. WHY? Because from 9am to 5pm the kids are at school, the husband is at work, and the mom/wife/domestic goddess is at home alone. So to me that means my customers are Women, are married (since they are at home during the day which means they most likely are not working, which also means that someone must be working.. ie: Husband.. = married), Which means they probably have a house. Also I get only 1% of my sales on a weekend, which leads me to beleive that they have children also; which are home from school and therefore they can't get to the computer to buy stuff... Sure this may all be wild assumptions, but to me it adds up and has been quite accurate for my advertising purposes. I assumed all of this prior to even having oscommerce... which has now only backed my beliefs with the additional demogrpahics provided by the customer during signup. If it's working for your store, then more power to you on your well thought through deductions. Given your product niche, that very well might have hit it on the head. However there is another explanation that would create similar sales patterns that might be more applicable to most stores. Several Internet use studies published in the last year reported that a majority of office employees use their computer and Internet connection at work to do their online purchases. I know that many of our customers that I have had reason to talk to on the phone were at work when they placed the order. One way a person could investigate that for their own site would be to random sample the IP addresses of their customers and then do an IP Whois at dnsstuff.com. While that won't be entirely accurate (because many smaller offices use standard ISP's) it will shed some light on many of them. Rule #1: Without exception, backup your database and files before making any changes to your files or database. Rule #2: Make sure there are no exceptions to Rule #1.
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