Getting a first sale is a significant event for any business. It inspires the hope in you that it will be the first of many. But to get that first sale, simply setting up and designing your Shopify store isn't enough. You will need to promote and market your brand. There are lots of ways for you to market your store, and we'll be discussing some of them. But keep in mind these are not one-size-fits-all solutions, you'll have to tweak them according to your products and your goals.

Strategies to get your first sales

• Start with your personal network

Begin with reaching out to your friends and family and asking them to spread the word.

For most businesses, the first sale is from personal networks. It's fairly easy for you to do, and word from trusted mouths is always more effective than ads or other marketing tactics.

Also, there is the possibility of getting sales and leads from your personal network- that's much higher than the possibility of selling to unknowns.

• Use Social Media

Using social media to advertise your business is something every business is doing now and for good reason. Over half the world's population are now on different social media platforms. Like all other media platforms, you need to ensure some key things to get the results you want from your ads:

‍

- create good quality organic content

- have good-quality visuals

- explore different ad formats on different platforms (e.g. video ads, carousel ads, etc.)

- use analytics

- try out influencer marketing.

‍

• Use smartly placed pop-up forms

Purposefully place pop-up forms on your landing pages to get email addresses and other information from visitors to your store website. This will come in handy for turning your site traffic into sales. You can use the information you get from the forms to run targeted campaigns and encourage those visitors back in. Including welcome discounts and special offers in the pop-up forms increase the chance of visitors' providing their info.

• Email marketing with automation

Email marketing is a great way to reach out to new visitors as well as for retargeting existing customers. Using automation in your email marketing activities will make your life much easier. You can automate scheduling, feedback requests, and sending special offers and discount emails with it. Email automation can also trigger retargeting campaigns for existing customers that have fallen out of touch.

• Use paid advertising

Using paid search activities such as PPC ads, you are placed on top of the organic results in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). While Google ads can be overwhelming, it's still one of the quickest ways to increase reach and grow sales. Also, paid advertising on social media platforms is also a very good option for improving brand awareness and sales growth. Supplement your paid search activities on Google ads/Bing ads with paid ads on different social media platforms to maximize results.

• Offer referral programs, special offers, and discounts

Everyone loves discounts and special offers- anything that gets people more than their money's worth. So offering them when you are just starting is a great way to build a solid customer base. Remember to be generous with your discounts and offers when you're first getting started though, so people choose you over others. Referral programs are another clever way to attract sales, as it encourages customers by making them a part of your marketing operations. Each successful referral gets both the referrer and the referred points or discounts- making it very lucrative for potential customers.

Or, one can simplify their Shopify experience with an eCommerce tool like Koala App!

Final Thoughts

The 6 tactics mentioned above are one of many ways you can use digital marketing to get sales for your Shopify store. But the key is to remember that success depends on your audience, products, and goals fitting them right. Be patient, and try out each of the strategies at a suitable pace after analyzing them well. Hopefully, you will be landing your first sale in no time.