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Online Store Marketing Plan

Online shoppers compare before they buy, so marketing an online store is about earning trust quickly and giving people a reason to come back for a second order. A shop with no premises depends on search results, social videos and emails, and each of them reaches a stranger who has no reason yet to trust you. Gifting seasons and holiday weekends bring the busiest weeks for many stores, which means product pages, delivery dates and stock need to be ready well before them. A plan keeps you working on what brings orders, such as clear product pages and an email list, instead of chasing every new platform. It also reminds you that a repeat customer usually costs less to win than a new one.

Free · about a minute · with the searches your customers make

Cartwell Goods is a made-up online store with a small budget and one goal, more orders. Its 90-day plan opens with the searches shoppers make for gifts and home products, then sets out the customers, the channels in order and the pages the website needs. Each month has its own actions, and the plan closes with content ideas, how the budget is split and the numbers worth watching. The tool makes your own plan around your products in about a minute, built on the searches your customers really make.

What a marketing plan for an online store should cover

  1. Plan around the dates shoppers buy

    Gifting seasons, sales weekends and back to school each need product pages, stock and delivery cut-off dates ready weeks ahead. Work backwards from each date and put the last order date on your website. Use the quiet weeks to improve product photos and collect email addresses.

  2. Make every product page do the selling

    Shoppers arriving from Google or social media land on one product page, not your home page. Give each page a clear set of photos, honest details, delivery and returns information and reviews. A page that answers every question needs no special offer to tempt a buyer.

  3. Build an email list from day one

    Email reaches people who have already shown interest, at no cost for each message. Collect addresses at checkout and through a short sign-up on your site, always with permission. Write to buyers when a gift date is coming or when it is time to reorder.

  4. Follow shoppers who left without buying

    Many visitors leave a store without ordering, even after adding something to the basket. A reminder email, or a small advert shown to people who looked at a product, brings some of them back. Keep it helpful and link straight to the product they viewed.

Sample

Cartwell Goods is a made-up online store. Its plan shows what a 90-day marketing plan for an online store covers: the searches its customers make, the channels in order and the work month by month. Yours is made for your own business, town and budget.

90-day online marketing plan

Cartwell Goods

Cartwell Goods will turn more website visitors into orders by making every product page answer a shopper's questions, building an email list and reminding people who looked but did not buy.

More online orders or bookings · Under 100 US dollars a month

Your three priorities

  1. Give every product page clear photos, an honest description, the delivery options and the returns steps, so a shopper who lands on one page from Google or a video can order without leaving it.

  2. Collect email addresses at checkout and through a short sign-up, so every buyer can be reached again for reorders, gift dates and new arrivals.

  3. Spend the small advert budget only on reminding people who visited a product or filled a basket, since they are the closest to ordering.

What your customers search for

Search on GoogleSearches a monthCompetition
“gifts delivered to your door”7.5K-25KMedium
“christmas last order dates”7.5K-25KMedium
“unique gifts online”2.5K-7.5KMedium
“home goods online”2.5K-7.5KMedium
“next day delivery gifts”2.5K-7.5KMedium
“online gift shop”250-750Low
“independent online shop”0-250Low
“online shop easy returns”0-250Low

Searches a month in United States, from Google's own search suggestions. Competition is how hard page 1 of Google is for that search.

Your customers

Gift buyers shopping against a date

What they need: Something they can choose, have wrapped and have delivered in time, with a clear last order date and a gift message.

Where they look: Google searches for gift ideas, Pinterest boards, Instagram posts and emails from shops they have bought from before.

Shoppers looking for a particular product

What they need: A shop that shows the exact item with real photos, honest sizes and a simple way to send it back if it is wrong.

Where they look: Google searches, product results in search and the reviews they read before ordering.

Past customers ready to order again

What they need: A reason to come back, such as a restock, a new arrival or a reminder when something they bought is running low.

Where they look: Email, Instagram and the card inside their last parcel.

Your channels, in order

  1. Website and Google search Medium effort · Low cost

    Shoppers searching for a product or a gift land on a product page, so those pages are where orders are won or lost.

    • Give each product its own page with clear photos, a plain description, the delivery options and the returns steps.
    • Make a gift ideas page and a delivery and returns page, using the search phrases in this plan.
    • Show the last order dates for delivery before each gifting season.
  2. Email Low effort · Free

    Email reaches people who already know the shop, at almost no cost for each message.

    • Ask for an email address at checkout and with a short sign-up on the home page, always with permission.
    • Send a short follow-up after each order that asks for a review and shows two related products.
    • Email a note when a popular product is back in stock or a new arrival lands.
  3. Instagram Medium effort · Free

    Photos and short videos of products in use let people discover the shop before they ever search for it.

    • Post a photo or short video of a product in use, each linked to its product page.
    • Reply to every comment and message within a day, since a shopper's question is a buying signal.
    • Save your strongest posts as highlights for gifts, new arrivals and delivery questions.
  4. Pinterest Low effort · Free

    People save ideas for gifts and homes on Pinterest, and a saved pin keeps sending visitors to a product page for a long time.

    • Make boards for gift ideas and home looks, using your own product photos.
    • Pin each new product with a clear title and a link to its page.
  5. Facebook and Instagram adverts Medium effort · Low cost

    A small reminder advert brings back visitors who looked at a product and left without buying.

    • Show people who visited a product page in the last few weeks the product they viewed, with a line on delivery and returns.
    • Send each advert to the exact product page the visitor looked at.
    • Switch off any advert that brings clicks but no orders.

What your website needs

  • A home page that says what you sell in its first line, shows your best sellers and links to gift ideas.
  • A page for every product with several photos, sizes, materials, delivery options and returns steps, named as shoppers search, such as home goods online.
  • A gift ideas page for the searches unique gifts online and online gift shop, with gift messages and delivery to another address.
  • A delivery and returns page in plain words, with the last order dates for each gifting season, for searches like christmas last order dates.
  • Real reviews from buyers on each product page, with the reviewer's first name.
  • An about page that shows who runs the shop, for people searching for an independent online shop.

Your 90 days

Month 1: Make the shop easy to buy from

  • Give every product a page with clear photos, an honest description, the delivery options and the returns steps.
  • Publish a delivery and returns page and a gift ideas page, with the last order dates for the next gifting season.
  • Add an email sign-up to the home page and checkout, and send a thank-you message after every order.
  • Set up Instagram and Pinterest with the shop name, a link to the website and a first board of gift ideas.
  • Print a thank-you card for every parcel with the shop name, the returns steps and an invitation to leave a review.

Month 2: Build trust and visitors

  • Ask every buyer for a review a few days after delivery and show the reviews on the product pages.
  • Post a product in use on Instagram twice a week and pin the same photos to Pinterest boards.
  • Publish a gift guide on the website before the next gifting date, linking to each product page.
  • Send your first email to the list with new arrivals and the last order dates.
  • Improve the photos on any product page that gets visitors but few orders.

Month 3: Bring shoppers back

  • Add a reminder email for baskets left behind, with a link straight back to the basket.
  • Start a small reminder advert on Facebook and Instagram for people who visited a product page.
  • Email past buyers when something they bought is back in stock or a gift date is near.
  • Put the last order dates in your Instagram highlights and your email footer before the busy dates.
  • Compare the orders from each source and keep working on the ones that bring buyers.

Content ideas

  1. A gift guide grouped by person and occasionWebsite
  2. Last order dates for delivery before the gifting seasonWebsite
  3. A care guide for your most popular product, with the right and wrong ways to use itWebsite
  4. A board of gift ideas for a host or a new homePinterest
  5. Why customers send things back, and what we changed because of itEmail
  6. A new arrival, with the reason it joined the rangeEmail
  7. A reviewer's words about delivery, quoted with their permissionInstagram
  8. The product a visitor viewed, shown again with one line on returnsFacebook and Instagram adverts

Your budget

Facebook and Instagram adverts35%

Reminder adverts to people who visited a product page, once the pages are ready to sell.

Product photography30%

A simple light box, a tripod and props so every product has clear, consistent photos.

Website20%

The domain and the shop tools that keep product pages and checkout running.

Email15%

The tool that sends order follow-ups, restock notes and reminders for baskets left behind.

The numbers to watch

Orders a week

Count the orders in your shop's order list each week and note which source each buyer came from.

Visitors who order

Divide the orders in a week by the visits to the website for a simple view of how well your pages sell.

Baskets left behind

Count baskets started but not paid for, and see whether reminder emails bring some of them back.

Orders from returning customers

Note how many orders each month come from people who have bought from you before.

Email sign-ups

Count the new addresses each week from checkout and the home page.

How AI Web Maker runs this plan

Your website is where every channel sends people. On AI Web Maker it comes with the tools that do the work of this plan every week:

AI SEO Tool. Scores every page out of 100 and fixes each problem with a click, so your pages climb on Google for the searches in this plan.

AI Blog Writer. Writes and publishes articles about your business on a schedule, so new visitors keep finding you on Google.

AI Social Media Marketer. Writes and posts to Facebook, Instagram and more on a schedule, sending people to your site.

AI Chatbot. Answers your visitors day and night from your own information, and takes the details of people who want to talk.

Contacts and leads. Every sign-up, contact form and chat lead lands in one place, so no customer slips away.

AI Marketing Outreach. Finds businesses that need what you offer and drafts a personal email to each, sent from your own domain.

After the plan

Every plan starts with your website

Google, your Business Profile and every post send people to your website. AI Web Maker builds one for your online store in minutes, with the pages this plan asks for, ready to preview.

Make my plan first Build my website →

Free to build and preview · $119 a year hosting when you go live · domain not included

Questions

Marketing an online store: questions and answers

How do I get more orders for my online store?

Start with product pages that answer every question a shopper has, from size to delivery to returns. Make sure each page has a clear name, photos, price and stock status so Google can show it in search results, and ask buyers for reviews. Then build an email list so past customers hear from you when they are ready to buy again.

Is social media worth it for an online store?

It can be, for products that show well in a picture or a clip, because it reaches people who were not searching yet. Start with one or two platforms, and judge them by the orders they bring rather than the followers they collect.

Where should a small online store spend its first marketing money?

Put it into what brings buyers back to a product page: better photos, a modest reminder advert aimed at visitors and a way to send emails. Hold back on broad adverts to strangers until your product pages are ready, because a weak page wastes every click. Test one advert at a time and keep the one that brings orders.

When should an online store start planning for gifting season?

Start weeks before the busiest dates, because gift buyers search early and delivery takes time. Get product pages, photos and last order dates live first, then build your email list and run adverts as the dates approach. After the rush, email buyers to thank them and to ask for reviews.

Marketing plan samples for other industries