Fascinated with the idea of having a virtual showroom or virtual store, but don’t know how to promote it? Is your creativity or marketing budget drained? Need to increase the traffic and generate leads?
This is a full guide to help you increase the traffic of your virtual showroom with (limited) marketing budget.
The buyer journey has transformed through the years from physical showrooms to digital solution platforms. The development is significant, especially after the pandemic. Brands and retailers are moving towards technological changes such as Metaverse showrooms (The Guardian), NFT enablement (Nasdaq.com) and more ground-breaking solutions. Virtual showrooms or virtual stores are becoming even more popular through this natural development. Virtual stores are a proven way to create online presence, leads and online sales for your company. As the virtual showroom solution is a new marketing element for the majority of the companies, the promotion of the showroom and the utilization becomes a challenge.
By promoting your virtual store, you will increase the traffic and the visibility of your products and services, and convert them into leads and sales. The virtual store acts as a powerful conversion tool as it empowers the visualization and collects useful data. Let’s see how you can promote your virtual showroom to increase traffic, leads and sales. The virtual showroom is essentially a URL (shareable link) and this makes it very easy to be shared. Here are several ways to increase traffic to your virtual store:
#1 Offline to Online: Bridge your physical showroom with your virtual showroom by adding QR codes in your physical stores or company’s branches. Everyone likes a bit of a discount. Offer small discounts for people who complete their purchase through your virtual store. This method will generate direct traffic to your virtual store.
#2 Website: Have a dedicated page on your website for your virtual showroom. This will increase the visibility and the traffic to your virtual store. Add tracking links to collect data and optimize your marketing campaign and the buyer’s journey.
Giftmall is an eCommerce store that wanted to create efficient marketing and sales channel tactics. They created a virtual mall that hosts their vendors' virtual stores. All the vendors built their own virtual stores and added check-out links for faster conversion. #3 More Visibility: Ask employees to add the link to their virtual store under their email signature or on their business cards. Encourage your sales department to use the virtual showroom for their sales calls. The virtual showroom is an innovative way to present your company rather than just monotonous PowerPoint slides. Another idea is to add the link on your product receipts. The more visibility you create for your virtual store, the more traffic and exposure you will generate.
#4 Social Media: Social media is an extremely powerful tool. You definitely need to share the link to your virtual store on your social media platforms, if you haven’t done so already. Create a teaser video to attract the visitor’s attention. This will skyrocket the visits and boost your traffic and exposure.
An eye-catching way to attract the attention of a potential customer is to create a teaser video of your virtual showroom and share the video and the virtual store link on social media. #5 Live stream: Host new product launches or buying and bidding sessions via live streaming. You can inform your existing audience through email marketing (EDM), add the announcement on your website and (definitely) promote it on social media. Showcasing virtual showroom-exclusive products will attract the attention of potential customers.
#6 Events: Attend virtual events and use your virtual showroom as a virtual booth. The same goes for hybrid events and exhibitions. Virtual events are a cost-effective option and can help you increase your prospects and leads.
There are numerous events and exhibitions in the industry of medical devices. Convatec Infusion Care built their iStaging virtual booth to support their company’s presence in events and exhibitions. #7 Affiliates: Invite affiliated companies and brands to display their products in your virtual store or virtual showroom. Ask them to help you promote your virtual store and create cross-branding marketing promotions.
#8 Referrals: Ask your loyal buyers to share the link of the virtual showroom to win gifts or receive discounts. Create engagement within the virtual store by adding customized call-to-action buttons (CTA) i.e download catalogues, request samples etc.
#9 More marketing ideas:
1. Write a story around your VR experience and virtual store and share it to your email database.
2. A themed virtual showroom is another way to narrate a story, you can also write a blog post about it and increase your website’s SEO.
3. Considering becoming a guest blogger? Fantastic! This is a great idea and will help you tremendously with your showroom’s traffic. Remember to add the referral link!
4. No budget constraints? Run some advertising, sponsor events or collaborate with influencers. Paid promotional efforts will help you to increase your virtual showroom’s traffic faster.
The digital showroom illustrates the real Guerlain Flagstore in Paris. The virtual journey includes the storyline of the parfumerie, iconic products and their new line launch. Guerlain uses the digital showroom to enhance their digital marketing, attract online visitors, engage them with storytelling and convert them to physical store visitors. The possibilities are endless and there are so many ways to promote your virtual showroom, even with zero budget. Create visibility, generate traffic and convert to sales instantly.
Changing the way you do business is hard. But adopting new practices to increase productivity, decrease costs and increase revenue are ways that will evolve your brand and establish you within the retail industry. Embrace a digital mindset to drive your brand to sustainable change. Ready to start with a virtual showroom? Read here how to build a virtual showroom in 7 simple steps.