Dropshipping Marketing Strategies: How to Market Your Dropshipping Store

You’ve already set up your dropshipping store. Now what? Why are orders not coming in? You see, in every type of business, you need to do some marketing so your target customers can discover your dropshipping products.

Since dropshipping takes the hassle of maintaining product inventory and shipping off your shoulders, you have plenty of time to market your biz. If you don’t have solid dropshipping marketing strategies in place, here are some tips on how to market your dropshipping store.

10 Tips on How to Market Your Dropshipping Store

Some people advertise dropshipping as a get-rich-quick scheme. But the truth is, it isn’t, especially if you don’t do the hard work—which is marketing your business. If you don’t get the word out that you’re selling something, people won’t know it. 

To market your dropshipping store, the following tips can help build brand awareness and turn people into buying consumers:

1. Build your social media presence

Social media is a powerful marketing tool and greatly affects a person’s purchasing decisions. Based on statistics, 54% of social media users rely on social media platforms when researching the products they’re interested in buying. And a staggering 71% are more likely to purchase a product with many social media referrals. 

To build your dropshipping store’s social media presence, optimize your social media profiles. You can do this by completing your business information or about details, adding your business logo and banner, including your contact info, and citing your e-commerce store and website links.

Aside from optimizing your social media channels, you must post consistently on your accounts. Social media algorithms reward those who post consistently and make their posts appear more on people’s feeds. So, don’t be like other businesses with inactive social media accounts. Otherwise, your target audience will think your dropshipping store has already closed down.

Another tip is to “interact” or engage with others on social media. Respond to those who comment on your posts. Visit relevant social media accounts and leave insightful comments on their posts. That’s what it means to be “social.” You don’t simply post on your page; you should talk with other people, too! With interaction, you can build new relationships that can help boost your business visibility and open doors to better opportunities.

2. SEO your e-commerce stores and website

Have you heard about SEO? SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” SEO can help improve the visibility of your dropshipping website on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. For example, your dropshipping business sells bridal gowns, and you’re targeting customers based in California. With SEO techniques, your dropshipping website can appear on search engine results when someone looks for “bridal gowns in California.”

However, engaging in SEO can be tricky since it encompasses different techniques, such as keyword research, keyword placement, influencer outreach, link building, content marketing, image optimization, internal and external linking, competitor SEO analysis, and more. It also often requires paid and specialized tools. Due to its technicalities and complexities, most businesses hire SEO specialists. 

But there are ways you can do SEO on your own, especially if you don’t have the budget to hire someone. The easiest way to SEO your e-commerce stores and website is to incorporate the desired keywords you want your product pages to be found. So, if you’re selling “bridal gowns in California,” make sure to include this keyword phrase or alternate versions of it in your product title and product description to have higher chances of appearing on search results.

3. Promote your products in online groups or communities

Another dropshipping marketing strategy that can help increase your sales is being active in online groups or communities, such as Facebook Groups, X (Twitter) Communities, Reddit Communities, Slack Groups, Discord, Quora, and forum websites.

For example, you’re dropshipping mom-and-baby products. You can join relevant mommy groups to promote what you sell. Many moms ask for advice and product recommendations for their pregnancy and motherhood journey. You can hop into the conversation, offer helpful tips, and suggest your product links.

 4. Do video marketing

Are you still limiting yourself to plain text and image posts? We’re already in the video era, so consider integrating videos into your dropshipping marketing strategy. Research shows that people retain 95% of your message when presented in video format. But with plain text, only 10% of your message is remembered. So take this opportunity to create more reels or short- and long-form videos on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.

But how do you create video content for your dropshipping business if you don’t have physical inventory? To learn how to market your dropshipping store through videos, even without the actual products, you can simply utilize the images provided by your dropshipping supplier and make an animated slideshow or explainer video out of them. You can also curate user-generated content or unboxing videos from your customers to be used for your video content. However, ask for your customers’ permission before recreating their videos.

5. Invest in paid ads

Although it’s up to you to utilize only free marketing techniques, it can be challenging for your dropshipping business to stand out, especially if you don’t invest in paid ads. In the United States alone, there are approximately more than 30.57 million businesses actively promoting on social media. And businesses aren’t the only ones competing in every social media user’s feed. There are also non-business accounts that vie for their attention.

If you want a faster way to get your dropshipping products noticed, allot some budget to paid ads. So, how much should you allocate for your marketing budget? Based on a survey, your marketing budget should be 8.7% of your revenue. Let’s say your dropshipping store is earning $500 a month. So, 8.7% of $500 is $43.50 — this is “ideally” how much you should spend for paid ads.

6. Partner with micro-influencers

According to statistics, 81% of consumers are strongly swayed by an influencer’s social media posts. If you plan to include influencer marketing in your promotional strategies, here’s a quick overview of the 2 main types of influencers—macro and micro. 

Macro-influencers typically have a social media following of 100,000 to 1,000,000 and up. Meanwhile, micro-influencers have at least 1,000 to 100,000 followers. If your dropshipping store targets a specific niche, it’s better to collaborate with micro-influencers since they have a more targeted and engaged audience. 

And if you’re thinking about whether to partner with a celebrity or a social media influencer, choose the latter. Today, 92% of consumers trust social media influencers more than celebrities.

7. Encourage customer reviews

For your target customers to finally press that “Buy Now” button, encourage your past customers to leave a review on your dropshipping store. Based on a report, over 99.9% of customers read reviews before purchasing. And a survey reveals that 49% of consumers trust product reviews as much as family or friend recommendations.

However, to some customers, writing a review is a hassle. To simplify the process of leaving a review, provide your customers with the review link so they can easily click it and share their feedback. Still, this may not be enough. To make your customers more willing to share their experience with your dropshipping products and services, offer them incentives, such as freebies or discount vouchers for their next purchase.

8. Utilize email marketing

Who reads emails these days? Serious shoppers do. In fact, 92% of adults use email. This means you have tons of potential email readers to convert into buyers. But here’s the catch: getting your emails opened and read is quite a challenge. An average person receives more than 100 emails per day. So, how can you make your emails stand out? 

Before emailing your target customers, ensure your email account looks professional by uploading a profile picture. It can be your business logo or the business owner’s photo. And to increase your email’s open rate, write a catchy email subject line. You can add emojis, use power words, or words that trigger a sense of urgency. Aside from these, consider the time you’ll send out your emails. Based on an analysis, the best time to send emails is between 9 and 11 am.

9. Run contests or giveaways

Hosting contests or giveaways is an excellent marketing strategy to engage people, collect emails, and create a buzz for your dropshipping store. 

In the mechanics of your contests or giveaways, include signing up for your dropshipping store’s newsletter as one of the requirements. This will help increase your email subscribers and nurture them into potential buyers.

You can also mention in your contest or giveaway post that participants can increase their chances of winning by sharing the post multiple times in online groups or communities. With this simple step, you can enhance the visibility of your giveaway post and dropshipping store.

10. Create visually appealing and compelling product pages

The presentation and structuring of your product pages is marketing itself. With a visually appealing product page, you can influence customer behavior, leading to higher conversion rates. 

To make your product pages look more appealing, add more than 2 photos of your dropshipping products from different angles. If a video is available, also include it on your product page. For a more compelling product page copy, emphasize the benefits and features of the products. Make your copy straight to the point and in a readable format.

Meanwhile, if you’re operating your own website for your dropshipping business, ensure each product page has a prominently displayed “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” button, along with the product price, for a streamlined purchasing process.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How to promote your dropshipping store for free?

There are many ways to promote your dropshipping store for free. These include social media marketing, optimizing your e-commerce stores and website with the help of SEO, joining online groups or communities, video marketing, encouraging customer reviews, email marketing, and more. These marketing strategies don’t require you to spend money. However, you need to be skillful and resourceful in every aspect so these strategies can work for your dropshipping business.

2. Should I really invest in paid ads for my dropshipping business?

If you want to grow your dropshipping business fast, invest in paid ads, such as Google ads, Facebook ads, and TikTok ads. Paid ads help your business reach more people on social media or search engines. Do keep in mind that running paid ads requires some technical knowledge and a flair for creativity. Some businesses don’t see any results from paid ads because they don’t know how to set up ads that cater to their target audience, and some are unable to create persuasive ad copies and attention-grabbing visuals. 

3. Can good marketing always sell everything?

Marketing is the lifeline of every business since it helps ensure a steady stream of revenue. However, this may not always be the case. No amount of good marketing can sell a poor-quality product long-term. So, it’s always essential for you to find a reliable dropshipping supplier who can offer high-quality products. We at Sup Dropshipping have a vast network of suppliers that provide high-quality yet affordable items. Partnering with us assures you that your customers will be satisfied with every product they receive.

Aside from poor-quality products, your marketing efforts won’t yield much results if the economic condition is dire. In an economic recession, thousands of people lose their jobs. Even if you aggressively market your product as something useful in one’s daily life, consumers might not be encouraged to buy since they tend to prioritize saving over spending during a recession. 

Moreover, even if a product is used to sell well, it might not sell anymore, even with consistent marketing efforts, because people’s preferences change over time. In this case, it’s better to find another winning or trending product to sell for your dropshipping business.

Summary

Dropshipping can make you rich and successful, BUT it all depends on your marketing efforts. If you’re not serious about investing time and money to market your dropshipping store, it can flop. In addition to poor marketing strategies, the success of your dropshipping business may be compromised if you sell the wrong products and partner with the wrong suppliers. 

Products may be deemed unsuitable if they lack quality and do not meet market demands. Similarly, suppliers may be considered unfit if they offer subpar products, exhibit poor communication, and do not ship customers’ orders on time.

To set up your dropshipping business to success, choose Sup Dropshipping as your dropshipping supplier. As an all-in-one fulfillment center in China, we know the best factories and manufacturers in the country! Contact us today and learn how to start dropshipping with us.