Marketing a one-product store can be one of the most daunting and overwhelming parts of building a business. The reason is, there are so many different platforms you can market your store and everyone has their own tactics and strategies for each platform.

In this article, I’ve provided the most effective marketing strategies as well as the platforms you should consider advertising, depending on the product or niche you’re selling.

The first step in creating a marketing strategy is to do some market research to identify your ideal customer. This involves gathering as much information about your main customer base as possible and using this data to help you decide the best strategy.

This does not have to involve surveying people and focus groups. Your market research can simply be checking out blogs, YouTube videos, forums, social media and heading to other e-commerce stores within your niche.

Ideally, you want to learn all you can about your target audience. From the way they talk and the vocabulary they use to their problems and desires.

Knowing your audience will help with creating your actual ads to ensure the ads resonate with your target audience and help you better understand which marketing direction will be the most effective for your business.

The Best “FREE” Ways of Marketing a One-Product Store

If you’re looking at creating a long-term, one-product store business, then free advertising should be part of your overall marketing strategy. Often free marketing methods will take longer to drive traffic to your one-product store than many of the paid versions.

For more information, check out my article on do you need to advertise for a dropshipping business. Below are some of the most effective free advertising strategies for a one-product store.

SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how you can be found within Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) when people type in specific keywords in Google. This can take some time as Google will not rank new websites until they have proven they are a reputable business. But once you do SEO is one of the most powerful techniques for driving free organic traffic to your store.

SEO can be very in-depth, however, for a one-product store it does not need to be complicated.

Provide unique and high-quality images
Write unique product descriptions
Use a fast and user-friendly Shopify theme such as Booster
Avoid using spammy pop-ups

At the end of the day, Google wants you to provide a quality experience for their users. If you use the same content, imagery and theme as other stores within the same niche, Google has no reason to think you are providing a premium customer experience.

Creating a blog is another effective method of creating value for your customers, driving traffic to your store and Google loves that. Even if you’re not a writer, there are a ton of writing services that can write affordable content within your niche.

Another important SEO tactic many one-product stores neglect is establishing E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). This is a huge subject and could be a course itself. Basically, Google wants to be sure you are a legitimate business before it will trust your business in its SERPs.

Any legitimate business on Google will have an address, phone number, multiple emails, and a Google my business profile. In addition, they want pages within your store such as “About our Company” and “About the Founder” describing you and your business.

These all add trust and they tell Google that if a customer has a problem with your business for any reason, they know who is responsible and who they can contact. If you’re looking for a Shopify theme that provides trust, I suggest you read my article on the best one-product store Shopify themes.

Email Marketing

Many one-product stores neglect email marketing because they assume you can’t retarget customers in a store that only sells a single product, this is a mistake.

The vast majority of products have some kind of variant, accessory, related product or newer version which can be sold to your previous customers. You have already paid to acquire these customers and you want recurring sales from these customers.

Email marketing has one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) of any kind of marketing. Although it’s not entirely free, it’s a relatively low cost for the potential returns it can generate for your business.

The beauty of email marketing for a one-product store is it can be very personalized and specific toward your audience. You’re targeting an audience who has already purchased from you and already trusts your business.

Once you create a large list of potential customers with email marketing, that list is yours and is extremely valuable. If you create a following on any other social media or e-commerce platform, that can be taken away from you at any moment if that platform bans you for any reason.

With email, you can create targeted email campaigns, nobody can take that list away from you and you can target them for recurring sales for years to come.

Social Media Marketing

Social media can be a time-consuming part of any e-commerce business. It often includes regular and valuable posts to your customer base within your niche.

The obvious platforms to focus on will be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest or whichever other platforms will resonate with your audience. It really depends on your product and the interest and demographics of your customers.

For example, Pinterest can be a powerful marketing tool if the main audience of your product are female. According to Pinterest, 76% of Pinterest users are female. Pinterest is also a very visual platform so any aesthetically pleasing or wow factor product will be ideal for Pinterest.

Social media is the most effective for one-product stores that have an enthusiast market. If your product targets any kind of sports, hobbies or very passionate customer base, social media will play an important role in marketing.

On the other hand, if your product is a necessity or its only real use is to solve a problem, social media may not be a necessary marketing tactic for your business. If you want to learn how the most successful one-product stores use social media, I recommend you read my article on Shopify store examples with single products.

Create a YouTube Channel

Creating a YouTube channel may be one of the most effective and underutilized free marketing strategies for a one-product store. This will really depend on the type of product you’re selling.

If your product is limited in its uses and functionality, YouTube may not work for your business. However, if your product can be used in several ways or can create a lot of entertaining user-generated content (UGC) then YouTube can be a game changer.

One of the largest and most successful one-product stores is BlendJet which has over 500 videos and 45k subscribers on its YouTube channel. They have a plethora of videos on various smoothie recipes as well as behind-the-scenes looks at their company and testimonials from their customers who have lost weight using their product.

Another example is a one-product store called Lettuce Grow that sells a unique self-watering vertical garden. Their YouTube channel has videos with recipes of the produce their product has grown as well as tutorials and general information on growing fruit and vegetables.

My related one-product store articles;

One-product vs multiple-product stores

10 advantages of selling a single product

The Best Platforms to Market a One-Product Store

Once you’ve launched your one-product store, paid advertising is the only way you will drive traffic to your store from day one. It’s a very different strategy from free advertising and will require a lot of optimization and testing to fully understand the best platforms to advertise on and the more effective ads to run.

Facebook Advertising

Facebook is one of the most popular platforms to run ads for dropshipping businesses which sell lower-cost impulse-buy products. The reason for this is people are using Facebook as a social media platform, they are not using it to search for products.

It can be difficult to convince people to buy if they are not looking to buy. However, persuading them to buy a $25 product is much easier than a $250 if they were not already looking for that specific item.

I would only recommend using Facebook ads for a one-product store if the product has a very specific audience and is valued under $100.

The other thing to consider is the main demographics of your product. Facebook tends to have an aging user base. Baby and pet products are two very popular niches when advertising on Facebook.

Often parents and grandparents will buy baby items and toys that are unique and they may not have seen before. It’s similar to pet supplies, most animal lovers can’t resist a unique and adorable pet product they may never have seen before.

These niches are also great for UGC. If you can offer your customers future discounts if they post an image or video of their pet with a product you sold them, it’s essentially free advertising for you.

Google Advertising

Google ads work very differently from the social media paid advertising strategy. The main difference is there is search intent behind the ad. Think about it, if there is a new product you want to buy online, I’m sure 99% of us Google the product.

You’re then given a list of products for sale at the top of the screen, these are the Google ads. These ad types are highly converting because the people who Google them are actually looking to buy them. However, they will often cost more than ads on other platforms.

Because of the cost and effectiveness of Google ads, they are most effective with higher ticket products. Products valued over $100 will usually be in the optimal price range for Google marketing.

Google ads can often be difficult initially as there is a lot to learn. It will take some testing before your ads are fully optimized but require less ongoing work once they are set up compared to other paid marketing options.

TikTok Advertising

TikTok works in a similar way to Facebook and requires you to interrupt the user and advertise to someone who is not necessarily looking for your product.

Advertising regular everyday products on these platforms will not work. You need to grab the user’s attention fast and offer an ad that catches their attention and stops them scrolling through their feed.

The best part of TikTok and Facebook is you can target very specific audiences who you know will be interested in your product.

For example, if you are selling a golf product, you can target a specific gender, age and interest who are far more likely to purchase your product. You can advertise to users who are interested in a specific golf magazine or are a fan of a famous golf player.

Obviously, TikTok has a much younger demographic than Facebook so understanding your main customer base will be essential. A product such as a massage chair for arthritis will be better suited to Facebook than TikTok.

Instagram Influencers

Instagram and Facebook are connected which allows you to target the same audience based on the data you have on Facebook. This is powerful and allows you to focus your ads on audiences that you know have an interest and a desire to buy your products.

One of the biggest opportunities in marketing is working with influencers and Instagram is the best platform for partnering with influencers. You can reach out to influencers within your niche who have small to medium followings and ask them to help promote your product.

Depending on the size of their following, it can be one of the most cost-effective methods of marketing your product. Many influencers with a smaller following will often be happy to recommend your product for a free product themselves, others will want a one-off payment or a percentage of the sales.

The reason this type of marketing is so effective is their followers often trust and aspire to be like them. Seeing someone they look up to use a specific product within the niche they have a keen interest in allows them to visualize themselves using the product.

Summary

I wish I could provide you with the best marketing strategy for your one-product store but unfortunately it will differ for everyone. The type of product you sell, your main customer base, the country you’re selling to, your budget and much more will impact your strategy.

Whilst the above options are very effective and most popular among e-commerce sellers, there are a few other options such as Snapchat or Taboola advertising if you want alternatives that are more cost-effective. Another low cost is to use affiliate marketing to drive traffic to your store if your profit margins allow it.

Other choices are selling on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay. Personally, I would avoid these options as part of your marketing.

The most successful One-product stores are branded and building a brand should be part of your overall plan. This helps increase your product perceived value and maximize your profit margin. Advertising on Amazon and eBay will decrease the overall perception of your brand and devalue your product.

It will require a lot of testing with various platforms and ad creatives before you are able to pinpoint the most optimal marketing strategy for your one-product store business.