Today is your first full day as an ecommerce store owner. How do you feel?
I’ll go ahead and assume you feel an immense amount of relief that it’s launched. Even better, the world didn’t explode. Phew.
But don’t let that sense of relief keep you idle.
It’s the end of your store-building journey, but the beginning of a whole new, never-ending journey of maintaining, promoting, and killing it with your new business.
I like to think that generating sales and loyal customers for your brand is actually quite simple – it just takes a hell of a lot of work.
So now it’s time to keep the momentum you built yesterday and continue to scream about your store from the rooftops.
Today, we’re going to:
Keep promoting your store as much as you can using the resources you’ve built up so far – we’ll also learn about Instagram direct messages today
Plan out our Facebook and Instagram posts for the week ahead, and plug them into the content calendar template we’ll give you
Let’s. Do. This.
[highlight]HEY YOU! Congrats. Show the world how far you’ve come! If you haven’t already, download your Calendar now, add your name with a marker, mark “Launched Your Store” on Day 14 as done, snap a picture and post it on Instagram, hashtag: #Oberlo21.[/highlight]
This is an amazing tool that I use quite a lot – and it’s generated me thousands of dollars in sales. My technique is to ask them for feedback on my store, then send them a special discount coupon as a ‘thank you.’
The main goal is creating a positive relationship and building some trust.
But before you go messaging people, there’s a formula you need to know.
This strategy will only work if you have the following things down strong:
You have to know your audience and how to find them on Instagram
Your store has to be solid so that they trust you to buy
Your Instagram page has to be on point
Your messages have to really be good
If you’re missing any of these, it’s not going to work for you.
Let’s break down how to find people and how to message them.
Find the right audience to message
By now, you’ve got plenty of experience scouting Instagram. This is just a matter of drilling down into the deep corners and getting creative.
For starters, I don’t recommend messaging any ‘micro-influencers’ using this technique. Focus on more ‘normal’ people who don’t have huge followings and don’t seem like they have ambitions to become big influencers.
I already mentioned looking for people based on hashtag searches.
When you first type in a hashtag to search, you’ll see ‘Top posts’ at the top of the page. These are posts from popular accounts. You’ll see that they’ll have thousands of likes.
These are not the right people for this tactic.
Scroll down until you find the ‘Most recent’ category. These are your best shot.
Just like usual, you’ll need to go through each profile one by one to see if they’re actually a good fit for your brand.
Tips for writing good messages
Amanda Asks
“How can I make sure they actually see my messages?”
My answer: Once I pick someone, my technique is to send them the message, then leave a comment on one of their posts telling them that I sent a message. I do this because they often don’t see messages from people they’re not friends with.
To leave a comment on a post, show them you’re a human and you appreciate their uniqueness by commenting on something specific. If they have a passion – say art or animals – comment on that.
Give them some validation and compliments. Who doesn’t like to be validated and complimented? Just be nice.
Amanda used the hashtag tactic we just discussed. She also messaged people who liked her Instagram posts, because they were already somewhat familiar with her brand.
Here’s an example of a message that Amanda sent to someone who recently liked one of her posts. She saw that this person frequently posted amazing makeup looks she created:
Then she sent her a direct message that looked like this:
When you start out, try a few different types of messages. Switch up your introduction line, the types of things you say, what you ask them for, and how you ask them. Also, switch up your discount amounts to see what works best.
Remember: Don’t offer them more than you can afford!
After Amanda got some feedback, she sent her discount code as a thank you.
See? A little kindness goes a long way. I always say that all you have to do is give.
[highlight]As you can see, this is a very hands-on technique and it takes a lot of work. I recommend messaging at least 10 people per day (complete with 10 comments per day to let them know you sent a message). Set aside 2 hours each day from now on to send comments and messages and answer the ones who respond. Your response rate might be as low as 1 in 10 – but don’t get discouraged! Just keep plugging.[/highlight]
Write social media posts for the week
There’s a lot on your to-do list. And it won’t get shorter anytime soon.
That’s why it’s a really, really smart idea to plan out all of your social media posts in advance.
Here are some tips:
Keep scouting to make sure your photos are all eye-catching and visually appealing
Have a dedicated image folder on your computer (or phone) so that you can easily find them all and have a record of past photos
If you want to save some time, you can just have very similar posts between Instagram and Facebook – just use less hashtags on Facebook than you do on Instagram
Use a ‘content calendar’ spreadsheet to write up everything in one place
We made a social media calendar for you to download and use. Find it on the 6th tab of our templates spreadsheet. The tab is titled ‘D15: Social Media Calendar.’
You should post once a day at the very least, and make sure to use lots of relevant hashtags on Instagram. For optimal results, you can post several times a day. This will get you more followers and more engagement faster.
Ideas for posts:
Pretty much anything niche-relevant and visually appealing that you can find on free stock photo websites
News, current events, or popular ‘gossip’ in your industry
How-tos, tutorials, tips, and ‘life hacks’ that your audience might find relevant
Polls and questions to get some engagement from other users
Announcements for your store’s news and events, like new product lines, sales, etc. (as I mentioned before – don’t get too salesy here)
As you’re scouting for ideas, you’ll likely see more than just a week’s worth. Write every idea down so you have more juice for next week’s schedule!
✓ Continued promoting your store like we’ve been discussing since Day 2 ✓ Learned about proper etiquette for sending Instagram direct messages to get feedback and one-on-one sales ✓ Created a social media calendar for the next week so you don’t have to get distracted scouring the web for post ideas every day
