As the owner of a vape shop or vape juice brand, one of the most difficult challenges that you face is getting the word out about your business. If you can’t bid on AdWords keywords or promote your content on Facebook, how is anyone supposed to know that you exist? Unfortunately, many people discover the challenges inherent in vape advertising after they’ve already launched their businesses.
This article is going to help.
We’re not going to lie; increasing awareness of a vape brand isn’t easy when you can’t use the world’s biggest advertising platforms. However, there are several potential opportunities for vape advertising that you may have overlooked.
The best thing about these opportunities is that many of them are much less expensive than you might think – and since you’re advertising your brand directly to the people who would most like to find out about it, your placements will have an excellent chance of converting.
Purchase Advertisements on Vape Websites and Forums
In the old days, most of the world’s vape websites earned their income through affiliate marketing – by recommending certain products to their readers and earning commissions when people bought those products. Today, though, the potential profit that most vape websites can earn from affiliate marketing is much lower than it once was – and that creates an opportunity for you.
These days, most of the largest vape websites and forums sustain themselves by selling banner ad placements. Even on the most popular websites, placing a banner ad costs as little as $5.00 per 1,000 views.
To maximize your potential of achieving a great result from a display ad campaign, it’s worth the expense to have your advertisement created by a professional. You also need to link the advertisement to an appealing offer. Unless you run a Vape Juice store, you probably don’t want to link the ad to your home page. Instead, link the ad to a product bundle or a newly launched product that’s likely to generate a high amount of interest.
Become a Vape Forum Contributor
Vape forums aren’t just great as potential advertising channels; you can also advertise your vape shop for free just by becoming a member of an online vape community. Don’t think of your posts as opportunities to advertise your brand overtly; people don’t like that. The best way to advertise your company is simply by being a helpful member of the community. Take the time to answer questions and help newbies out. In the process, you’ll create brand awareness and build a positive reputation for yourself. Many people specifically make it a point to buy from companies that give back to the vaping community.
Purchase Advertisements in Vape Publications
Did you know that there are many magazines – both print and online – devoted to vaping? These days, many entrepreneurs are finding that they can do very well by creating publications that serve niche interests – and quite a few vape magazines have sprung up as a result. The majority of the publications serving the vaping industry are free for readers. They earn their money exclusively through advertising, and advertisers aren’t always easy to come by – so the rates are often very favorable.
If you’re unable to find room in your budget to buy ad space in a vape magazine, there is a potential alternative. Vape publications usually operate on shoestring budgets and pay their writers very little – if they pay their writers at all. If you have a knack for the written word, you might be able to get placement in a vape magazine just by contributing a high-quality article that’s relevant to the publication’s readers.
Contribute Guest Content to Vape Blogs
Speaking of contributing content to publications, did you know that many vape blogs are also willing to accept content from guest authors? When you write guest content for a vape blog, you’ll need to straddle a fine line because no one is going to publish a full-page ad for your vape shop for free. Just as if you were contributing content to a vape publication, you need to think in terms of how you can provide value to a vape blog by contributing content that’s relevant to the blog’s reader base.
Before you start reaching out to blogs and advertising your services as a guest author, it’s a good idea to have a story to pitch. It’s even better if you have an article that’s already written and ready to publish. Before approaching a vape blog, take the time to read its existing content. Do you have knowledge about a topic that the blog hasn’t covered yet? That might be a good basis for a guest article.
When you contribute guest content to a blog – no matter how good your content may be – you should be aware that all blogs in every field receive pitches from prospective guest authors almost every day. You may not always get a response, so it pays to be persistent. In addition, bear in mind that having a website administrator proofread, lay out and publish an article requires time and money. Some blogs may ask you to pay the administrative costs associated with publishing a guest article.
Never Stop Working on Your Own Website
Advertising on other websites is a great way to increase awareness of your vape shop and bring traffic to your website. It is important to remember, though, that your own website is the best advertising vehicle you’ll ever have.
When you publish content that ranks well in Google’s organic search results, that content can potentially send free traffic to your website for years to come. Getting your own site to rank as highly on Google as possible – for as many different keywords as possible – should always be your ultimate goal. Therefore, no matter how fruitful your vape advertising campaigns may be, you should never stop spending as much time as possible working hard to publish the best content on your own site that you possibly can.
Norm Bour started VapeMentors in 2013 and since then has consulted in every sector of the Vape and CBD space worldwide. He is a recognized author, speaker, and trainer.