In general, there are two types of online promotion strategies, namely free and paid. Online promotion strategies that are carried out for free are usually called organic strategies. That means, this strategy can be done without spending any money at all. While the second is a paid strategy or by utilizing advertising features.
Free online promotion strategy might sound more interesting right? Especially for those of you who are getting into the world of online marketing for the first time. However, what about the results?
The key is with consistency. The thing about free online promotion is definitely not as fast as when you use paid promotions or advertisements. However, as long as you do it consistently, then you will surely be able to get many benefits. Because after all, nothing is instant in achieving business success. So, instead of being confused about having to start from the safe side, let's discuss strategies or ways to promote online products to increase sales.
Ways to Promote a Product
In this all-digital era, promotion remains one of the ways to increase business sales. However, the way is different from the era before the digital era. Promotion in this digital era requires a special strategy in order to reach the right consumers. The following are several ways to promote products (Online, WA, and Others):
1. Create a Website for Your Business
The first online promotion strategy or method is to create a business website. Creating a website is an obligation in the digital era like today. By having a website, it's like you have a shop or place of business without the need to pay a lot for rent and think about a strategic location. A free web or blog domain is an alternative step of a promotional strategy that is perfect for business people who have a tight budget.
You can take advantage of free blogs and use the free facilities provided on internet sites as a way to promote service products or buy a larger domain from the party providing the service and start managing it.
2. Utilize Social Media
Along with the development of communication technology globally, social media is a communication tool and product promotion strategy that business owners need to have. This is necessary to bridge between business people and buyers so that communication can be established quickly, easily and efficiently.
A survey from an institution called Manta shows that there are many small and medium businesses that are getting a Return On Investment invested (ROI) on social media of 39% in 2013. The visible trend is that ROI is increasing and the use of social media as a promotion strategy marketing by business people is also increasing.
3. Create Vlogs
Visual speaks louder or pictures that can speak louder is a contemporary motto that grows along with the habit of many people nowadays uploading their activities, either through pictures or videos on several social media. This inspires a product promotion strategy using image or video techniques in the form of vlogs. Making product advertisements with visual appearance is one of the new models in business promotion strategies.
Videos can display products that are being offered to consumers or in the form of tutorials that are indirectly but still related to the products you offer. With videos, products can be displayed in more detail from various sides. In addition, the sound feature can also add more complete information about the specifications of the product.
4. Create Free Ads
When some business owners feel that marketing or promotion activities are costly, the internet can provide a solution. The internet is a vast space without boundaries, where you can find many things including advertising for free. In free advertising sites, generally members can choose the community or product to be offered, register, and also write offers of goods or services without having to spend a penny.
5. Take Advantage of Car Ads
Today, all media can be used to carry out promotional or marketing activities. One of the media that is currently widely used is car advertising or car advertising. By using this medium, you can market the products you sell more broadly. This car ad is very suitable for use as a sales promotion strategy when your target audience is the people of the capital.
You can use this car advertisement to get around the capital while marketing the product you want to sell. However, it should be understood that the capital's streets, which are quite busy, could be one of your reasons for using this media campaign.
6. Start Selling on the Marketplace Site
The next promotional strategy is to sell on marketplace sites such as Shopee, Tokopedia, and so on. Apart from being free, product promotion on the site is proven to be able to attract more new customers. The number of visitors to the site is also greater, reaching 5 million users every day. Certainly, this number is many times greater than the website visitors you just created yourself.
7. Create Interesting Marketing Content
The next way to promote products online is still related to the previous strategy, namely creating a website and social media. Without interesting marketing content, you will never benefit from the website and social media that you have created.
So, be active in creating marketing content that is interesting and relevant to your business. Don't upload promo info that smells like hard selling too often. However, occasionally you need to upload educational or entertainment content that can increase customer interest in following and buying your products.
8. Share Content Through Email Marketing
This method is also related to content marketing. After you have created attractive promotional content, that means now is the time to share content. One of them is by using email marketing. Email marketing is almost the same as broadcast message strategy to customers. However, this one strategy utilizes the use of email.
For example, if you are an entrepreneur engaged in the automotive sector, then be active in sending articles about creative tips about automotive to email customers. Such information will be preferred by customers and can certainly increase the trust of your customers.
9. Create a Customer Group on WA or Telegram
You can also try product promotion methods by creating customer groups on WA or Telegram. This one way can increase your familiarity with customers as well as opportunities to make them more loyal to your product.
But keep in mind, don't often send promos that are hard selling to the customer group that you created. However, you only need to send educational, motivational, and entertainment content. So your group will not be considered spam and the risk of subscribers leaving the group decreases.
10. Collect Dropshippers, Resellers and Affiliate Marketers
The next way to promote products online is to collect resellers, Dropshippers, and also affiliate marketers. This can help you to increase sales. Of course, as long as it's done well and consistently. So, compared to selling alone, definitely by having several marketing teams, you can sell more products. Therefore, you need to have a team.
However, if you employ people you have to pay them, then the solution is to collect dropshippers, resellers, and also affiliate marketing who want to promote your product for free. You don't need to pay them, but you only need to give a few percent of the commission if they succeed in selling your product.
Create an attractive commission system, so there will be many people who are interested in collaborating to sell your products. Also create a special Whatsapp or Telegram group for your sales team. So that it will make it easier for you when coordinating and will certainly increase familiarity between teams.
Which social media is best for business promotion?
The way to promote products or services is now more advanced and easier to do since the advent of social media. Since the existence of social media for promotion, business advertisements are no longer done via radio, print media, and television.
Now we can call it the digital era, where online media is a very popular medium used to promote business. The presence of social media which is supported by the power of the internet today has the potential to support the successful promotion of a business or product very easily and quickly, even without any capital at all.
What's more, with various kinds of existing internet tools, such as blogs, social media, websites, and others that are global, real time, and also practical, business promotion activities will be maximized.
Then, what are the right online media to serve as reliable promotional media for your business? Let's see the full explanation below:
1. Facebook
This social media is still the choice of many people to establish communication with friends and family. Their presence is one of the reasons why Facebook is the social media that is most widely used as an online promotional medium apart from on business sites. The use of Facebook as a promotional medium is also considered cheaper by online business owners.
In fact, not a few of them already have a physical store thanks to using Facebook as a medium for product promotion. Not infrequently successful businesses also start from introducing their products through Facebook. How to make promotions on Facebook successful?
The first step is to make sure your main Facebook page attracts consumers. Because, this will be the main attraction that makes consumers give Like. Likes is the second step that you need to get as much as possible. Then the second step is don't forget to identify your target customers by looking for people who have an interest in the Facebook page. Then the last one is to focus on creating interesting content.
2. Instagram
It seems that this social media is now becoming the prima donna of media for online business promotion. Apart from being able to show product photos, you can also write captions that are longer than Twitter or other social media. Instagram is also very easy to access from a smartphone. Currently, Instagram is becoming the social media with the highest existence among the millennial generation.
Therefore, this is an opportunity for you to easily promote your product and business. This is because more potential consumers also gather on this social media. It needs to be understood, hashtags are one of the most extraordinary promotional powers if you use Instagram as a medium for product promotion. Not only that, actively interacting with the audience is also one of the tricks that can make customers interested in your business.
3. TikTok
Apart from viewing funny videos and entertainment media, along with its development, Tiktok has now expanded its wings into the business realm. This social media is equipped with various features that business owners can use to promote their sales. Plus, if you use Tiktok, your business can be recognized by many people more quickly, because currently Tiktok users have started to increase dramatically.
4. Marketplace
Apart from using social media as described above, you can also use marketplace sites such as Shopee, Tokopedia, Zalora, and so on. This marketplace will really help business owners to have their own shop page and carry out various promotional activities and marketing their own products.
5. WhatsApp
Whatsapp is the most used messaging application by people today. Since its presence, this application has continued to innovate to meet the needs of its users to be able to send messages more practically.
Currently, there are already many business owners who use Whatsapp as a promotional medium and manage customer orders. In order not to be left behind by competitors who have already used Whatsapp marketing, it would be better for you to learn and apply it immediately.
The reason, of course, is still related to the convenience of sending messages to many people at the same time. You only need to create one promotional template that can be sent directly to several contacts who have registered in your phonebook. These messages can contain ongoing promos, benefits of using your product, purchase bonuses, and so on.
Apart from that, you can also connect this Whatsapp device to social media or websites. So that when there are customers who need answers to the questions they ask, you can answer them right away. In that way, the customer will definitely be happy because they feel prioritized.
How can I promote my product online?
Competition to get consumer attention online is also not as easy as one might imagine. There needs to be consistency in doing things that have an impact on your product promotion.
There are many basic strategies that continue to deliver great results and when combined into one online marketing strategy, you can experience great results in no time. Here are four simple tips to help you promote your products online.
1. Publish interesting content every day
Every business needs a website and every published content to be an asset that continues to attract visitors over time. You can practice SEO or Ads to maximize promotion. Of course this will help increase product sales.
2. Engage with followers on social media
There is so much attention available on social media that you can tap into just by participating in the conversation. If your social media accounts are active and have a large number of followers, engage them in conversation.
When a brand finds a way to organically connect with its audience on social media, organic follower engagement is always more authentic than paid advertising and consumers will feel involved in the product development.
3. Promote products with influencers
Using influencers to introduce products isn't just a great way to attract buyers. However, this method is also good for juxtaposing products with so that they are known to the wider community. This will help draw attention to the sale.
4. Create contests on social media
Every brand wants more followers on social media and more organic exposure. One of the easiest and most effective ways to achieve this is to run contests. Consumers will participate if the prize is desired and the instructions for entering the contest are simple and clear.
Use prizes that are relevant to the product. Simplify the way to participate your contest like, follow, like, share, tag some friends.
Conclusion
So, those are 16 effective ways to promote products online to increase sales. In carrying out promotions on digital platforms, you must have the right strategy and special techniques so that the promotion will run effectively.
Those are some explanations about how to promote online products from various social media. Hope it is useful.