Show Notes
Don’t want to pay a ton of money to drive traffic to your Shopify store?
Most store owners get frustrated when they are trying to grow their store and learn online advertising.
Luckily in this episode we are going to break down some simple, free, and easy to implement ways for you to drive more traffic to your store.
In this episode you’ll learn
- TikTok and how to leverage it for maximum reach
- Why you should have a Google my Business account even if you don’t have a retail location
- And the number one way to drive significant traffic to your site
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“If That’s You” Help us create a world of impactful store owners who can make a difference in the world. Schedule a free strategy session here: https://sales.bitbranding.co/
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Transcript
Christian [00:00:00] Hey, what's going on? On this podcast episode we're going to show you and give you a few tips and tactics on what you can do to drive free traffic to your Shopify store. We're actually having a little blend of different things that we've done in the past or have our clients do in the past as far as free traffic.
Christian [00:00:15] So very interesting things: some new, some old, some things that you might think like, oh, people are not doing that anymore, but they are. So check it out.
Narrator [00:00:26] This is the Marketing Natives providing actionable ways to grow, improve and succeed in your business and now your hosts, Christian and Aaron.
Aaron [00:00:41] All right! Christian, so you're on the other side of driving traffic to a website because you're typically the one designing the Shopify store, and so obviously you need to set it up.
Aaron [00:00:52] That's probably another episode where we talk about what needs to be in place to, convert people to a website or like make a Shopify store like a higher conversion rate.
Aaron [00:01:05] But, what have you seen, like businesses that we've worked with, who have either been new businesses or ones who are redesigning? What is it that, I guess I don't know, helps them drive traffic to their site or that you've noticed, like, the ones who have more traffic to their site if they weren't on Shopify and switching them over?
Christian [00:01:27] I don't think it all starts with the experience the user has once they land on the website.
Christian [00:01:31] So, making sure that you have a fast website, making sure that, you know, all the links work correctly, making sure that they can find whatever they are looking for pretty quickly, you know, under two seconds. So like all those things, it's basically the first thing that I would look into if you're wanting to, you know, make changes on your website or someone transferring from a different platform into Shopify, or maybe they're updating the website in Shopify. Those are the first few things that I would look into is your website speed, your navigation, the way you're organizing things on your website and then how easy is for a customer to find what they're looking for? I think when people have really good experiences on a website or with a particular product or service, that's where you create that word of mouth. Right?
Aaron [00:02:23] Right.
Christian [00:02:23] Which is free, so, and that's what we're talking about here, free traffic. So I think having a very good experience all throughout, starting with when they land on the website, is very important. I think from there also just going through the customer journey, right? Like, once they order what do your emails say? As far as confirmation emails, do you provide tracking, your package data, you provide updates; text message updates? So there's different, I would say, apps and plug-ins that you can insert into your website to make that customer experience a lot better. I think that in return will give you that free traffic, you know, that free word of mouth, that 'Hey, I just purchased from this website and they were freaking awesome'.
Aaron [00:03:11] Yeah.
Christian [00:03:11] You know.
Aaron [00:03:13] Yeah and it's also, I think that kind of plays into like another thing, which is like Google as far as, you know, if your website's fast, has a good experience, Google is going to help you rank higher for SCO. Now, some of that stuff can take longer.
Aaron [00:03:27] As far as SCO, the word of mouth could happen instantly. But we're going to be talking about how to drive free traffic to your Shopify store. We have a couple of them here outside of the website. So if you need a new website that works well in Shopify, you just aren't just going to grab a couple of pictures and throw it up there, then definitely reach out about that. But one way that you can do this is most online retailers don't create a Google My Business page because they're an online retailer, like Google My Business is for physical locations, which isn't true. But Google is a huge driver of traffic and if you can get reviews and if you can connect your Google My Business to Shopify store then it's going to help and you can create posts there. That's going to help reach more people, especially for your products and most online retailers aren't even doing it. So think about you and those who are listening and you're a Shopify store owner or about to be, you probably weren't thinking about creating Google My Business because you thought that was just for local business, not for an online business. But, really that can drive a lot of traffic because Google really likes when you're posting there and you've got your business set up.
Christian [00:04:34] Yeah. I mean, I think a lot of people don't realize that Google My Business is almost like a social platform.
Aaron [00:04:41] Right.
Christian [00:04:41] You know, right there hanging out where, like you said, you can create posts, you can get reviews. Obviously, you know, have store hours, which if you're online only then you don't necessarily need certain features that Google My Business offers. But at the same time just think of it as a presence, right? It's a permanent presence where someone looks up your name, it will show the customer all the pertinent data right there where it's very easy for them to digest.
Aaron [00:05:11] I also have an offer option for discounts, videos, pictures and stuff. So first time customers may be a good place to see you, too.
Christian [00:05:19] Yeah, exactly. So absolutely. I would say Google My Business, something that's maybe overlooked by some people. It's good to include that in your list of, you know, things that you need to get done when you're building a Shopify store.
Aaron [00:05:35] Yeah, I think one video that we created, I think it was last week, depending on when the video aired. It was a couple of weeks ago, which was on how TikTok and Shopify kind of merged together and partnered together.
Aaron [00:05:47] The video that we created was more so understanding the platform, but also how you can track sales from TikTok to Shopify because it's just super helpful. But one way to drive or really good organic traffic right now is through TikTok, because if you're not familiar with TikTok, it's just shorter viral videos and I think actually the time of this recording, they just announced that they're going to extend video length, which is kind of the opposite of what made them, I guess, more quote unquote 'famous or like viral' was that you had to do things in a short period of time.
Aaron [00:06:23] Anyway, I digress. The whole point is that it's got a really good virality approach to it, meaning that if you create content there, you can now connect your Shopify store and have people go directly to your store and track sales that way.
Aaron [00:06:35] So it's a good way for you to get in front of people very inexpensively, like I mean, just a little bit of your time creating a video and putting a link in your bio and you could be getting in front of hundreds, if not thousands of people every week or if not every month.
Christian [00:06:49] Yeah, I would say if you create one TikTok a day, like you're almost guaranteed to rake in thousands of views and thousands of eyeballs. I can't tell you the amount of times that I've seen a product on TikTok then I go to their website, I check out their Instagram. It could be like, literally the dumbest thing, 'one of them was and I'm sorry if I'm saying that you're dumb it's not a dumb idea, I guess.
Christian [00:07:16] But it was, you know you're in your car on a long road trip as a kid and you stuck your hand out the window. You still do a little bit of surfing with the wind and stuff. So they have this surfboard, it's a wooden surfboard. You kind of attach to one of your fingers with a string so it will never fly out. But you put it in kind of like the, you know, skateboard thing that's popular. But, it's just a little piece of wood with the string on it. And like, you just windsurf, right? with your hands.
Aaron [00:07:47] I would buy that. How much is it?
Christian [00:07:48] I don't know. I looked it up and I don't remember how much it was now, but it just caught my attention.
Christian [00:07:54] They just had hundreds of videos doing the exact same thing and with different hundreds and thousands of views and stuff. People wanted to purchase it and like all this and that. It's like this is, I mean, it's one of those ideas.
Aaron [00:08:07] It's gimmicky?
Christian [00:08:08] Yeah, it's gimmicky and it's whatever, but at the same time, it's kind of cool. And like, you watch the videos and you're like 'Oh, my gosh, I want to do that right now'. I just want to have Megan drive my car and like, again, you know go out the window and windsurf. But yeah, I think they've gone viral because of just the Anaconda that they're doing. Almost a lot of them are the exact same video but it just works.
Aaron [00:08:31] You know, it's interesting because if it was a $10 buy, no problem, I'm just going to purchase because it's a no brainer. If they start to say, like, this is $30 or whatever, probably not. But it's funny because, yeah, you just need to see it one time and then you just go to the site. It's enough that it's intriguing. So all that to be said, this is how to drive free traffic for your Shopify store. But if your product isn't good, it's not necessarily going to be these resources that are not going to drive the traffic because like we were saying TikTok could make more traffic come to your site. But if the product's not good, it's not necessarily going to work. So be thinking about that as you're doing this.
Aaron [00:09:09] But, yeah, I mean, even something as simple as a little surfboard could drive thousands of people from TikTok for free. Just crazy.
Aaron [00:09:19] All right, our next one is kind of, I wouldn't say old school, but it definitely still works, depending on what your product is: Guest blogging with people who, I would say, complement your business. So, for example, if you're selling a custom T-shirt and working with a hat company that does custom hats and they don't sell T-shirts, you guys may be able to work with each other about creating a brand or creating something where you could write a blog for them or they could write a blog for you. That's a really good way to get free organic traffic. And then, something that's like this. If you are an E-commerce store owner or Shopify store owner and you want to be in front of more people, you could ask to be a guest on a podcast, i.e. our podcast. If you're an E-commerce store owner and you have products: case for an iPad or whatever else, you could reach out and ask, 'Hey, can I come on your podcast?' I think I'd be able to add value to your audience.
Aaron [00:10:14] Well, that's just a whole new group of people for free. Just a little bit of your time that you could be getting in front of then now drive traffic to your website.
Christian [00:10:21] Yeah, I mean, the main idea here is be a guest somewhere or whether it's a blog, podcast, etc., because that will just expand your audience. You get more eyeballs and you get introduced to new audiences. Usually when you go to blogs or podcasts, like we have an audience that's interested in a particular set of topics.
Christian [00:10:45] So it's important that you do your homework, your research and figure out, okay, you know, what can I bring to the table to this audience that would actually make them interested in what I had to say?
Aaron [00:10:54] Yeah.
Christian [00:10:54] So I think that's also very important. So this one is probably, I mean it is free, but it might be the most time consuming and laborer's thing that we have on this list.
Christian [00:11:07] Yeah and it's probably going to be. Honestly, if you looked at the Google My Business or the TikTok, it probably could yield the highest results. So the more work you have to put in, TikTok could take some work. But being a guest on the right podcast could take effort and time. You know, but it could be the most fruitful for you as well. So think about that and the goal for this, just as we're kind of halfway through, a three quarters way through, just pick one of these. These are just options. Don't feel like 'Okay, I'm listening to this. This is amazing. I'm writing down all of them'. And then, you've got to try to do all of them. Just pick one that you feel comfortable with and then run towards that and then move on to the next one afterwards. Don't just try to do everything.
Aaron [00:11:53] Hey ya'll! Thanks so much for consuming our content it truly means a lot for us and we're celebrating this year, we're turning five years old, a super big accomplishment for us. We want to celebrate with you because, again, without you, we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing. So we're giving away over ten thousand dollars worth of contest prizes, meaning we're going to be giving away templates, Swipe files, everything that's going on in our business internally that you could use to grow yours. So if you're interested in this, make sure to go to contest.bitbranding.co. On February 11th, we're going to be drawing a winner and it could be you. We're going to have multiple winners for this. All the details again on contest.bitbranding.co. Check that out and we can't wait for you to win something. Thank you again so much for consuming our content. We're back to our regular scheduled episode.
Aaron [00:12:46] All right, this last one we have here is kind of obvious in the sense that it's not for new traffic, it's to get people to come back and it's your most valuable asset in your business, which is to build your email list. Give something away, could be a discount, could be a newsletter or something of value, a way to collect an email address for somebody who comes the first time. They may not and actually most people, 98% of people don't buy the first time. But, roughly five to seven percent would give you their email address, which gives you an opportunity to run an email back to them or send an email back to them to come back to the site. If they come back to the site, they're much more likely to purchase. So to send those emails is free. I mean, you could send thousands of them. It's not going to cost you any more money unless you're on some kind of weird subscription thing where you do send by email. But for most people you can send thousands of emails and it's just going to work and it doesn't cost you any more money. So collect email addresses up front and then send people to the site. I don't think it's necessarily to drive new traffic, but a great way to send people back to get those purchases.
Christian [00:13:55] I mean, I guess is there any email subscription or email provider that's actually free?
Aaron [00:14:02] It's actually free.
Christian [00:14:03] We're talking about free, but technically free to send the emails you had to pay for something like Mailchimp for constant contact.
Aaron [00:14:10] Yeah. So Mailchimp does it for like 2,000 subscribers or whatever free and then SendFox isn't free. It's a non-Kagan Company, but they do have a free version. And then, like, you can buy a lifetime for 50 bucks or something. So technically for the podcast and the quote unquote 'free'. But you buy one time and you can do unlimited since it's just most people charge based off your contact list.
Christian [00:14:35] So. Got you. Yeah, that's true. But yeah, I think this is something that's also very important for not just Shopify store owners, but any business owner out there to build your email list, and we say this a lot and it's again, something like Aaron said, you can always go back to those people who have purchased previously and sort of incentivize them to come back. That's the only reason why, you know, we have this in here, because technically it could be free, you know, in a sense. It's just an easy way to get those people back.
Aaron [00:15:05] Yes.
Aaron [00:15:07] The reason why this podcast is so important is because most of you guys, if you're in the stage where you've just built a site or you're about to build the site again, happy to help you guys with that. You can go to BitBranding.co and just reach out to us there. But if you're in that position where you just launched, you're about to launch, the number one thing you have to do is drive traffic. If you've spent money on a website designer or you're about to spend money on a website designer, depending on your cash flow, you may not want to spend a ton of money on new things to be testing. You may want to just drive some actual traffic and there's certain numbers you want to hit. So that's why this free traffic podcast is so important. Really, again, just kind of reiterating is that just pick one of these and do it and make sure that you get into the flow of what's going on for that particular thing to Google My Business or TikTok and then move on to something else that's in this list or find some of your own. But the whole point is don't just build a store and not drive traffic because it's not going to be one of those things. Christian and I have that conversation all the time. You build the site. It's not like you build it, they will come. It's more like you build it, now you need to drive the traffic.
Christian [00:16:17] Yeah, and also to consider the fact that free traffic is awesome. But if you actually decide to do one or two of these things, that's great. But we also recommend the combination of the free and the paid.
Aaron [00:16:30] Yeah. For sure.
Christian [00:16:30] Alright? That's what's truly going to yield results for you. So if you're in any of our programs, like, you know, we do a lot of the paid work, but we also recommend all of our clients to do a lot of these free traffic tactics. So blending the two is what truly is going to make you successful.
Aaron [00:16:49] Yeah, absolutely. If you guys are an online store owner and you're trying to figure out exactly how much you should be spending, if you do jump into paid advertising to hit your revenue goals, maybe you're trying to make $5,000 a month or 10 or 20 and you're trying to figure out, okay, how much should I be spending to hit those revenue goals if I'm doing advertising and I'm doing organic? We created a free calculator because a lot of our clients ask us, 'Hey, so how much should I spend on ads or how much should I spend on Facebook or how much should I spend on Instagram?'
Aaron [00:17:17] Well, it's different for each business, but with this calculator, you can plug in your own numbers, your own information and find out how much you should be spending. So if you want that, you can just click the link below in the description of this video or the podcast or just go to ecommerce.bitbranding.co and it will pull up a calculator for you and just walk you through step by step through the spreadsheet so that you can figure out how much it costs for you to run ads to hit your revenue goals.
Christian [00:17:41] Yup. That's all that we have for you today. Thank you for listening to how to drive free traffic to your Shopify store. If you're new here, make sure that you subscribe to our podcast and leave a review on Apple podcast. I don't think you can do it on Shopify. Can you do it? Not Shopify, on Spotify or I don't know.
Aaron [00:17:57] I think you can give like a five star or whatever.
Aaron [00:17:59] Maybe, if there is, do that.
Christian [00:18:01] Yeah. If there is any sort of rating or review, make sure to do that. That will help us tremendously. If you actually want to let us know how we did on this podcast, if you want more information on maybe more free traffic tactics for your Shopify store, you can definitely send us a DM on Instagram @BitBranding bit, B-I-T B-R-A-N-D-I-N-G, is that right?
Aaron [00:18:22] Yeah.
Christian [00:18:22] I'm terrible at spelling. All right. That's it for ya'll. See you next week.
Aaron [00:18:26] See you.
Narrator [00:18:26] The Marketing Natives' podcast is a production of Bit Branding.
