Basic digital marketing checklist for e-Commerce entrepreneurs
A quick checklist for entrepreneurs who are starting their eCommerce journey
Everybody needs a checklist, especially an entrepreneur.
If you do not have one already, or have it on bits of paper spread across your desk, you better get it sorted into one document. And that better be online for ease of access & safe storage, you are after all an entrepreneur in the digital age!
That was the first item in your check-list!
Below is a complete checklist for every entrepreneur venturing into digital space:
1. Consolidate all your thoughts & ideas.
I use Pocket extension to bookmark every article I come across & a notes app to consolidate my thoughts & ideas. Use tags effectively to organise them and use digital solutions like Trello to visualize & prioritize ideas.
2. Get your basics right
Selling online? — your basics are your online presence. Even if you are selling on a platform like Amazon, you have to have a strong presence online. While resellers & boutique brands do get away without much online presence, they will not be able to scale. The reason is very simple — trust!
A list of online presence you should have:
- A mobile friendly website with detailed product/feature information & great pictures. Don’t forget to include a chat option (Facebook messenger or WhatsApp business could do, else use tawk.to for free)
- Integrate Google Analytics code & Facebook pixel in your website for a better understanding of your customer (and future targeting via advertisements)
- Register your office in Google Business (even if you sell only online). Customers around you are most probably your first customers.
- Presence on major social media sites — Instagram, Facebook & Twitter. Do not forget to link instagram & facebook page and use the business accounts option.
3. Interact… Interact… Interact!
It is very important for you to interact with prospective customers.
- Start interacting with customers on quora by addressing queries & seize opportunities.
- Facebook groups are a potential source of leads (like LinedIn groups for B2B business), mark your presence there. Remember to share relevant posts and not shamelessly plug-in your offerings.
- Answer queries on aggregator platforms like Amazon, immediately. Your quick responses build trust in customer.
- Use videos in abundance — videos are the new favourites of social media & induce trust & a human face to your brand.
- Source & create a great FAQ section on possible customer queries.
- Get some great testimonials (videos are better) from your clients. It works!
All that I have mentioned above is very basic and can be done with a budget of less than ₹20,000 ($275)!
4. Reach out with advertisements
Once you have the basics in place, reach out to customers using paid tools like Google Ads, Facebook sponsored post, etc.
Remember, only spend money when you have your basic web presence right. No customer will trust a brand without a website, very sketchy social media presence or doesn’t respond to questions.
There is a task after every class, like this ⬇️
This is the first among a series of articles that I will be sharing with you in coming days. I will be visiting each checklist item in detail with tips & hacks.
To keep yourself updated, I would recommend you to
- Create a bookmark of this post on pocket with appropriate tags
- Create a trello board with a card called ‘resources’ with a link to this article. Assign a date so that you can check if I have posted the second article :)
At any point, you may reach out to me on twitter (twitter.com/doulosjose) for any specific queries or for a random chat on your new business ideas.
Thanks for reading,
doulos jose
