The internet has made distribution and sales so much easier than they used to be. People today do their shopping online, whether they’re buying clothes, gadgets, groceries, or toilet paper. So, if you want to build an eCommerce business and start selling online in 2022, I can help! This is Part 2 of The Complete Guide to Selling Online in 2022.
In The Complete Guide to Selling Online in 2022 – Part 1, I discussed e-commerce website builders and selling through online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, Amazon. This post will teach you about social media selling, online ads, and email marketing, and you’ll get seven tips for selling online in 2022.
Social Media Selling
Social media platforms are excellent for growing an audience, engaging with them, and generating awareness for your brand. But these platforms can also be the perfect way to sell your products directly to your customers, making them a necessary part of your strategy for selling online in 2022. According to a Bloomberg article, shopping on social media surged in recent years and is expected to hit $80 billion by 2025.
It’s clear that there has never been a better time to start selling online in 2022 using social media, so you should gear up for this opportunity. Let’s start with the biggest social platform: Facebook, aka The Metaverse.
Facebook Marketplace
Marketplace is a shopping destination for buyers within the Facebook community. People can list, browse, and buy products on Facebook Marketplace.
Businesses can leverage Marketplace to:
- List retail products, home rentals, vehicles, and even event tickets.
- Advertise on Marketplace to reach out to new buyers.
- Display refurbished or new items from your Facebook Page shop on Marketplace for free.
Facebook and Instagram Shops
Launched in May 2020, Facebook Shops is a mobile-first shopping destination where businesses and creators can create a free online store on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook Shops allow you to customize collections using design tools, showcase featured products, and use video marketing to provide friction-free shopping experiences for your customers.
To start your own shop, you need a business account and a business page. To learn more about Facebook Shops, visit this page.
Become a LinkedIn Learning Instructor
Passionate about teaching and coaching? Use your expertise and knowledge to create courses on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place for learning and also for sharing your experiences through online courses. LinkedIn provides not only a platform for experts from multiple domains to connect with each other but also a place to grow a community and showcase talent.
If you think you have what it takes to become a LinkedIn Learning Instructor, you can apply here.
What are the perks?
As a LinkedIn Learning Instructor, your possibilities are endless. Your LinkedIn course will be visible to people all around the world; you can touch the lives of people from different geographical locations and gain an international following. And you’ll also get to make extra money. For courses you publish, LinkedIn pays royalties.
Try YouTube Shopping
On November 9, 2021, YouTube said it’s starting YouTube Holiday Stream – a shoppable live stream around the Black Friday holiday to allow buyers to purchase from their favorite influencers during that period.
Bloomberg also hinted that Google is planning to make YouTube a shopping destination, so in the near future, we can expect to see features to allow business and online sellers to sell directly through the platform.
In YouTube’s Official Blog, Wendy Yang, Product Designer of YouTube Shopping, stated:
“Heading into 2022, YouTube will continue building and investing in shopping, including features for video on demand and personalized shopping.“
So if you’re interested in exploring future opportunities and grabbing them as soon as they’re rolled out to more creators, keep an eye on this as a potential venue for selling online in 2022.
Influencer and Affiliate Marketing
Influencer marketing is already a 13.8 billion dollar industry. Brands can partner with niche influencers on social media and drive online sales, and spread brand awareness.
Image: Influencer marketing market size worldwide from 2016 to 2021(in billion US dollars), Source: Statista
The quality of customers from influencer marketing campaigns is better than other forms of marketing, which makes it a popular marketing channel for you to invest in it if you want to boost online sales.
Similar to influencer marketing, affiliate marketing can also help you sell online.
Affiliate marketing is the process of selling products or services through affiliate links. In this process, affiliate marketers promote products on social media, blogs, or podcasts and earn commissions for driving sales.
Online Ads
Online advertisements are a great way to drive traffic to your website or product pages and boost online sales. There are various types of ads you can choose from.
Google Ads
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is one of the world’s largest and most popular online advertising sites. Millions of corporations, brands, and marketers rely on Google Ads to reach potential customers and grow business.
There are a number of ad types you can choose based on where and how you want to place the ads, for example:
- Search ads
- Shopping ads
- Local service ads
- Remarketing ads
To learn more, read this article on Google ads.
Social Media Ads
Your target audience is on social media, so why not invest in social media ads to directly show your products to them when selling online in 2022?
Social media ad spending is on the rise and if you want to invest in it, go ahead!
Source: PPC Hero
Some of the popular social media ad destinations are:
YouTube Ads
YouTube ads are great because 72% of people watch in-stream video ads till the end, which indicates they are interested in engaging with the ads. YouTube ads are low-cost and highly effective.
Types of YouTube ads:
- Skippable video ads
- Trueview in-stream ads
- Trueview discovery ads
- Non-skippable ads
- Bumper ads
To learn more about how to start selling with YouTube ads, read this blog. There you’ll get in-depth knowledge about running YouTube ads and tips for running successful ad campaigns.
Facebook Ads
Advertising on Facebook offers a number of benefits that make it a popular choice among marketers. Using Facebook ads, you can reach your target audience in a number of ways. You can do so by using filters to exclude or include certain demographics.
The types of Facebook ads are many, but some common ones are:
- Image ads
- Carousel ads
- Collection ads
- Videos ads
- Dynamic ads
To know more about how to use ads on Facebook, read this blog.
Instagram Ads
Instagram ads are a proven tactic for raising brand awareness, connecting with new audiences, and selling products online. You can start selling on this platform by creating great visuals and immersive experiences and driving success through paid ads.
Instagram offers so many features that help you create more interesting and engaging ads. Popular ad types on Instagram are:
- Photo ads
- Video ads
- Carousel ads
- Stories ads
- IGTV ads
- Collection ads
- Shopping ads
TikTok Ads
TikTok, the world’s largest short-form video network, has launched its new advertising product. This is big news to their 1 billion monthly active users. TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social networks to date, with over 150 million users and 3 million advertisers.
It has offered an innovative way for brands to connect with their audience through short-form videos. You can record15-second, one-minute, and three-minute videos, and embed links to engage a target audience.
With this new ad platform, marketers will be able to reach a wider audience by creating short videos that are not only shareable but also interactive.
TikTok ads come in various formats. Some of them are:
- In-feed video ads
- Image ads
- TopView ads
- Video ads
- Branded hashtag challenges
- Pangle ads
- Spark ads
You’ll need a TikTok Ads Manager account to run ads on its platform. Next, choose your goal, set a budget, and choose placements – where you want to place those ads (or set it to auto).
Amazon Ads
If you’ve shopped on Amazon, you must have come across “sponsored” ads throughout search results.
Like on Google, Amazon also places ads on the online marketplace when an individual searches the site. They’re placed at the top, at the end of search pages, on product listing pages, and on the homepage.
Amazon ads are pay-per-click (PPC), meaning when a buyer clicks your ad, you’ll be charged. You can create sponsored product ads, sponsored brand ads, and sponsored display ads on its platform.
Want to reach out to people across Amazon products and services?
With the help of Amazon DSP, small businesses can create audio ads for Amazon Music, and video ads to target viewers and users of Prime videos and live streams, and Amazon subsidiaries like IMDb, Fire TV.
Selling Online in 2022 Through Email Marketing
Whether selling to your existing customers or trying to sell to those who abandoned their carts without converting, email marketing can be your weapon to boost online sales.
To make the most of email marketing, follow these tips:
- Make your headlines shine
- Create the perfect hook by writing a killer opening line
- Get straight to the point
- Highlight pain points and offer a solution
- A/B split test your email copy
7 Tips for Selling Online in 2022
Here are seven things you can do to make sure you are driving maximum profit when you are selling online in 2022.
1. Use Keywords
Whether you’re selling on Etsy or your website, you need to use the right keywords to make sure your products are visible to your buyers.
2. Make a Good First Impression
Make a solid first impression by creating a site with clean typography, high-quality graphics, and easy-to-use navigation.
3. Create Buyer Personas
Buyer personas allow you to send the right messages to the right people so you can sell more.
4. Create Dedicated Landing Pages
If you’re running paid campaigns and want more conversions through ads, landing pages can help. Landing pages are designed to deliver targeted messages so that more visitors convert into customers.
5. Track Performance
You’ll not know if your existing strategies are working or need a shift if you don’t track performance. Use Google Analytics and other third-party tools to evaluate performance so you can scale.
6. Use Dynamic Pictures
You can convert more leads into sales by creating 3D rotating images, allowing buyers to zoom in, and showing them the product in action.
7. Simplify Checkout
Buyers like a smooth shopping experience, so in just a few clicks, they should be able to checkout. Don’t make them set up an account to checkout, and do offer free shipping. Charging for shipping is the number one cause of shopping cart abandonment.
One of the most common reasons for people not selling online is that they think it is too hard. However, with the right platform and ad strategy, you can easily sell on your own website or on a marketplace in just minutes. If you want a steady stream of recurring payments, offer your first-time buyers a good buying and post-sales experience. Be ready to help them when they need and hear them out when they share something on social media or emails. This will not only help you sell more but also create long-lasting relationships with your buyers and turn them into loyal brand advocates.
Both articles in this series give you tools, tips, and tricks to build an eCommerce empire in 2022, so if you haven’t checked out Part 1 of our Guide to Selling Online in 2022, click here.
What else do you want to learn about eCommerce? Let me know in your comments.
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