How to make sure your vape startup will thrive
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The vaping world is only expanding, and many more people are getting into it. However, the real question most business owners are concerned about is how they can grow their vaping business online.
Especially amongst the younger generation, the vaping world is becoming more popular. This is because cigarettes are more of a thing of the past now, and vaping is becoming a substitute for it.
So, what steps should you follow when you start an online business with vaping? Let’s find out more in this article!
11 Tips to follow when you grow your vaping business
1. Write your business plan
Before starting your online vape store, you must write your business plan. A business plan is a well-written document that outlines your business goals and how you plan to achieve them.
Having a written document helps you tackle your problems and guides you to stay on track continuously. Most business plans will include information about your brand, a competitor analysis, and your financial budget.
There are plenty of ways to write a business plan, but we recommend you look for business templates on Google.
Furthermore, if you want to learn more about business plans and what you need to include with your vape shop, you can always read Lightspeed’s article to find out.
2. Manage your startup costs
If you want to run a business, you can’t ever be successful if you don’t manage your startup costs. There’s nothing to be surprised about when you plan out startup costs. However, when you don’t write anything down, costs might be higher than expected. So, when you are evaluating your startup costs, here’s what you need to take into consideration:
- Fees for obtaining licenses
- Renting retail storefront
- Tax costs and payroll
- Equipment
3. Use the power of social media
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The online world revolves around social media and is heavily dependent on it. Many companies are also turning to social media to speak directly with their customers and connect with their existing ones.
So, how do you sell your vape products online? Or even better, if you’re already selling them, how do you promote them? You can do so on popular social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. Especially if you have a strong presence on these channels, this is a significant advantage.
However, we advise you to stay on platforms you think your audience hangs around most. How can you find this out? First, see where you get the most engagement (likes, comments, shares) and see where your content goes better. For example, LinkedIn serves B2B audiences the best if you have a younger audience.
According to statistics, the ideal age group for vaping is around 18-29 years old. Therefore, social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook are suitable for promoting the younger generation.
4. Conduct a competitor analysis
You’re not the only one in the vaping business so keep in mind that there are plenty of competitors. Especially if your competitors start producing better products than you in the vape industry, you can run into serious trouble.
The nature of this business is community-driven; sometimes, even your direct competitors might bring your business and product and service recommendations. The vape industry itself benefits from this several times; it’s a sort of reciprocal act.
The industry’s immense tobacco interest usually drives these reciprocal benefits. Now, let’s be honest, everybody in the vape industry is happy when a new product or service is introduced to the market, unlike in many other industries.
So, keep in mind that your competitor analysis will allow you to take advantage of new products or services brought to the market. This benefits you and keeps your momentum going in the vape industry!
5. Implement SEO practices
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SEO optimization is excellent for improving your organic searches on Google. As an online vape store, you will need to take advantage of SEO practices; they will help increase exposure on your website.
Many shops use different keywords to cover these searches. Some of the most popular keywords used for this are: E-cigarettes, vape, vaping, vaporizer, electronic vape, etc.
Therefore, even if you write articles about vaping, optimize them as much as possible. Additionally, this is associated with social media channels as well. For instance, you can also use these keywords on Instagram as hashtags. They will help you gain exposure!
6. Make your website easy to navigate through
Your website is the backbone of your online business and must be easy to navigate. If customers come to your site and can’t find what they want, they’ll leave! Or even if your website is hard to navigate through or has long loading times, visitors will leave.
This is directly associated with your bounce rate. The higher the bounce rate, the worse it’s for your website. So, whatever you do, optimize your website and keep your loading speeds down. As a rule of thumb, anything above three seconds is bad.
7. Keep up with local regulations
As good as having an online store sounds, you need to have a place where to keep your vaping products. It’s great to have both an online and physical store dealing with vaping. Generally speaking, laws regarding tobacco use will also count for vape products. However, each country has its own set of regulations.
Therefore, always keep up with your local authorities and have the necessary licenses required for the vaping industry. Taking care of this with time will protect you from any illegal actions and save you lots of time and money when starting your business.
8. Consider video marketing
You’ve most likely heard of how powerful video marketing is. Well, it may also have a direct impact on the vaping industry. The vaping industry’s most popular video marketing tools include Instagram stories, YouTube, and even TikTok. Of course, all of these three video marketing channels have their own uniqueness. However, you can consider using all three of them if it fits your business style.
Statistics also show that most markers heavily support video marketing. In fact, 86% of marketers claim they use some sort of video marketing channel to promote their products. Especially for vaping, it’s practical as you show your customers what they can expect from a product. Also, it’s great for showcasing your new products.
9. Offer some sort of free shipping
Image by haiberliu from Pixabay
Everybody loves to hear about free shipping. It’s a common reason you can give your customers to buy a product from you. An excellent way to offer free shipping is to do it over a certain amount of orders. For example, let’s say you have a customer ordering many vape products; for every five orders, you can offer free shipping.
Free shipping offers customers a reason why they should consider buying from you. However, the market is super competitive, so you need to provide something it doesn’t already have. The best thing you can do in the vaping industry is to differentiate yourself from the rest.
10. Keep your customer service top-notch
Do you want to keep your customers happy? Well, ensure that you are always there for them through customer support. Having bad customer support and replying late won’t help you stand out from competitors.
On the other hand, providing superior customer service will help you grow your business and retain your customers for a longer period.
11. Keep up with the trends
The vaping industry is never at a complete stop; there’s always something new coming up. In this case, if you want to stay on top of your competition, you need to stay updated with the latest trends.
So, keep an eye out for what’s new, and even when you do, know that you are already bringing innovations to the vaping industry. After all, it is an industry that constantly wants someone to stay updated with it.
Wrapping it all up
That’s all for this article. These are our 11 tips on skyrocketing your vaping startup and ensuring you start out the right way. The vaping industry has many innovations and trending products each time around. However, never let your competitors always get to them first, or even if they do, take advantage of it.
Staying updated with trends in the vaping industry significantly helps you stand out. Even if you don’t manage to pick up the trends first, conducting a competitor analysis will still benefit you. As we mentioned before, the vaping industry benefits everyone. Therefore, do what you can to always stay on top.
About the author:
Tony Ademi is a freelance SEO content and copywriter. He has been in the writing industry for three years and has managed to write hundreds of SEO-optimized articles. Moreover, he has written articles that have ranked #1 on Google. Tony’s primary concern when writing an article is to do extensive research and ensure that the reader is engaged until the end.