Tonight I was having dinner with a group of people celebrating one of our friend\u2019s graduation from pharmacy school.\u00a0The group of us around the table were having a discussion about random things, and at one point the discussion turned to business and consumer goods and I discussed one of my business ideas for a unique online tee-shirt shop.<\/p>\n
Everyone loves the idea (I\u2019m not going to go into it here for the reason that we may some day develop it), it\u2019s not brand new but we have kind of a cool spin in mind.\u00a0Anyway, someone suggested that we should sell it in Hot Topic or similar kind of store too.\u00a0That struck me.\u00a0Not because it\u2019s necessarily a bad idea, but in my mind, bricks and mortar stores are pretty much obsolete \u2013 at least for me.<\/p>\n
Staying with the tee-shirt example, many people still first think physical retailer when they think of purchasing a tee shirt.\u00a0I am sure this extends to many, many products.\u00a0Not everyone makes purchases online, or at least not in the quantities that some of us do.<\/p>\n
And that is why there is so much untapped potential in this space. The trick is to get people who normally are bricks and mortar shoppers to realize the power of purchasing online. I\u2019ll leave you to strategize how to do that for your specific consumers on your own.<\/p>\n
It is important, as the digital marketing professional, to have perspective. When people enter the world of online purchasing for the first time, it can be a confusing and overwhelming environment.\u00a0While you or I might easily be able to find plenty of shops selling the same thing while simultaneously comparing prices, reading reviews and blogs about the product and reading store feedback, someone new to this space could easily be overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
Creating layouts and flow to your page that will appeal to both the novice and experienced web shopper is obvious, but a step further is to create marketing concepts online that work for everyone.\u00a0A proper viral idea will definitely be cool and can catch the eyes of the experienced web-user who is immersed in this space daily, but it\u2019s equally important to leverage tools like Google AdWords at the same time to reach out to those merely doing a search for what they want.<\/p>\n
Branding for your web store online and offline is also an equally important strategy.\u00a0If you sell a physical product either online or in a physical store, have your Web site branded clearly, legibly and in a place that stands out.\u00a0Don\u2019t relegate it to the back of the package where no one will see it.\u00a0You may be missing a chance to convert a fan to purchase your product directly from you in the future.\u00a0Here\u2019s a good site\u00a0on how to properly use URLs, with some great examples.<\/p>\n
Every campaign and product is different, and the right balance of tactics in this space is important to accomplish your goal.\u00a0Be sure you have a mix which appeals to the web savvy and the new person to this space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tonight I was having dinner with a group of people celebrating one of our friend\u2019s graduation from pharmacy school.\u00a0The group … <\/p>\n