Are you feeling the heat?

Summer is not kind to online retail. To make matters worse, giant retailers run massive annual promotions to drive site traffic. How can smaller ecommerce brands compete in such a climate?

Don’t sweat it – we have some cool tips that will (hopefully) chill your anxiety.

Launch (or re-energize) your affiliate marketing program

• If you don’t have one: Now is the time to set up an affiliate program that engages bloggers, influencers, or content creators to promote your products to earn a commission for every successful referral. This incentivizes them to drive traffic to your ecommerce store. 73% of retailers say affiliate marketing has helped their business grow.
  –
• If you do: Seek out niche-specific affiliate partnerships to target audiences with a high potential for conversion. Collaborate with websites or platforms that align with your brand values to reach a relevant and engaged customer base. Here’s an article on finding niche affiliates for your business.

NOTE: You can find these folks in places like AdvertisePurple, Impact, BrandAmbassador, and other affiliate-marketing hubs.

Partner with Influencers and Micro-Influencers

• Influencers: Partner with well-known influencers within your industry with a significant following (from six figures to several million). They can help create brand awareness and drive traffic to your store through sponsored content or product reviews.
  –
• Micro-Influencers: Micro-influencers are typically defined as content creators with a following ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 followers. These folks have a smaller but highly engaged and loyal following. They often connect strongly with their audience, making their recommendations more impactful. (This is particularly useful for niche products, as their authentic and specialized content resonates with their loyal followers.)

NOTE: You can find influencers on HypeAuditor, AspireIQ or Glewee. For micro-influencers, there’s GRIN, Captiv8, and Social Ladder. Read this guide to influencer seeding by GRIN.

Collaborate with Niche Bloggers and Online Communities

• Identify influential bloggers or active online communities that cater to your target audience. Reach out to them to collaborate on guest blog posts, interviews, or featured articles that promote your brand and ecommerce store.
  –
• Offer unique promotions or exclusive discounts to blog readers or community members, creating a sense of exclusivity and fostering brand loyalty.

Host Engaging Online Events and Giveaways

• Organize virtual events, such as webinars, workshops, or live Q&A sessions, that align with your products and target audience’s interests. Provide attendees with valuable information, exclusive insights, or expert advice while promoting your ecommerce store throughout the event. This trend was recently featured on the Today Show. Companies report up to a 30% boost in conversion rates with live ecommerce events – also known as live commerce. Be.live is an excellent resource for live commerce, and they offer an intro to live commerce video here.
  –
• Run interactive giveaways or contests on your social media channels to generate excitement and encourage user participation. Tie these initiatives to the summer season, offering prizes or promotions relevant to the time of year.

NOTE: Tapping into our earlier suggestions, you can partner with a popular YouTuber or Tiktoker to be the face of a contest or giveaway, and you can deploy such contests directly from your brand’s TikTok account (SweepWidget is an excellent tool for this), or within online communities.

Capitalize on User-Generated Content (UGC)

• Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your products through UGC campaigns. Offer incentives, such as discounts or giveaways, to motivate them to create and share content featuring your products on social media.
  –
• Curate and highlight the best UGC on your website and social media channels, showcasing real customers and their positive experiences. This builds social proof and authenticity, attracting new visitors to your ecommerce store.NOTE: The best kind of UGC consists of positive feedback from verified customers. Reach out to us to learn how we can help you capture customer feedback on autopilot at no cost.

The slow summer season forces us to be inventive, resilient, and resourceful. The upside is that the programs you set up to stay competitive during this challenging time can bring your traffic and revenue to new heights and yield positive results year-round.

We hope you’ll agree that would be pretty cool.