Where to advertise an online shop? Places and methods worth knowing

Every e-commerce business must ensure a high level of visibility. It is guaranteed by well-thought-out marketing campaigns - they allow you to effectively reach new audiences. An important element to consider when creating an advertising strategy is where all promotional content will be made available. Which ones should be considered first?

Where can an online shop be advertised?

Before answering the question of where to advertise your shop, let's focus on something more important - why you should do it and how important it is to advertisement . This action provides many benefits and ultimately leads to an increase in the conversion rate. Every e-commerce business needs additional funds for, among other things, further development and investment; advertising helps to speed up the process needed to obtain them.

Business owners, following an effective marketing campaign, can expect:

• increasing visibility and coverage;
• increase in website traffic;
• improving brand image;
• gaining new customers;
• temporary increase in sales (especially during the festive season);
• maintaining competitiveness in the market;
• gaining new business information.

Effective advertising is not just about spending funds on promotion, it is also about proper planning, segmenting the target group and tailoring the message to the needs and preferences of customers. It is an investment that contributes to the success of an online shop - in our view, it should become a priority on the list of all business objectives.

Places to advertise your online shop

Advertising venues for an online shop should be chosen in accordance with the customer profile (i.e. taking into account the characteristics of the target group), the budget and the objectives of the marketing campaign. The fact that the subject of the promotion is to be an online shop, however, does not mean that marketers are limited to online activities only - they may also decide to use traditional communication channels, such as radio or press.

Where to advertise a company? First and foremost, where there is a lot of traffic. Even a well-thought-out promotion will not provide new customers and profit if it does not reach any audience. Therefore, it is not worth investing, for example, in purchasing a banner for a website that has hardly any readers - although the cost of such a solution will be low, it will not bring any results.

Entrepreneurs should consider in the first instance:

• internetowe portal;
• Social media (especially Facebook, Instagram and TikTok);
• physical banners (billboards);
• TV;
• radio;
• local newspapers.

How do you know whether it is better to bet on traditional or modern media? We recommend performing a detailed analysis of your target audience - this method will provide all the information you need. For example, young people are very active online, so your company should become visible there as soon as possible. Older people, on the other hand, usually prefer to get their information from other sources, especially TV programmes; an online shop ad on Google is unlikely to arouse their interest.

In order for online shop advertising to be effective, it is important to consider where potential customers are. An unusual way is to advertise with InPost. Why? InPost's services are mainly used by online shoppers, so they certainly won't go unnoticed by an apt e-commerce advertisement.

Where to advertise online?

The Internet is already used by almost 90% of all Polish citizens - the web is becoming a space that cannot be ignored (especially in the context of marketing activities). This means that the products or services sold should be advertised primarily via:

• Google Ads;
• Instagram;
• Facebook;
• TikTok;
• YouTube;
• industry blogs;
• collaboration with influencers;
• display campaigns.

In addition, those interested should focus on properly positioning the content they create using SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). This is a set of strategies, techniques and practices used to optimise one's website for search engines, including Google, Yahoo and Bing. Effective SEO increases a website's visibility in organic (i.e. non-paid) search results for specific keywords - a guarantee of more traffic and a chance to attract users interested in a particular topic.

Where to advertise beyond the internet?

How do you effectively advertise your online shop offline? First and foremost with the help of our Paczkomat® machines! There are already more than 21,000 of them across Poland, and up to one million people use them every day - to be honest, we don't know a better place to help you promote your business.

You can choose to cover the devices with marketing material or choose to have advertising displayed on their screens. There is also nothing stopping you from using both solutions at the same time - you will gain complete confidence that your business will generate interest among customers.

What to look for when choosing a place to advertise an e-shop?

We have already mentioned that in order to identify good places to post your marketing content, you will need to know your target audience. This is not the only task for marketers, they need to analyse the chosen space in terms of:

• thematic link;
• coverage and visibility;
• effectiveness and history of advertising to date;
• costs and ROI (Return on Investment);
• the type of campaign and its target format;
• the reputation of the chosen platform;
• contractual conditions;
• availability of analytical tools;
• feedback from regular customers.

Of particular importance is ROI. This is an indicator used to assess the effectiveness of an investment or expenditure in terms of profit generated relative to costs. Some advertising venues (usually the prestigious and reputable ones) require the payment of large fees - this is not always beneficial for the online shop, as it happens that they do not provide an effective increase in the conversion rate at all; this unfortunately leads to long-term financial losses. Such platforms should be avoided.

Furthermore, the chosen space should be respected and valued by the target group. We will try to illustrate this with an example. If the company XYZ sells cruelty-free vegan cosmetics, promoting the products through web sites known for using non-organic solutions.... will end badly. Every online shop must take care of its image consistency.

Unusual locations and solutions for online shop advertising

How to advertise a shop using unusual solutions? Those interested can focus on activities that are rarely used in the industry by their competitors. Ideas that come to mind are marketing materials placed:

• w grach online;
• on pavements;
• on Paczkomat machines;
• in podcasts;
• in gift sets;
• on city bikes.

Online shop advertising - where can you do it for free?

Some people believe that good investments are only those for which you do not have to pay. The question then becomes: how do you advertise an online shop for free? Is it even possible? It turns out that... in a way, yes!

It is almost free to run an industry blog (not counting domain purchase and hosting fees). This is the place to post interesting articles, guides and advice - expert knowledge, formulated using SEO techniques, will ensure high visibility on the web and thus contribute to gaining additional publicity. However, this solution requires a lot of free time, so we recommend it especially for small business owners with a severely limited budget.

How do I promote my online shop on Facebook for free?

You can also promote your online shop for free on Facebook. All you need is:

• create valuable posts (some of which can become so-called virals);
• use community groups;
• organise competitions;
• share trends and news;
• opt to use so-called success stories;
• share positive feedback and reviews from other customers.

It all really comes down to a high level of activity - posts that arouse consumer interest (reflected in likes and comments, among other things) can count on greater reach. It is a good idea to include links in their content, the clicking of which will redirect to the shop's website - almost all popular companies do this.

Is offline e-commerce advertising a good idea?

How do you promote your online shop without using the internet? Does this type of action make sense? Yes. And for several reasons.

Firstly, offline marketing (e.g. advertisements in traditional media, billboards and sponsorship of local events) contributes to building credibility and trust in the eyes of consumers. A company that participates in real life, and not just online, gives the impression of trustworthiness - it ceases to be a purely virtual creation in the eyes of consumers.

Secondly, promotions advertised not online become reachable to people who use web sites occasionally. This is a group that is possibly neglected by the competition. We recommend that you use this to your advantage!

Where to advertise your online shop? At InPost!

We encourage you to take advantage of the unique opportunity to promote your online shop by working with us. Our company is extremely popular and offers effective solutions to all entrepreneurs.

We've already mentioned that you can opt to use Parcel Machines, but it doesn't stop there. We will also gain publicity for your business using:

• product sampling;
• PUSH notifications in the InPost Mobile app;
• web banners on our main website;
• newsletters (to the InPost user base).

Trust us. We are leaders in the logistics industry. We have earned the trust and recognition of consumers through years of solid work. Use our potential to advertise your business. Together we will achieve success!