Selling online is easy. You can go on Amazon. You don’t have to set up an online store, build an email list, invest endless hours on social media. The same goes true with other marketplaces and the whole dropshipping business model.

You can set up your shop on Shopify within minutes and be ready to take orders by the day’s end.

There are extremely low barriers for anyone to start, but with low entry barriers, it comes the fierce competition.

So the question is, How can you make people choose your store instead of your competition? What is that small thing that will make all the difference for your customers?

Customers who have an emotional relationship with a brand have a 306% higher lifetime value and are 71% more likely to recommend the company, according to research from Motista.

Let me tell you the story of Alison J. Prince.

She started selling online with the simple need to earn extra money for her family.

But as every newcomer, she made small bucks one day, nothing for the next days, with no clues what she did right or wrong.

This got her thinking. What could she do to get people’s attention? How could she interest people in things they didn’t need? How could she convince potential shoppers to buy from her store?

Suddenly, she came up with a cheap yet brilliant idea: Laffy Taffy.

One day, she was in the car with her kids. They spotted a llama farm, and, of course, they pulled off to pet the llamas. While they were there, they not only paid the small fee to pet the llamas, but they also bought some snacks and filled up on gas.

On her way home, she realized just how strategic a marketing choice that was. Everyone is selling gas. Everyone is selling snacks. Nobody else has a llama. That was what got her off her way in the first place and into the gas station next. How could she leverage that in her own business?

The little secret she learned that day was that she needed to build an experience around her product if she wanted to stand out from other mom and pop stores and build relationships with her customers.

Her brilliant idea was to put a Laffy Taffy with every purchase in the shipping box. You know the sticky sugary stuff with a joke on the package. And you won’t believe it, but something so small helped her build a loyal army of customers.

They took pics of their favorite Laffy Taffy joke and posted on social media about how it brightened their day. A priceless, free, word-of-mouth marketing.

The takeaway.

People crave an experience. They buy the experience, not the product. They want to be part of something.  And you as a business owner need to give them a reason, no matter how small, to get people off the highway and onto your shop.

It doesn’t have to be something expensive; it just has to bring smiles and make people remember your brand.

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Our expert team can help you with anything related to selling online and growing your business, like boosting conversion, improving your shopping experience, recommending solutions for taxes, payments, shipping, and software integrations.

We also stand out from the crowd with ongoing content resources, like our Ecommerce Empire series, and our offering of growth and launch services where you will work with a dedicated ecommerce expert to help you plan for success.

Write us at info@airdesigns.us or set a quick call with us to to discuss your most urgent needs for the holiday season.