Advertising profitably

[teezecrost]

My store at https://parenity.com will sell many things in the future, but for now, for budget reasons, we're essentially a supplement brand. Our product, Adulting Done Bright, is meant as a refreshing energy upgrade from the usual coffee routine for exhausted parents and those worn out from adulting.

This is fine, but I'm finding that advertising for this type of product is EXPENSIVE. Like, no hope of exiting the learning phase expensive. 

I'm glad shopify is allowing smaller stores to do Shop campaigns now, but still it's a true uphill battle to get a small brand off the ground. I think this is a big thing for Shopify to help with.

Even micro influencers are tough to nail down without spending all your time pitching and following up.

Anyone running a small bootstrapped brand doing any cool and/or unusual partnership agreements or other tactics to generate traffic? Or are there non-conversion-focused campaigns I should be considering?

Would really love to hear what's working for people. I can't lean on friends&family forever LOL

[akshay_bhatt]

@teezecrost 
Launching a bootstrapped brand, especially in the supplements space, can be tough with high ad costs and slow campaign optimization. But there are definitely alternative strategies to drive traffic and build brand awareness without burning through your budget.

A. Community & Content Marketing (Low-Cost, High Impact):
1. SEO-Optimized Blog + Pinterest:- Write content around,(healthy energy alternatives), (best coffee alternatives for busy parents), etc. and share them on Pinterest .
2. TikTok & Instagram Reels:- Short, relatable videos on (adulting struggles) + fun, engaging content around your product. Organic reach is still strong.
Reddit & Facebook Groups:- Engage (not sell) in communities like Supplements, and parenting groups. When relevant, subtly introduce your product.

3. Micro-Influencer Partnerships (Creative Approach).

B. Affiliate-Only Deals: Give them a unique code and pay only for sales.

1. Gift & Gamify:- Offer free products in exchange for an honest review, and run small (best video/testimonial) contests for their audience.
2. Podcast Sponsorship Swaps: Offer to sponsor smaller parenting/health podcasts in exchange for a mention or interview.

Smart Paid Strategies.
3. Spark Ads (Boosting UGC Content): Instead of running direct ads, promote engaging customer/influencer posts to warm up an audience.
4. Google Performance Max for Awareness: A small-budget, broad-reach campaign can help exit the learning phase faster.
5. Twitter/LinkedIn Thought Leadership: Share experiences about building a supplement brand; often overlooked but can attract media and partnership opportunities.

C. Unusual but Effective Traffic Tactics:-
1. Subscription Box Collabs: Partner with lifestyle, wellness, or parent-focused subscription boxes.
2. Ebook or Email Challenge: (7-Day Energy Reset for Exhausted Parents)- capture emails and upsell your supplement.
3. Cross-Promo with Complementary Brands: Team up with brands that share your target audience (sleep, wellness, productivity) for bundle deals.
Building a brand takes time, but these organic + smart paid tactics can help get traction without massive ad spend.

D. We can optimize the website from an SEO perspective by properly adding tags to each page, working on keywords, setting up a Google My Business profile, and many other strategies. By adding proper links within the content, we can help the website rank on the front page organically so that people can find it through search.

This is a homepage of https://parenity.com .
But the H1 not define properly the home page,
e.g.-Hydrate, Focus & Stay Calm – The Ultimate Energy Boost in Every Sip(like this).
-----Set up competition analysis based on keywords.

 Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance. Thanks

Best Regards,
Akshay

[teezecrost]

Much appreciated, Akshay! I'll explore these options, and hopefully I can reach some exhausted parents and grownups in need!

[vinods]

hi @teezecrost 

Is the product FDA approved ?

What is the validity of the product ?

For sales i would suggest SEO, Google and FB PAID Ads, Email marketing

The product page has lot of information which is open that should be inside some kind of accordion

I would suggest to have a voice over video for your product with actual VO Artist talking and explaining the product and the benefits of the product up to 60 second - i can recommend you a VO artist for the same.

Thanks

Vinod

[Bundler-Manuel]

@teezecrost  I know a friend who runs a similar business and also complained greatly to me about how expensive it was marketing the store and the products. I think eventually them focusing on proper email campaigns with Klaviyo (pushing mainly through subscription and bundle packages) as well as ranking higher in search engines especially in certain geographical locations based on their research really really helped them a lot.

[teezecrost]

Thanks - I'm running meta campaigns to collect emails. Until I grow my list a lot I can't imagine email is going to help me a lot. I'll put some more work into SEO 🙂