#EcomLaunch 7: Strategies That Fuel Growth

NailPolish.co.uk has been ticking over very nicely. I have to admit, I’ve not been spending a great deal of time on it for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that we’re a man down at the moment, so I’ve been packing boxes like a champ on a daily basis. We should have that fixed in the next two weeks though, so hopefully things will go back to normal.

I’ve also been really busy working on my next project – Manicure.co.uk, which I discussed in my previous post. The logo is now complete and the website designs are proceeding well. Hopefully the site will be online and taking orders any week!

Throughout September, I put Manicure.co.uk to the back of my mind and really pushed NailPolish.co.uk’s growth. I’ve been actively talking to several brands, with plans to bring them in over the next couple of weeks. Eventually, we want to be swelling our total number of brands to 15 or more – and our total number of colors to in excess of 1,500.

I’m outlining a few strategies below that we are currently exploring to fuel our growth. As a small business owner, you should never stop seeking the growth channels that can help you move from startup to mogul.

PR

Fairly recently I realized that there’s not a whole lot more traffic to be gained from Bing Ads or Google AdWords. I’m already bidding on all of the keywords associated with nail polish and the particular products that we stock. We already have Product Listing Ads running, so from a marketing point of view it’s time for me to take the next step. I’ve invested in some advertising space in glossy magazines, but if I’m being completely honest – that’s a really expensive way to get exposure. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of advertising in magazines, we’re yet to see the full results.

Wth that in mind, I’ve increased our focus on PR. When I say “PR”, I’m talking about getting our website mentioned on blogs, in magazines, and on popular websites. We’re looking at paying around $1,000 per month to hire a freelance PR consultant, and I think that could be money well spent – especially when you consider that one advert in a glossy mag will usually cost more than that.

The idea of appointing a PR consultant is to create some buzz around the website online, in magazines, and on social media. I’ve got reservations as to how effective it will be – even how effective it can be – because let’s not forget, we don’t have our own unique product, we just resell products served up by brands. I’m confident that our website name – NailPolish.co.uk – and the excellent service that we provide will prove enough to shout about.

I know that PR can be a slow burner, so I’ve decided to hire a consultant for a minimum period of three months. That should be ample time to put strategies in place, reach out to some journalists, and to start to see some traction and results.

I’ve touched on PR in several of my other blog posts, but this time I’m going all out – I’m determined to see some results. I’ll keep you posted on what happens in the coming weeks and months. You might even see us mentioned on your favorite beauty blog, or in some other form of media – here’s hoping!

Retargeting

I mentioned in previous posts that I would be taking advantage of some retargeting. We launched our retargeting campaigns when the site went live, but in comparison to other retargeting campaigns I run and have run in the past (for other websites), the results haven’t been great. With that in mind, we’re looking to switch from our GIF ads to “liquid” ads instead.

When we first launched the site, the retargeting company told us we didn’t have enough traffic (which is kinda obvious… since the site was brand new!) – as such, we couldn’t take advantage of the liquid ads they run. Since the site has started to receive mentions on blogs and we’ve started PPC campaigns, traffic figures have swelled. We should now qualify for liquid ads.

Just a quick note on liquid ads – I think they’re super exciting and I’m a huge fan.

They’re those ads you see when you’ve been looking on a website, and then the exact product you were looking at, before you had to go walk the dog/change the baby’s diaper/eat a snack, starts following you around everywhere.

I won’t bore you with stats, but in this article, AdRoll’s president mentioned a 102% increase in click-through rate for liquid ads, compared to traditional static retargeting ads. Now that’s an improvement worth shouting about!

Watch this space, I’ll keep you updated on our transition to liquid retargeting ads.

Responsive woes

A recent post on the Shopify blog made me spit out my cornflakes last week. You can read it here.

The message is pretty clear – mobile traffic has now overtaken desktop traffic. OK, only marginally, and you could argue those stats are not indicative of the internet as a whole – but even so, the trend is clear – things are going mobile.

Now, I’m well aware that the mobile experience on NailPolish.co.uk isn’t particularly great. It won’t make your eyes bleed, but you might just smash your phone in frustration – it doesn’t offer a great experience.

The second I saw the blog post, I called my developer – he will be redeveloping the mobile view of my websites in the next couple of weeks. Again, watch this space because I’m interested to see how much of a difference these changes make. At present, mobile conversion rates aren’t great, so the results can only get better (I hope!).

Another consequence of that Shopify post is the Manicure.co.uk design and development team have been told to put just as much emphasis on the mobile functionality of the site, as the desktop functionality. I figured it makes sense to get things right from the outset with a new website like that.

If you’ve never thought about catering for mobile traffic with your website – or you know the mobile viewing experience is flawed – now’s the time to call in a developer and get it put right.

Until next time!

I’ve got a really busy couple of weeks coming up. First, I’ve got to help out on a daily basis in packing orders – just to ensure that everything goes out as expected. Second, I’ve got to liaise with our retargeting provider to ensure our liquid ads are launched on time. Finally, I’ve got to project manage the new responsive designs and layout of NailPolish.co.uk.

It would be quite easy to sit back and look at how well NailPolish.co.uk has gone so far, but I’m determined to ramp things up the next level as fast as possible. I won’t rest until the website has the widest possible range of nail polishes, until we’re the largest stocker of nail polish in the UK.

All three of the areas I’ve mentioned in this blog post are being dealt with for one simple reason: growth. By increasing the number of people we expose our website to, we can find more growth. By using liquid retargeting ads we can find more growth. And by addressing the poor responsive layout of our website, we can also grow by increasing our mobile conversion rate.

Going forward I’ve decided to step up A/B testing of NailPolish.co.uk – which should lead me nicely into my next post.

Next in the Series: #EcomLaunch 8: Five Ways To Cut Ecommerce Costs