Marketing help/advice

[The_Banker]

Hi,
Can anyone recommend an Irish based marketing forum where I might be able to get some information with regard to marketing a website I have recently launched. It took me a while to get it going but now that I have launched I would like to maybe discuss things with other like minded individuals who may be able to share issues they had while running an ecommerce site.

Sales are small but steady but if I could do anything to increase footfall to the site it would help a lot.

I know boards used to have a marketing discussion forum but it is now closed down.

Using google to locate marketing forums isn’t great as I am usually directed to sites that are top heavy with spam with Americans trying to convince me of sure fire ways to be a millionaire by Christmas.

Any help appreciated!

 

[JMR]

I would suggest that this forum is a good place to start...

 

[The_Banker]

I would suggest that this forum is a good place to start...

Absolutely JMR, if anyone here has experience of launching an ecommerce site selling on line then I would be grateful to hear their marketing experience.
I have tried a few marketing plans myself with some (limited) success.
I presumed that the product I sell would go well in Ireland but it turns out that the Irish diaspora is more interested than the Irish at home. This could be because they simply have more money.
While I am happy for the site to grow slowly and it is only the first part of an overall plan and if I am really to achieve what I want to achieve there will be many reincarnations…. But baby steps first….

Some things I have tried are as follows…

Search Engine Optimiser (SEO) – very limited success and very few sales
Twitter – again, very poor. Has anyone had any success with this? I could be doing something wrong.
Facebook – Probably my best marketing avenue. It has brought lots of traffic to the site and this traffic corresponds to sales.
Newspaper advertising – expensive and useless
Discussion forums (the sporting ones) by putting in paid for ads. Second only in success to facebook, but a long way behind.



My most successful method of marketing is definitely facebook but I have read/heard others talk about the benefits of SEO and Twitter but it doesn’t work for me so if anyone had any SEO/Twitter tips then I would be grateful.

The product I sell is in the sporting field so I am thinking about advertising on a few sporting podcasts. Has anyone used this method?

I am sure there are other people out there who have run websites from home so if they can pass on any knowledge to me I would be grateful. Likewise, I have learnt an awful lot in the last year so if I can be of any help to anyone then I will.

 

[JMR]

I also run an eCommerce website on a relatively small scale. I have found SEO to be the best method for increasing traffic / sales.

I am in a different market to you and although we do have a Facebook page, it does not generate any sales.
It is probably under utilised to be fair.
Twitter has minimal benefits for me also.
I use Google AdWords for the UK market as my .ie site cannot break into the top 10 results. I find it works but it certainly eats into the profits.

Something which does work for me is good old fashioned leg work! We have leaflets placed in all major Irish hospitals and a number of UK ones. My target market is patients with casts / bandages etc.
Talking to nurses, doctors, generally increasing brand awareness brings sales too, it's not all about the web.