How to Promote your Online Apparel Store – Himani Kankaria

How to Promote your Online Apparel Store

Himani Kankaria is an aspiring figure, who with her unique digital marketing strategies have helped countless business entities to become successful in the digital realm. She currently works as a Content Writer & a Content Marketing Consultant for various organizations. She utilizes her 7+ years of experience of Digital Marketing in her writing which assures the companies to improve ROI out of their content marketing efforts.

Q & A

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- What inspired you to start a career in digital marketing? What were the biggest challenges in the initial days?

Himani Kankaria:- I did my Bachelors in Computer Applications (BCA) and I really didn’t like coding (though scored amazing). This landed me into the career of SEO and there, I started learning and exploring the entire digital marketing industry.

Now, if I talk about the challenges, then, around 2010, most of the organizations had never realized the importance of different digital marketing channels. Back then, only people used to understand was that, SEO is the best, because they can see the results quickly on the search engines compared to any other channel.

But, suddenly Google came up with algorithm updates during the years- 2012 and 2017. Then, the companies had no choice but to explore new platforms to generate business online.

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- Is Digital India an opportunity for young entrepreneurs?

Himani Kankaria:- Absolutely!

Digital India will make new horizons for the young entrepreneurs to start reaching their customers faster compared to earlier days.

Entrepreneurs and even startups can look forward to take an advantage from this government initiative and gain business benefits.

Marketing Strategies to Promote an Online Apparel Store

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- What are the top digital marketing strategies to promote an online apparel store?

Himani Kankaria:- An online fashion store can focus on the following things to market online:

1. Research on Your Audience

Understand who is your audience and just limit your online store within it. Don’t go overboard on targeting anyone and everyone. Discuss with your team that who will be interested to buy your products and based on their segmentation, decide your audience and make sure you remain dedicated to it.

2. Focus on creating a documented plan for content and digital marketing

Based on your audience, the eCommerce fashion brands need to create a complete digital marketing plan aligned with your content marketing one. Also, the documented plan ensures that you don’t miss the deadlines and the brands can regularly monitor the progress on the plan.

Remember: Once documented digital marketing plan is a sure-shot way to become successful.

3. Include storytelling in your content plan

That storytelling is one thing that we humans relate directly to our childhood. And, we can easily absorb it with emotions. Hence, online fashion brands need to include storytelling in their content plan to bring the customers relate your products with their life and emotions.

4. Social Media is a Must thing

Social media is another effective platform to attract new customers and retain the existing ones. Keep re-targeting your audience with effective content ads that ensures, the customers buy your products.

5. Involve influencers

To achieve success in an eCommerce industry, you need to collaborate with fashion influencers. They shall not just give shout-out on social media, but even write about your products on their blogs.

This is the most effective marketing strategy that all online fashion stores should utilize to become successful.

6. Video Marketing should also be a priority

Video marketing requires a lot of investment and hence, that needs to be done in a right way. Content creation for the video marketing purpose needs to be highly effective to see the improved ROI on the efforts.

7. Focus on Improving Customer Service

Customer service is often ignored in the digital marketing strategy. But, this is one of the most effective strategies to consider. Wishing your customers a happy birthday on social media, sending a goodie hamper on their special days, etc. matters a lot for the customers. Thinking about how customers would love if you bring up any different kind of services that would ease their purchasing cycle and hassles. How to offer great customer service through various digital marketing platforms is what the brands need to think.

Few Articles That may Pique Your Interest

Top Digital Marketing Trends for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

How To Start An Online Apparel Store Online

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Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- How to effectively strategize and implement paid campaigns on social media?

Himani Kankaria:- The most effective way to implement paid campaigns on social media is to create the urgency to buy the product. Also, re-targeting the customers on various social media platforms, the websites that they visit along with offering great deals to buy the products immediately.

This is the best way to have the customers understand that the offers they are seeing will last no longer and hence, they should buy it ASAP.

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- How do you suggest an online apparel store should prioritize their marketing campaigns?

Himani Kankaria:- Priority always depends on the type of customers you have. If you have young people buying your products, your focus is to utilize video, influencer and social media as the priority. So, based on what customers you have, you shall prioritize the campaigns accordingly.

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- How to conceptualize/ synergize an SEO strategy for an online cloth store?

Himani Kankaria:- The biggest challenge for the online clothing store with SEO is that they mostly rank better on branded keywords. But, the effective SEO strategy includes targeting keywords that are non branded.

To go ahead with non-branded keywords, the online apparel stores should start focusing on attaining good rankings on the keywords that are less searched.

Look into your Google Search Console, find out which words have less search volume or have visibility but can be improved.

The keywords that are searched less, but can have better CTR, should be taken as a priority to rank for. These not only boosts their search, but it improves the search for many other related terms.

Work on creating content that would help you improve the authority of the website and get backlinks for you.

And, what works best for online fashion store using SEO?

• Write content targeting long-tail keywords

• Write product descriptions targeting long-tail keywords

• Write content that is SEO-optimized and that provides knowledge about the products

• Create content like infographics and videos that attracts people to use it on their website

• Create user guides, style guides, and much sort of these to strengthen the knowledge of the customers and would increase your sales

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- For an eCommerce store that sells apparel online, What strategy do you suggest will help increase repeat sales? (Need to consider the increasing channel hopping).

Himani Kankaria:- For repeat sales, I prefer working on customer experience. If people loved the experience that you offer on your online apparel store, they will never go anywhere and would stay loyal to your online brand.

Start using technologies like AI and ML to improve the level of personalization, content, marketing, and sales strategies.

Top Tools to Promote an Online Apparel Store

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- Top 15 tools you suggest for digital marketing?

Himani Kankaria:- 

For SEO

• Keyword Planner

• WooRank

• Moz

For Content

• Googe search

• Quora

• Buzzsumo

• Coschedule

• SEMrush

For Paid Marketing

• Google Adwords

• SpyFu

For Social Media

• Hootsuite

• Dlvrit.com

For Email Marketing

• MailChimp

For Research & Analytics

• Google Search Console

• Google Analytics

How to Select the Best eCommerce Service Provider

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- How to select an eCommerce service provider? What are the top features an online apparel store should have?

Himani Kankaria:- I would prefer not to comment on “How to select an eCommerce service provider” as I have clients in eCommerce.

Following are the top features an online apparel store should have:

• Deep linking

• Proper categorization

• High quality graphics

• FAQs

• Store locator with Google Maps Integration

• Personalization on product search and navigation

• Site search

• Easy review collection

• Single page checkout

How an Online Store could Compete with Established Brands?

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- How can a startup with limited resource compete with resourceful apparel brands that make use of advanced technologies like predictive analytics to engage with their customers? Is lack of sophisticated technology a barrier at entry level?

Himani Kankaria:- A startup has to work really hard on following things:

• Come up with something that solves the customers’ pain from the existing leading apparel brands

• Improving customer experience with limited resource- giving them excellent site navigation, shipping, return processes, etc. can be worked upon

• Aggressive marketing would be required to know people about an apparel startup working to offer great products as well as experience

Word of Advice

Nishant Maliakel Oommen:- What is your advice to newbie digital entrepreneurs?

Himani Kankaria:- Well, I would really like to mention an advice by the leading eCommerce business consultant, Vatsal Shah from Pragmatic Consultancy– “Take required time to plan your eCommerce business process- not more, not less. And once, the plan is ready, just stay focussed towards that plan.”

So, you may get challenges while following your plan, but just one thing- stay focused to your plan.