More traffic can mean more sales. And even if you don’t see a massive upswing in sales straight away—growing traffic is better than avoiding it.

It’s simple: When you grow traffic to a new ecommerce site, you not only get those crucial first few customers through the door, but you can also create consistent avenues of revenue. 

In this article, we’ll look at a few ways to increase traffic to a new ecommerce site (even if no one has heard of you before). 

Run Ads on Social Media 

97% of marketers promote their content on social media because they know their customers are on there.

But how do you outmuscle so much competition?

You can start by running social media ads. 

Paid social media ads can eat into your budget if they aren’t monitored correctly. 

But they can allow you to put together targeted campaigns that are aimed at the right people. 

The beauty of this is twofold: You can use social media ads to direct potential customers to your ecommerce store while at the same time increasing your social media following. 

Not just that, but social media ads such as Facebook ads and Instagram ads can require a fairly low amount of resources—and they can bring a large ROI quickly. There are some tools companies can use to export Instagram analytics and get an overall idea of what’s going on.

Run Contests 

People will always love free stuff. As a new ecommerce store, one of the best ways you can drive traffic is by running contests/giveaways—whereby anyone who takes part has a chance of winning free stuff from you. This might be a discount, it might be free shipping, or it could be a free gift. 

Naturally, contests aren’t sustainable avenues of traffic in the long-term. But you can drive huge amounts of traffic and get people onto your email list at the same time (the premise is simple—participants must hand over their email address to enter your contest). 

There are tools that help you create contests from scratch but the golden rules are always the same: Keep things simple, keep the contest relevant to your audience and make it fun. 

If you invest in these types of ecommerce software tools to support your business—you may benefit from seeking out ecommerce and SaaS financing.

Launch a Content Marketing Campaign

Content marketing is a long-term strategy that will require much planning and hard work. It will take time to pay off, but organic traffic remains one of the best ways to attract qualified traffic to your store. 

With content marketing, you can write blog posts or create podcasts that provide information to potential customers about your products and niches. And you can also demonstrate how your products work and why they will benefit your customers. 

Content marketing is also one of the best ways to build trust with customers and position yourself as the store with solutions to their problems. 

Not sure where to start? Here are some tips:

• Work with an SEO agency. These will help you plot a content marketing strategy that works. 

• Spy on your competitors. What kind of content are other eCommerce stores creating? You can use tools like BuzzSumo to help with this. 

• Be consistent. Publish new blog posts a few times a week. To help with this, create a content calendar so that you know what you’re doing each week. 

• Leverage user-generated content. UGC is content your customers create, such as photos of them using your products. Integrate this as much as possible into your campaigns!

• Hire an AdWords expert and use Google AdWords to promote your content. 

Work With Influencers 

Influencers already have what you’re looking for—an audience. They also have an audience who trusts them. This means if they recommend your products to their followers, their followers will automatically be inclined to trust you, too. 

Can your new online store work with influencers and direct their traffic to your brand new store?

You can, but you will need to fight for their attention because you won’t be the only online store doing this. 

Here are some things to bear in mind: 

• Do your research. You want to ensure that an influencer has the same audience as you. This naturally means that a cosmetic store will seek out influencers who promote cosmetics. However, it’s important to look deeper to make sure an influencer and their audience have the same values and principles as you. 

• Check their metrics. An influencer might have 10,000 followers—but what if barely any of them engage with their content? A smart idea is to check their social media profiles for likes and comments so that you know whether or not an influencer is worth your time. 

• Reach out to them and get their trust. Once you’ve identified an influencer, it’s time to introduce yourself and present how the two of you can work together. What will you do for them in exchange for them promoting your product(s)? Remember, all influencer partnerships must be mutually beneficial! 

Conclusion 

New eCommerce stores have a lot of work to do if they’re to compete with established stores for traffic. But the good news is that plenty of customers out there will willingly shop. They may even become loyal customers provided you can direct them to your store in the first place and demonstrate that you’re a store worth trusting. 

Make a start by implementing the tips above. Don’t stop there, make sure to test all your campaigns to see what’s working (and what isn’t) and make the necessary adjustment that ensures a steady stream of traffic to your store.