Free Marketing for fast results (incl. free tools)

[TimKock]

Hey everyone, I'm Tim (one of the few official Shopify Education Partners, had some solid stores and blabla [social proof stuff here] ....) --- thought it could be interesting to some people to get a few ideas and instructions on free marketing. Stuff that actually works.

Hint: #5 is the best.

Let's dive in!

1. Instagram Direct Messages

Look up your competitor accounts on Instagram. Aside from sending DMs to their followers, you can also send messages to their customers. All you have to do is to go to "tagged images" and you can see the people who tagged your competitor on a post (= most of them are customers). If you can't find competitors, you can also look up niche-relevant hashtags. 

The message itself can be simple. Ask for store feedback in return for a discount & free shipping.

You can find your competitors with this free tool: https://shopisearch.site

2. Giveaways (yes, there's a free way)

Don't give away your product. Do a bit of research and look for two "things": 1. complementary brands / brands selling to a similar audience and 2. digital content creators who have at least a small audience. Do a collaboration and ask them for sponsoring your giveaway. In return, you will take care of the whole process of setting the giveaway up and give bonuses entries for visiting/following your collabo partner. The more partners you can find for one giveaway, the more impact you'll have. 

Run a viral giveaway with this free tool: https://kingsumo.com/

Promotion-wise you should ask your partners for spreading the word to their audience and you can also post your giveaway for free here: https://www.contestgirl.com/add-sweepstakes.pl

3. Create Collections for Micro-Influencers

Reach out to micro-influencers (5-30k followers) on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and offer them "their own collection" in your store. Just send them a few product pictures and let them pick their favorite products. They can send you a curated list back and you will name the collection something like "handpicked by .....". In addition to that, you can offer them a commission on the products so they can make some money. I mean... who else has their own collection? - it's something they will be proud of and will share with their audience.

Shopify Affiliate app (90-day free trial): https://apps.shopify.com/affiliatly

4. [Something most won't like] Write a blog post

Create an actually interesting 1,500 words+ blog post about your niche. You can follow the AIDA formula for structuring the post. Post it on your store's blog.

Instead of waiting for SEO to kick in, it's time for promotion. Share it in 2-3 niche Facebook groups (NOT blogger groups), share it with a few influencers (in the hope they like it and share it), post it on all of your social media pages (use hashtags), and send an email to everyone you think could like it. 

If you picked a topic for the post that can be "turned into" a giveaway, combine this tactic with #2 and give bonus entries for visiting/reading the blog post.

In fact, you can apply all three marketing tactics above to promote this piece of content. Don't rely on Google to getting ranked fast.

Don't know what to write about? Use SEMRush and BuzzSumo to "steal" your blogging-competitors' best topics.

In SEMRush: enter competitor-domain > organic research > pages 

Tim Ferriss Example:

5. [The BEST idea] Free Celebrity "Features"

Get your products/merch signed by famous people and benefit from their social proof.

Go to http://fanmail.biz/, look up celebrities/stars/influencers' mail addresses, and ask them to sign your stuff. As soon as you get it back you can do a few things:

A.) Post it on social media (make sure to tag her/him and use relevant hashtags)

B.) Post it on your store

C.) Run a giveaway (yep, this time you can give away your products)

D.) Sell it on eBay (when shipping the product, send a note with a discount for your store)

6. Fast, Easy and Probably Not-So-Promising (do it anyway)

• Put your store URL into your email signature
• Share on personal social media
• Ask your friends to share on social media (bribe with chocolate) 
• Post on social media with hashtags
• Post in Facebook groups / LinkedIn groups
• Post in niche forums

Did I forget to mention a good one? Leave a comment and we can create a great long list of cool stuff together.

Have a great day,

Tim

[Propelguru]

Free and fast marketing ideas

1. Create a free Google My Business account
2. Post on social media like instagram, facebook etc
3. Tag brands and people on social media
4. Use more and more hashtags!
5. Don’t take LinkedIn lightly
6. Put some effort in doing SEO
7. Develop an email marketing plan
8. Create creative data-rich infographics
9. Claim free ad promo credits
10. Apply for business awards
11. Write creative content
12. Start doing blogging
13. Post helpful videos

Marketers can use these free tools
 Google AdWords Keyword Tool
 Google Blogger
 Google chrome