In the current world, starting and running a drop shipping business is very popular among new entrepreneurs. It is due to digital marketing skills and out-weighing financial capacity. In this business model, you (the owner) have not to stock or handle products that you are selling. You sell products on your eCommerce portal from a third party (supplier or manufacturer), who fulfills the order. Apart from the reduction in the operational costs, this business model saves your time that you can utilize in customer acquisition.
Since 2011, Amazon, the most successful eCommerce giant, has been applying drop shipping business model. According to a report, Amazon sold its 34% of products in a single year. If Amazon can run its business through drop shipping, then you can also do it. Now, you have a query that how to build and market such a business. In the write-up, I am going to guide you how to start a drop shipping business first and how to market the same later on.
How to start a drop shipping business
Are you ready to start a business to compete with retail big guns on a limited budget? If yes, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Choose a niche - Your niche should be laser focused. It should be something that you are really interested in. with a solid focus, you will have issues with marketing a product range. To make your selection better, you should look for attractive profits, pay attention to low shipping, ensure your products are attractive to customers, and create your own brand.
- Conduct research on market competition - Keep in mind that you will be competing retail giants like Amazon and Walmart through your dropshipping business. This is where most of drop shippers go wrong. You need to focus on the products that are high in demand.
- Have contracts with suppliers - For your eCommerce business, you need to collaborate with manufacturers and suppliers for the delivery of products. Here, you need to be very careful and contact the suppliers that offer high-quality products.
- Build your eCommerce website - You need a website to start your online business. For this, you should contact a professional website development company. Professionals will help you to have a custom website for your drop shipping business.
Marketing strategy for your drop shipping business
We all know that no business can survive in the market without drawing customers to it. So, it is crucial for you to market your drop shipping business if you want to be successful in it. Here are some useful steps your help:
- Build trust - When customers visit an eCommerce site, they are doubtful about the quality of products. You need to build trust among patrons. For this, you can add ratings, customer reviews, and testimonials to your business site. With product reviews, customers have an idea about the experience of other patrons with a particular product. It encourages shoppers to complete their purchase from your site.
- Run ads on digital and traditional platforms - In the initial stage, you need to make people aware of your business. For drawing traffic instantly, you should run ads on digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. A large number of people in today’s world use these platforms daily. By displaying your ads, you will be before them. Also, you can use custom labels and stickers to display your ads in and around your business location.
- Post a social video to draw traffic - According to a Cisco report, 81% of the website traffic will come through online videos. Sharing videos is getting a more successful marketing campaign. It means that you should shift your marketing strategy to sharing videos to draw traffic. For example, you can create videos on how to use particular product and share the same on all digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Apply retargeting techniques for the acquisition of customers - A single customer is valuable for you. Let him/her not to go without purchasing from your eCommerce site. Around 98% of the customers do not buy on their first visit to a website. This creates a challenge for most of drop shippers like you. Here, retargeting can come for your rescue. By applying the retargeting techniques, you can display relevant ads to your potential customers. Targeted with display ads, your chances of converting visitors into customers get increase up to 70%.
- Start a blog and keep it updated with regular post - According to FitSmallBusiness, a blog is the 5th most reliable source of information in this digital age. With a blog creation and keeping it updated with new posts, you can market your drop shipping business at a lower cost. Through your blog, you can provide information on your latests discount offers and deals. Also, you can suggest products and guide on how to use a particular product through your blog post. It will help you in drawing traffic to your eCommerce site.
- Run an SEO campaign - People are very active today. Before making a purchase decision, they know a product well by searching it on the Internet. You need to be before them for what they are looking. For this, you need to optimize your eCommerce website for the search engines, especially Google. Get in touch with professionals to avail the required help.
Conclusion
Marketing is crucial for the success of any business. For keeping this in mind, you should have a robust marketing strategy, and you should be ready to apply all the tricks that can help you draw traffic and convert visitors into buyers. On a regular basis, you should analyze what is working and what is not. On that analysis, you should shift your strategy to one that can work for you.