1. Start building a tribe

We are more connected today than ever before and this has resulted in silos of interests all over the Internet. Out there are thousands of people who you can welcome into your own tribe and with the right nurturing and push will bring you your next round of supporters.

Start by opening a Facebook Page and Twitter account which you can use to communicate and give value to those who are interested in your brand and products. Make sure you are constantly engaging with your fans and giving them value. Remember the saying "no engagement left behind".

Other ways you can start building a tribe are through an opt-in newsletter, during special promotions and during live events and conferences. For more information on building a tribe, make sure to checkout "Practical steps for building your online tribe".

2. Use social reviews to drive more traffic and sales

One of the quickest and easiest things you can do right this moment to drive more monthly traffic to your store is integrating Yotpo’s social reviews solution with your store. What makes Yotpo’s review service special is that it is the only solution which integrates social into its core.

After a review is submitted with Yotpo, the reviewer is encouraged to share their purchase with their social networks. These shares result in referral traffic to the store where the purchase was made. This referral traffic is qualified as it is coming from someone who already made a purchase. This qualified traffic has a higher conversion rate which results in more sales.

Yotpo is free and can be installed on all the major eCommerce platforms (Shopify, Magento, Bigcommerce etc).

3. Start a video blog

YouTube recently passed 1 billion monthly viewers and this number is only expected to rise in the future. More and more of us are consuming media through video, which is still mostly underutilized by the eCommerce world. We have known for years how powerful video can be used to create a following. Just ask Gary Vaynerchuk who grew a $60 million dollar wine business with the help of his daily wine show, Wine Library TV.

Establish yourself as an industry expert by hosting a 30 min weekly video show where you discuss news,trends,promotions and anything else which is relevant and of value to your target market. 30 minutes once a week, that is all.

4. Find suitable apps, services and widgets for your store

Most eCommerce platforms, especially the hosted ones, have app stores full of great add-ons and extensions for your store.Go through the different sections and give the most popular apps a try. Don’t overdo it as having too many apps may impede your site from loading quickly.

Make sure you aren’t negatively affecting the user experience or creating distractions for your visitors. Customize the apps as best as you can to fit in nicely with your stores theme.

There are many free services from Mailchimp (email service) to Wufoo (online forms)which can be integrated into your site easily with very little technical knowledge needed.

5. Add a personal touch

As consumers, we are living in a golden age where we are overwhelmed with choices, daily specials and promotions. One of the best ways to create loyalty, buzz and a growing tribe of happy supporters is by adding a personal touch whenever possible.

A simple example of this is to include a personal letter with each of your orders where you thank the customer for trying your product. Wherever you can,try and create meaning by going the extra mile. Sometimes the simplest things like engraving your customers name in the package or sending a thank you on Twitter can make all the difference to a person’s day and I promise you, they will talk about it.

Let me know if you plan on trying any of the tips mentioned in this post in the comments below so I can do a follow up with you in the future.