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Ready to get more organic traffic?

Get on the waitlist for our new Course, SEO for Ecommerce. In the Course, you’ll learn how to build a powerful SEO Funnel that will consistently grow your organic traffic and sales.

This brand new course is exclusively for Ecommerce store owners, and comes with 3 months of Expert support. Enrollment is limited, so get on the list, and we’ll make sure you are notified when it’s available.

https://classroom.thesocialsalesgirls.com/seo-for-ecommerce-waitlist

Have you heard of an SEO Funnel?

Most of us understand the sales funnel where we’ve got our cold, warm, and hot audiences filtering down the funnel to the purchase goal.

You can apply that same method of thinking to SEO.

An SEO Funnel will bring consistent, high quality traffic to your site, and it doesn’t cost a dime.

Investing time into SEO can be beneficial for any ecommerce business, and you can use a content-based funnel strategy to grow traffic and sales without advertising.

What is a SEO Funnel?

It’s an SEO focused content strategy designed to warm up your audiences and bring them down a funnel, until they make a purchase. Your SEO Funnel has 3 audiences.
Top of funnel audience, middle of funnel audience, and bottom of funnel audience.

Specific SEO focused content is created to attract a top of funnel, middle of funnel, and bottom of funnel audience.

What kinds of Ecommerce stores should use an SEO Funnel?

Every product based Ecommerce business can benefit from this strategy.

Why is this Important to me now?

The SEO Funnel is a slow growing evergreen strategy. You can track and measure your results, so you can see that it’s working and your time is well spent.

You can implement it by creating content consistently over time. This isn’t a paid strategy. Your investment is in time, not money.

Traffic that comes to your store from an organic search will often have higher than average conversion rates.

How to get started:

Start by optimizing your Collection and Product pages.

We recommend you do some keyword research, to determine the best keyword phrases to use for each of those pages.
Find the best keyword phrases by using a tool like Ubersuggest.

It’s a cost-effective way to do keyword research quickly.

You can also use a free tool like the Google Ads keyword planner.

Look for phrases that actually get searched by real people, so you can be confident that the keywords you are using are actually getting some traffic.

Look for keyword phrases that have 1,000 – 10,000 searches a month for products.

Once you’ve done that, make a plan to optimize your homepage, your collections, and your product pages. At a minimum, include your chosen keyword phrase in your title description and image alt text at a minimum.

TOP OF FUNNEL: Audience is in the awareness stage. They may not even know that they need your product. They’re asking general questions and considering multiple options. Create broad content that answers questions like What is X? are perfect at this stage.

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL: Audience knows they need your product and are still deciding on which option is best. They may be looking at your products and competitor’s products. Content that is more product specific helps them decide which product will best fill their need. Product comparisons or reviews are two examples of content to create for this stage.

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL: This audience has already made the decision to purchase, and they are considering a purchase from you. Your job is to assure them that they are making the right decision by buying from you. Content like lots of reviews, “how to” guides, and in depth product descriptions with specifications can help them make the decision to purchase.

Key points to remember: 

1) All store owners should work on an SEO strategy, even if they use paid ads. This content will help buyers feel confident in purchasing from you.

2) SEO is a long term strategy. While sometimes we see quick wins in ranking and traffic, the reality is that bigger wins take months (and sometimes) years to attain.

3) If you use Google ads, working on your SEO will directly and indirectly help those ads. Google P-Max normally uses SEO product titles & descriptions, and optimizing your listings will help you be found more often.

Your next steps:

1) Perform a content audit of your site using the SEO Funnel as a guide.

2) Find the gaps and make a plan to start, or improve, your own funnel.

Get the Simple SEO for Store Owners Guide HERE

Get my new course,  Conversion School for Free!

Learn our step by step process to grow your sales, without spending a

fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products

The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

Established Store Owners will learn how to achieve significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Today we are (finally) diving into the world of Pinterest, where pins lead to profits. And nobody knows this better than Kate Ahl, the mastermind behind Simple Pin Media and host of the Simple Pin Podcast. I’m so excited to have Kate here today because, let’s face it, Pinterest has been a big mystery to many of us. But we’re in good hands, because there is no better expert on this topic than Kate.

Back in 2010, Kate was just like many of us—navigating the wilds of the internet with more enthusiasm than experience. With little kids at home and a need for some extra cash, she started helping a friend with Facebook and her website, diving headfirst into the digital arena. The world of social media and affiliate marketing grabbed her, and she was hooked by the vibrant online community and its endless possibilities.

Kate launched Simple Pin Media in 2014 with just three basic service packages aimed at content creators. It was supposed to be a three-month trial, but the results were undeniable. Clients reported transformative impacts on their businesses, leading Kate to the realization that she might just have a viable business on her hands.

Since then, Kate has dedicated herself to demystifying Pinterest marketing, making it accessible and not so overwhelming. She’s here to tell us that with a solid plan, anyone can conquer Pinterest (and maybe even enjoy it).

Exploring the Potential of Pinterest

Kate says that first and foremost, using Pinterest effectively is all about making sure people are aware that your product exists. It’s not just about throwing up a photo of your product and hoping for the best. You want to really engage your audience, help them understand what you’re selling, and educate them about it.

For instance, e-commerce owners who showcase their products effectively tend to be more successful. Say you’re selling jeans; showing different ways to wear them or comparing various styles can make a big difference. This approach doesn’t just build awareness; it educates your potential customers too. Simply posting lots of product photos without context tends to be ineffective because customers don’t understand why they should buy your product.

Take, for example, a handmade tile seller she works with. She knows that buying handmade tiles involves careful consideration and measurement, so her strategy on Pinterest focuses on inspiring and informing her audience, rather than pushing them to make a quick purchase. She aims to get her product samples into potential customers’ hands and raise awareness about current design trends. Her approach helps position her brand as a viable alternative to big-box stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s, making her a go-to choice for those in search of handmade tiles.

Ultimately, success on Pinterest comes from using strategies similar to what might be done on Google to educate and engage, rather than just listing products for sale. This is how you turn casual browsers into informed, interested buyers.

Key Elements Of An Effective Pinterest Strategy

When diving into Pinterest, remember there are three main elements you should focus on to make your pins pop:

Images: This is key because on Pinterest, the image is pretty much everything. You’ll want to nail both product shots and lifestyle images that showcase your products in a real-life context.

Keywords: Spend some time researching what people are actually searching for on Pinterest, which can be different from other platforms. For example, the terms “vegan” vs. “plant-based” might attract different audiences. It’s crucial to use the right keywords in your pin descriptions to tap into the correct search queries.

Pinning Strategy: Once you’ve got your pin with its perfect image and keyword-rich description, start pinning it across your boards. You don’t have to worry about overposting the same pin too frequently, because unlike Instagram, Pinterest isn’t about scrolling through someone’s profile. You can pin the same content to different boards at different times, even revisiting it months later. This approach works because Pinterest’s algorithm isn’t time-sensitive, and frankly, most Pinterest users won’t notice if you’ve pinned the same thing multiple times.

How to have a big impact on Pinterest in Just 2 Hours Per Week

Many of our students are hesitant to add another marketing channel because Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok already take up so much of their time and energy. But Kate says there are a few key areas that you should be dedicating your energy to, and they don’t need to take more than 2 hours a week.

Before you dive into pinning repeatedly, it’s crucial to set up your Pinterest profile correctly, mainly to make it algorithm-friendly. Start by setting up your boards—they’re like buckets for the algorithm to sort your content.

For example, if you’re selling jeans designed for pear-shaped body types, name your board accordingly and craft a clear description. This helps Pinterest understand exactly what type of content you’ll be pinning there, like it’s all about jeans for pear-shaped bodies.

Once your boards are ready, the next big task is creating compelling images, which are like billboard ads on Pinterest. Remember, people mainly look at images, not read through lots of text. For fashion items, less text usually works better, so focus on visuals that highlight the features of your jeans, like the fit or style details.

When you upload these images, either directly or using a scheduling tool like Tailwind or Planoly, you’ll want to ensure your keywords match the content of your board. This alignment helps Pinterest show your pins to users who are searching for those specific terms, enhancing the relevance and reach of your content.

Setting up a routine of creating great images and using the right keywords is essential. A scheduling tool can help spread out your pins over time, which reduces your workload. No need to constantly comment or follow others—the platform does much of the heavy lifting.

It typically takes about six months to see significant results on Pinterest. If you’re only a couple of months in and not seeing much activity, don’t get discouraged. It’s all about consistency. Keep feeding the algorithm with good content. Your pins from day one will eventually start getting attention, and before you know it, you’ll see a snowball effect: more engagement, more traffic to your store, and an increased interest in your products.

So, hang in there, keep pinning, and watch how your two-hour weekly investment gradually builds a robust presence on Pinterest.

Pinterest SEO: How To Find The Best Keywords

It’s important to remember that Pinterest is a visual search engine. Users are primarily looking for content that benefits them in some way, unlike Instagram where your followers are keen to see behind the scenes content, or personal posts from the business owner. If you’re good at SEO, you’re likely to excel on Pinterest too, although the approach to keyword research might vary a bit. Here’s how it works:

When you do SEO, you’re typically looking for keywords that Google favors. Well, you can start by plugging those same keywords into Pinterest. But in reality, Pinterest itself is the best tool for figuring out what works specifically on their platform.

When you enter your keywords on Pinterest, pay attention to the search predictions that pop up. These suggestions are gold because they show exactly what users on Pinterest are looking for. Sometimes, these keywords might differ from what you’d use for Google. So, even if a keyword works well on Google, you might find a more effective variation or a completely different popular keyword on Pinterest.

Essentially, Pinterest not only helps refine your keyword strategy but also tailors it to capture the most relevant Pinterest audience. So, stick with the keywords that resonate with the Pinterest crowd, even if they’re a bit different from your usual SEO terms. 

Pinterest Marketing Metrics: What To Look For

How can you tell if your Pinterest strategy is actually working? There are three key metrics you should keep an eye on: impressions, saves, and clicks. Let’s break these down a bit:

1. Impressions: This tells you how often your pin is shown. For example, if someone is scrolling on their phone, Pinterest might show two rows of pins. Your pin might be on the left, but if they’re looking at the right, they might not see it. However, having a high number of impressions means your pin is getting out there to a broader audience.
2. Saves: This is a big one because when someone saves your pin, it shows they’re interested. Pinterest users typically browse through and save a bunch of pins they like. Later, they revisit their saved pins when they’re ready to engage further or make a decision.
3. Clicks: This is what you ultimately want — people clicking on your pins to take a closer look or go to your website.

While Pinterest offers up to nine different metrics, focusing on these three will give you a solid indication of how well your content is performing. You can literally compete against yourself by tracking how your pins perform in terms of impressions, saves, and clicks over time. Adjust and test different strategies to see what makes your pins more save-worthy and click-worthy. Remember, it’s not always about creating brand-new content. Sometimes, tweaking what you already have can lead to better results.

What You Need To Know About Pinterest Ads

For store owners accustomed to getting quick results with Meta and Google ads, Pinterest ads can feel a bit slow to kick in because they need about two weeks just to run without any interference. This pause lets Pinterest figure out the best way to distribute them. You’ll spend another two weeks just collecting data to see what’s working, totaling a month of prep and observation. This can be a shift for those used to the quicker pace of Facebook ads, and the different dashboard and reporting style on Pinterest might also take some getting used to.

If you’re new to Pinterest ads, Kate suggests dedicating at least a month to learn the ropes, maybe through a membership program that guides you through the process. After about two months of learning and preparing, you should start to see your ads perform well.

And here’s a fun tip: try experimenting with low-cost Promoted Pins, like a dollar a day, to see how they perform without much risk. This can be a great way to learn what resonates with your audience without the pressure. You might find that even these small investments can give you decent visibility, which is always a win. Plus, playing around with promoted pins and different types of Pinterest ads can help demystify the process and make it more enjoyable.

Pinterest Is NOT Social Media

Pinterest, like Google and YouTube, is used by people who are actively trying to solve a problem. They might visit your site, decide it’s not what they’re looking for, and keep searching until they find the right solution. The key is to make sure your site can meet their needs when they land there, making you the solution they’ve been searching for.

To capture their interest, you need to quickly convince them they’re in the right place—for example, confirming they’ve found the right plant-based skincare product they were looking for.

A common mistake is directing these users to a homepage when they’re expecting a specific product page. This mismatch can frustrate users because they don’t want to search again—they want immediate solutions. Pinterest users often take longer to make a decision because they’re looking for the perfect answer to their needs.

Want To Work With Kate?

Kate’s agency Simple Pin Media offers a few different ways for people to work with them, depending on their needs and how hands-on they want to be.

First off, they handle both organic and paid Pinterest ads directly for clients who prefer to take a hands-off approach. For those who want to be more involved, they offer a “done with you” service which includes membership options. This is great for people who want to learn how to manage their own Pinterest ads but with some guidance from Kate’s team. It’s a pretty affordable membership that lets you get your hands dirty without going it alone.

They also have a DIY option through their Shopify store. Since Pinterest is friendly towards digital products, they’re set up to sell things like e-commerce templates for Canva and other resources directly through Shopify. This setup is perfect for folks who want to integrate what they sell with their Pinterest activities.

For those already running ads but looking to optimize, she offers specific resources like Pinterest ads templates that you can grab and use right away.

So, whether you’re looking to fully outsource your Pinterest marketing, get some guidance while doing it yourself, or just grab some tools to make your life easier, Simple Pin has a solution for you.

RELATED LINKS:

Check out https://juleptile.com/ on Pinterest for a great example of how a successful eComm store uses Pinterest

See the Simple Pin Shopify Store: https://simplepinshop.com/

Learn more about Pinterest services and training: https://www.simplepinmedia.com/

Listen to The Simple Pin Podcast: https://www.simplepinmedia.com/simple-pin-podcast/

Get my new course,  Conversion School for Free!

Learn our step by step process to grow your sales, without spending a

fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products

The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

Established Store Owners will learn how to achieve significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Tap HERE to listen to the interview, or keep reading to hear Chontelle’s top tips for building a strong foundation in your ecommerce business.

From Inner Circle Member to Business Growth Guru

Chontelle sells houseplants online from her home base in New Zealand. Since her market is fairly small, and she doesn’t have access to existing platforms like Etsy, she has always relied on selling directly from her own website. So it’s been extra important to her to drive traffic to her website with a paid social media strategy.

Chontelle had joined several ecommerce courses over the years, but found her home in the Inner Circle because of our focus on building a strong foundation. She learned that having a structured plan to follow, plus expert coaches that she could reach out to with questions or problems, really fast-tracked her success. And she loves being able to pay it forward now as a coach herself!

Finding Your Audience With Ads Made Easy

Chontelle kicked off 2024 by guiding our members through our social media ads workshop. Ads Made Easy is a very thorough and effective testing method to identify and target your ideal audience of buyers using social media ads. It’s all about identifying the fastest, cheapest way to find your ideal people, so that you can feel like social media is working for YOU, not the other way around.

“Once you’ve done the [Ads Made Easy] testing, it’s almost a set and forget exercise where you have this evergreen ad at a really ridiculously low cost per day.”

So for just a few dollars a day, you can quickly “fill your bucket” as we say, with a huge audience of people who are going to be really excited about your product. At the foundational level, our #1 priority is to keep that top of your sales funnel constantly filled with a large number of the right people. You don’t do it once and move on, you have to always have this “tap” running in the background to keep your bucket full.

One Month Of Testing Saves Several Months of Spend

Chontelle is a believer in sticking to the plan and committing to at least a full month of Ads Made Easy testing because it can save so much money later on.

“If you cut corners, then those people aren’t going to necessarily be your people. So it’s going to cost you more to bring them to your website because you haven’t done the testing to get the lowest cost possible.”

She teaches a holistic approach to tracking campaign performance, using Google Analytics (aka GA4) to measure results against the Meta Ads Manager. She really digs into the data to analyze audience quality, tracking metrics like time on site. A high bounce rate or low time on site can indicate that more testing is needed, and that even though your ads might be getting traffic to your site cheaply, it’s not the kind of traffic that will actually buy from you.

Marching (Slowly) Toward Conversion

Another reason Chontelle is such a believer in Ads Made Easy testing is that this top of funnel ad is not going to get sales. It’s going to provide a very large pool of potential customers that you will re-target later on. So if you aren’t attracting the right people up front, you’ll waste a lot of time and money later trying to persuade them to buy when they were never interested to begin with. Driving traffic isn’t cheap, so putting the work in early on to identify the right audience pays dividends further down the funnel.

The #1 Ads Mistake Store Owners Make

Chontelle has found that when first starting out, lots of people are impatient with their tests and include too many variables at once. And when they throw too many elements into the mix, it’s virtually impossible to identify what is working and what isn’t. The process is (and should be) slow and methodical – testing one variable at a time, completing one test before moving on to the next.

Roadmap For Success: Slow Down To Speed Up

Chontelle tells us that to successfully build a solid foundation for your ecommerce store, you have to take it slow, follow the lessons one at a time, and don’t cut corners. Give yourself time to implement the strategies and don’t allow yourself to get distracted.

“There are so many shiny objects in front of us all of the time that it is really easy for us to go off on this tangent and go over here and look at this.”

Attempting to learn too much at once keeps you right where you are. You start doubting yourself, wondering if there’s something wrong with your site, and falling down rabbit holes. Whereas making slow, steady progress compounds over time, and ultimately fast-tracks your success.

Chontelle attributes her store’s meteoric success to following the Inner Circle method in this slow, methodical way. In fact, she was able to leave her “day job” and dedicate 100% of her time to her own business.

By embodying patience, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn and apply, Chontelle has not only elevated her own business but now dedicates part of her time to helping others in the Inner Circle. If you’re a member in need of help with the basics, book a call with her! You can also learn more about our foundational programs in the links below.

RELATED LINKS:

Chontelle’s website: https://thelilypot.co.nz/

Episode 123 – Ads Made Easy

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/10x-your-audience-in-the-next-30-days-episode-123/

The Secret Way To Make Big Progress With Chontelle Fossey

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-secret-way-to-make-big-progress-with-chontelle-fossey-episode-124/

Build A Massive Audience With A Brand Video

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/build-a-massive-audience-with-a-brand-video-episode-162/

Get my new course,  Conversion School for Free!

Learn our step by step process to grow your sales, without spending a

fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products

The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

Established Store Owners will learn how to achieve significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Transform Your Business with a ‘Marketing First’ Mindset

I always say that “Marketing First” store owners will get more sales than store owners who don’t make their marketing a habit. A Marketing First mindset means strategically positioning marketing at the core of your business activities. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, adopting this mindset will be  immensely beneficial.

I recently spoke with Melissa Davies, owner of Bike Pretty. She’s really the quintessential Marketing First store owner, and I want to share the story of the amazing transformation Melissa made last year.

Melissa was already a good marketer. She has owned her business for ten years so she was consistently posting to social media, emailing her list regularly, running social media ads, etc. But she wasn’t quite connecting the dots of how her social media efforts were translating to sales.

Watch this video and learn:

• How Melissa built an audience of 4.6 million
• What happened when she posted a video for the 5th time
• How her supersized audience affected her sales

Two Game-Changing Trainings

Early last year we introduced a couple of new trainings to the Inner Circle. One was ‘The Big Picture’ in which we showed members how to build a sales funnel, and understand their numbers. The other was Brand Video Creation. In this one, we taught members how to create really effective 45-second brand videos they could use to build their audiences without paying a lot for ads.

So Melissa really was able to visualize her sales funnel for the first time. And she had a lightbulb moment when she realized that she had been underestimating how many people she needed to reach on social media in order to bring in the traffic she would need to reach her sales goals.

Once that was clear, she decided to leverage the second training to make a brand video that she could turn into an ad that would get her business in front of a LOT more people.

The brand video lesson empowers members to craft short, engaging videos showcasing their products and business benefits, accompanied by a strong call to action. These videos are not just fluffy showcases; they are powerful tools for audience growth, especially when used effectively on platforms like Meta and TikTok.

A Success Story: Melissa Davies’ Remarkable Year

To truly understand the impact of these lessons, let’s look at Melissa’s mind blowing numbers. She started with a monthly audience of 140,000 – a respectable figure by any standard. But after diligently working on her brand videos and leveraging our ’30 Day Audience Builder’ training (an oldie but a goodie!) she saw her audience explode to a staggering 4.6 million.

Melissa combined the power of consistent posting, strategic use of brand videos, and a deep understanding of her sales funnel to achieve these numbers. Her story is a testament to the potential of ‘Marketing First’ and its impact on sales.

Key Strategies and Tactics for Success

In episode 190 Melissa told us how she got over herself and committed to a 3x/day social posting strategy. That’s how she came to recognize the importance of reposting old content for increased visibility, and embraced the necessity of setting and chasing monthly goals. Once she understood her sales funnel, she began optimizing each stage – from audience building to converting traffic into sales.

Understanding the Sales Funnel

Let’s break down the sales funnel stages that Melissa mastered:

1. Audience: This is where it all starts. Building a large, engaged audience is crucial for funnel effectiveness. Usually, this is on social media platforms like Meta or TikTok.
2. Traffic: Once you have an audience, the next step is to get a percentage of this big pool of people to visit your website.
3. Focused Marketing: This stage involves targeted marketing efforts (like retargeting ads or email campaigns) to people who have visited your website or signed up for your list.
4. Conversion: The final stage, where website visitors turn into paying customers.

Melissa’s approach to each of these stages was methodical and data-driven. By focusing on her audience size and engagement, she managed to significantly increase her website traffic, leading to better sales.

The Power of Video Content

Melissa’s use of video content was a game-changer. Her brand videos, posted across social media platforms, significantly boosted her reach. And since they were working, she kept re-posting them.

And on the SIXTH repost of one of her brand videos? It went viral.

These videos, which were neither high-budget nor technically complex, really resonated with her audience. She attributes this to the down-to-earth, approachable, and on-brand tone of her videos. And rather than bore her audience, Melissa believes that posting them more often actually contributed to their virality.

The Impact of Melissa’s Marketing Strategy

The results of Melissa’s marketing efforts were clear and quantifiable. Her traffic skyrocketed, and while her conversion rate for new visitors was relatively low, the overall impact on sales was substantial. Melissa’s story demonstrates how a focused, consistent marketing strategy can lead to significant financial gains, far outweighing traditional advertising costs.

Lessons from Melissa’s Experience

Melissa’s journey offers several key takeaways for business owners:

• Focus On Your Funnel: Understanding and optimizing each stage of the sales funnel is critical for converting audience size into actual sales.
• Repetition is Key: Reposting content can significantly increase visibility and engagement.
• Reach More People with Video Content: Even if it’s simple and low-budget, video is the single most effective way to increase audience size.

The Path to Becoming a ‘Marketing First’ Business Owner

Melissa’s story really exemplifies the ‘Marketing First’ philosophy in action. She is continually monitoring her data, adjusting her sales funnel, and staying consistent with the type of organic content she knows is working.

This is the type of data-driven strategy we are working on in the Inner Circle this year – setting actionable goals that are based on real numbers, and putting a plan in place so that we get consistent results. Ready to make 2024 the year you become a Marketing First business owner? Join the Inner Circle HERE.

RELATED LINKS:

The Stress Free Content Plan That Built A Huge Audience: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-stress-free-content-plan-that-built-a-huge-audience-episode-190/

How Melissa Reduced Her Cost Of Acquiring A New Customer By 44%: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-melissa-reduced-her-cost-of-acquiring-a-customer-by-44-percent-episode-191/

Get my new course,  Conversion School for Free!

Learn our step by step process to grow your sales, without spending a

fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products

The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

Established Store Owners will learn how to achieve significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

If you’ve ever felt like your store + products are invisible, this is for you!

Earlier this year we released new “Brand Video” training in our Inner Circle.
It’s a game changer.

After implementing, hundreds of our Members have been able to grow big audiences of their perfect people, get high quality traffic to their site, and sell more of their beautiful products.

This is the #1 strategy every product seller can use to grow their sales in 2024.

Here’s the back story:
Early this year, we started out with a goal to find a way for our Inner Circle Members to get more people visiting their website. It had to be people who were prequalified – the right people, AND it had to be affordable, and easy, and something that everyone can do – no matter what they sell, or how big their business is.

I want you to learn how this strategy works, and see examples of Brand Videos and the results our Members are getting.

Every product based business owner needs their own Brand Video, to find their people, get more traffic, and grow their sales this year.

You might not know where to start, and what to say, and I don’t want overwhelm to stop you from getting the results you want, so we’re going to help you make your own Brand Video that you can use to attract your perfect people and grow your sales year round.

Sile Murphy makes luxury candles at https://www.thefragrantnest.ie/
Before she created her Brand Video, she was struggling to find her perfect audience and get sales.

Click play to hear how Sile used her Brand video and got 22 sales fast!

Rachel Flam makes Magical Fantasy jewelry at https://www.rachelflamdesign.com/
Before she created her Brand Video, she had a hard time getting enough traffic to visit her website.

See the Brand Video that grew her online Audience by 7X and kickstarted her sales.

Holly pivoted from in person sales and instead started selling her adorable capes on her own site at https://creativecapes.com/

See the Brand Video that grew her online Audience by 7X and kickstarted her sales.

Get my new course,  Conversion School for Free!

Learn our step by step process to grow your sales, without spending a

fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products

The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

Established Store Owners will learn how to achieve significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Unlocking Growth By Reducing Customer Acquisition Cost

Let’s dive into a success story that might just change the game for your e-commerce business. Imagine putting an extra $21,856 in your pocket over the last year. Intrigued? Let’s break it down.

In our last post Melissa, the owner of bikepretty.com, spilled the beans on her mission to reduce marketing costs by increasing organic traffic. Now she’s generously breaking down the nitty-gritty details that led to a whopping 44% reduction in customer acquisition costs (and some other big wins too).

Read on to get the details, or click here to listen to the episode

The Cost of Acquiring a Customer: Why It Matters

Let’s address the elephant in the room – new customers don’t (usually) fall from the sky, they cost money to acquire. And if you want your business to grow, you need to ensure a healthy balance of new and repeat buyers. If you’re like Melissa, meeting your revenue goals but wondering why the needle isn’t moving, you might be spending too much on acquisition to turn a real profit. If you’re unclear about customer acquisition cost, you can learn all about here.

Building On A Solid Foundation

The following strategies are best implemented by stores that have demonstrated proof of concept, meaning you’ve sold products to people who aren’t friends or family, and you’re doing so consistently–at least one sale per day over a period of months. If you’re not there yet, check out this podcast episode to learn what you should be focusing on at the stage of business you’re in now.

Melissa’s Game-Changing Strategy

Melissa’s journey began with a commitment to reduce both overall marketing costs and the cost of acquiring a customer. She recognized that paid social media ads were an effective way to reach new customers, but she also understood that you can’t control what you don’t track and measure. Here’s how she met her goal of reducing marketing spend to 15% of her revenue:

Sales Attribution: A Holistic View

Melissa took a holistic approach to tracking her return on marketing spend. Instead of looking at each platform (Facebook, Google ads, Etsy, Pinterest, etc.) independently, she combined them with the paid apps she was using like social media schedulers and email service providers, and looked at the overall impact on her business. This allowed her to see the interconnectedness of her marketing efforts–she might be bringing in new site visitors with her Facebook ads, but then Google was re-targeting them, and she was using email to follow up with the hottest leads. If Melissa had isolated any one of these channels, it might have looked as if her money was being wasted. But like a football team, each player was contributing to the sales funnel in its own way.

Customer Acquisition Cost Calculation

The real magic happened when Melissa started calculating her customer acquisition cost (CAC). By dividing her total marketing spend by the number of first-time buyers, she could pinpoint the cost of acquiring each customer. This simple yet powerful metric became her guiding light.

And what she found was that her cost of acquiring a new customer came down over time. Melissa suggests looking at results over a period of months, not weeks, to get a more accurate sense of whether or not your strategy is working.

Amp Up Your Funnel With Organic Traffic

After getting a handle on her numbers and setting a goal, Melissa got serious about lowering her cold traffic ad spend. Using an adapted version of our Build Your Funnel training, she crafted an organic social media strategy that boosted her traffic without taking all of her time. You can learn all about it HERE.

Color-Coded Analysis

Melissa’s meticulous approach involved color-coding her data in a spreadsheet as she tracked her numbers week to week. This visual representation allowed her to identify trends over time. Red lines indicated periods when the cost to acquire a new customer was high, while soothing blue hues marked lower/more successful times. The patterns that emerged guided her decisions for the future. Melissa noticed that while there were times that she spent more aggressively (red) those efforts inevitably led to weeks of blue/low-cost results. Like a flywheel, money, and energy up front produced results that continued to build over time.

Email Marketing Amplification

Melissa knew the potential of her email list, that it was the source of her most interested customers, and that the relative cost of sending emails is very low. So she intensified her email marketing efforts, sending weekly campaigns to her list of engaged subscribers. Ultimately email contributed a whopping 58% to her overall revenue, so Melissa was really making the most of the money she had already spent to get those subscribers on her list in the first place.

A New Way To Set Goals

Melissa is a coach in the Inner Circle, and so she knows how difficult most online store owners find annual goal-setting. Choosing a number out of thin air doesn’t feel all that actionable, and can even be discouraging. She suggests that instead, we choose specific metrics to focus on–do you need to acquire more customers? Get more organic traffic? Send more email? Examine this year’s data closely, and you’ll know exactly where you should be putting your focus to meet the sales numbers you want. More about goal-setting HERE.

The Results: A 44% Reduction in Customer Acquisition Costs

Melissa’s year-long commitment to tracking, analyzing, and optimizing paid off – literally. Her strategic approach resulted in a staggering 44% reduction in customer acquisition costs. But this wasn’t just a financial win; it brought clarity, direction, and a sense of control over her business.

The Real Deal Results

In summary, here are the 3 actions Melissa took to grow her sales and lower costs, and the results they yielded.

1st Action

Melissa set up weekly tracking for the metrics she wanted to change

Outcome

• Marking cost reduced to 15% of sales
• Cost of acquiring a new customer down by 44%

2nd Action

Melissa adapted the Sales Funnel training and applied what she discovered to her marketing strategy

Outcome

30 Day snapshot

• 2022 Audience: 433k
• 2023 Audience: 1.1M (154% increase)

Traffic

• 2022 – 34162 site visitors (43% organic)
• 2023 – 19,839 site visitors (84% organic)

3rd Action

Melissa shifted her advertising budget from the middle and the bottom of the funnel, and instead, used the $ to build the top of her funnel. She focused on building her email list, and used her Reliable Revenue plan to convert her “big pool of warm people” into buyers via email.

Outcome

Conversion Rate

• 2022  .66%
• 2023  .65%

Average Order Value

• 2022 $157.09
• 2023 $166.32 (6% increase)
  

Your Path to Lower Customer Acquisition Cost

Melissa’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of strategic tracking and optimization. Whether you’re a seasoned e-commerce entrepreneur or just starting out, the lessons from Melissa’s story apply. Take control of your marketing spend, understand your customer acquisition costs, and let the insights guide your path to success.

Ready to unlock real, sustainable e-commerce growth? Dive into the numbers, embrace strategic tracking, and watch as your sales and profits soar.

Related Links:

Check out Melissa’s website www.bikepretty.com

The Stress-Free Content Plan That Built a Huge Audience
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-stress-free-content-plan-that-built-a-huge-audience-episode-190/

Do You Know What It Costs To Acquire A New Customer?
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/do-you-even-know-what-it-costs-to-get-a-new-customer-episode-187/

The Powerful Work That Will Get You To Your Goals
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-powerful-work-that-will-get-you-to-your-goals-episode-159/

Become A Marketing-First Store Owner
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/become-a-marketing-first-store-owner-episode-160/

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The strategy you’ll learn in Conversion School works for Ecommerce stores at all stages. 

You'll use your store’s data, so if you’re starting out, you’ll learn how to get consistent sales. 

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