How To Market a Product: 12 Effective Ways (2026)

Getting your product in front of the right people takes more than running ads or slapping on a discount. Shoppers are more selective, channels are noisier, and attention spans are shorter than ever. Knowing how to market a product effectively means helping people understand your product’s value and giving them a clear reason to buy. 

Growth doesn’t come from doing more marketing—it comes from doing the right marketing. You don’t need every tactic under the sun, but you do need a product marketing strategy built around what your audience actually cares about, how they make purchases, and why they choose you over the alternatives.

This guide breaks down the fundamentals of how to market a product, from content and paid ads to subscriptions and social media marketing.

What is product marketing?

Product marketing is a strategy that drives demand for your product by connecting it with the right consumers and clearly communicating why it matters to them.

It’s more focused than general marketing. While general marketing is about attracting attention and building awareness for your brand as a whole, product marketing zeroes in on individual products, key features, and the specific problems they solve.

It answers questions like:

• Who is this product for?
• Why should customers care?
• How does it make their life easier, better, or more valuable?

Ecommerce expert Drew Sanocki’s Three Multipliers Framework is a useful way to understand product marketing’s impact on growth:

• Increase total customers. Get more people buying from your store.
• Increase purchase frequency. Turn first-time buyers into loyal customers.
• Increase average order value (AOV). Encourage customers to spend more per purchase.
  

Master all three, and your business will see steady, sustainable growth. 

Laying the foundation of product marketing

Effective product marketing starts with clear groundwork. Before you launch campaigns or start selling, focus on these three essential building blocks of a strong product marketing strategy.

1. Understand your target audience

Before you dive into how to market a product, you need to know exactly who your target customer is. What problems do they have? What motivates them to buy? The clearer you are about your target market, the more your marketing will resonate.

Talk directly to consumers, send surveys, or analyze online behavior. Then use your market research to shape your messaging, promotions, and even product features.

2. Pinpoint your unique selling proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what sets your product apart. It answers one simple question: Why should someone choose your product instead of your competitor’s?

To pinpoint your USP, think about what makes your product special. Is it better quality, easier to use, or made sustainably? Clearly define and communicate your USP to customers so they instantly understand the value you offer.

3. Develop a strong brand identity

Your brand identity helps customers remember who you are and what you stand for. It includes your logo, colors, design style, tone of voice, and overall personality.

Consistency matters. Make sure every touchpoint—your website, emails, social media platforms, packaging—reflects the same strong, memorable identity. That way, your customers will quickly recognize and trust your products wherever they see them.

12 proven ways to market your product

Your customer base is like a garden you need to tend. When you nurture those relationships, you create demand not just for new product launches, but for the products you already sell.

A flagship product might spark that first wave of interest. But long-term growth often comes from how well you continue to market your wider product range, like introducing customers to complementary products, upgrades, or new releases that deepen the value they get from your brand.

Loyal customers compound in value, too. Once someone makes a second purchase, you don’t need to reacquire them, and they’re far more likely to recommend your shop through referrals, word of mouth, or online reviews. Repeat buyers are also one of the most reliable ways to learn what actually works when marketing a product online.

But retention doesn’t happen automatically. You still need to invest in the right areas. Start with these three core levers.

The 3 levers of customer retention

Merchandise: Provide the right products

Customers need merchandise that fits their needs. They also look for high-quality items that might exceed their expectations. If you find a bestselling product that customers love, consider putting it front and center on your website. Chances are, customers who purchase that product first will come back for more.

Customer experience: Make service feel easy

Amazing customer service doesn’t mean breaking the bank, but it does mean providing unexpected extras. This could be as simple as being available when your customers have questions or offering free returns on any order.

Marketing: Keep customers engaged

You’ll need the right marketing for the right customers at the right time. Some tactics you might use are: 

• Affiliate programs
• Win-back email campaigns
• Life cycle marketing
• Loyalty programs
• A schedule of limited edition drops that keeps customers returning 

With these levers in mind, let’s take a closer look at customer retention marketing. To increase customer order frequency, you’ll need a specialized marketing plan. There are several common and effective product marketing tactics you can use.

1. Introduce a loyalty program

Loyalty programs give customers a reason to return by offering exclusive benefits and building long-term engagement. The 2025 Deloitte Consumer Loyalty Program Survey found that loyalty programs were one of the top drivers of brand loyalty alongside price, value, and quality. Seventy-two percent of respondents are more likely to spend with their preferred brand through a loyalty program, and 56% increase their spending because of it. 

Loyalty programs can be free to join or accessible via a one-time or recurring fee. For example, members of cosmetic brand Tarte get 40% off a bestseller when they join and can then enjoy continued perks as they make purchases. 

Loyalty programs are effective because they give customers a reason to return to your online store. Whether it’s to use the points they’ve accumulated for a free gift, to get free shipping, or to receive a percentage off their purchase price, loyalty programs reliably keep customers coming back.

To measure your customer loyalty strategy’s return on investment (ROI), track key metrics like repeat purchase rate, average order value, and customer lifetime value. You can also analyze enrollment rates and redemption rates for rewards. Comparing these metrics before and after launching your loyalty program helps you see clearly how well it’s performing and where you might need adjustments.

⭐Loyalty apps can automate your programs and help you encourage customers to keep coming back for more. 

2. Create an email win-back campaign

Email is a lifeline to high-intent shoppers who’ve already purchased, making it the ideal channel to encourage repeat purchases. One of the most valuable email sequences you can create for your product marketing strategy is called a win-back campaign. 

A win-back campaign is a type of life cycle marketing designed to re-engage customers after they’ve made a purchase but haven’t returned. The goal is to encourage them to buy again. 

These campaigns are especially effective. Forty-five percent of subscribers who receive a win-back email will open future emails from your brand. McKinsey also found that targeted promotions can lift sales by 1% to 2% and improve margins by up to 3%. 

Drew Sanocki, founder and co-CEO of PostPilot, calls this tactic a “one-two punch” because it nudges first-time customers into repeat customers. 

Here’s how a win-back campaign works: 

Identify who the win-back email marketing campaign targets

It’s standard to set up a win-back email campaign to target first-time customers. Set the first email to send 30 days after a first-time customer’s purchase if they haven’t made a second purchase during that time. 

Each subsequent email will be sent to that list of your first-time customers. You’ll also need to set parameters to remove anyone who makes a purchase at any time throughout this email win-back sequence.

There are four key emails a win-back sequence should include:

Email #1: Suggest a product

The first email recommends a product based on the customer’s original purchase—no promo yet, just a tailored suggestion. The item could be part of your core collection, or perhaps you want to drive excitement about a limited edition item. This first email doesn’t include any coupon codes; instead, it seeks to entice or remind the customer about your other product offerings.

Email #2: Offer a small promo code

Sent 30 days after the first email, the second email offers a small promotion, like 10% off or free shipping on their next order. 

Email #3: Offer a higher promo code

Sent 30 days after the previous email, the third email offers another promotion that’s 15% higher than the last. So, that could be something like 25% off or 15% off and free shipping.

Email #4: Send a survey

This email should be set to send a full 120 days after the customer made their first purchase. It could include another offer, but since this one won’t be sent for several months, it’s a better time to ask your customers if they’re still interested in your shop. 

If they are no longer interested, you could include a survey in the email that asks what would lead them to change their mind.

Surveys like these help you better understand your customers’ experiences, which help you make sure you’re asking the right questions about how to continue improving your brand. 

Remember to unsubscribe inactive users

At the end of your email sequence, automatically remove anyone who hasn’t opened an email from you in the past 60 days. If you include a final survey email, give recipients the option to opt out. Keeping your email list clean improves deliverability and helps protect your brand’s reputation.

You don’t have to use email for this win-back campaign if you don’t find it to be the best option for your business. Instead, you can use other options like website pop-ups, paid media, a direct-mail postcard—whatever you think will resonate most with your customers.

Personalize win-back campaigns with zero-party data collection

Use zero-party data—the insights customers willingly share—to improve your win-back emails through deeper personalization. For example, ask subscribers directly about their interests or product preferences when they join your email list or through surveys. 

Then, use that information to send personalized content or special offers that specifically match their interests. When done right, this tailored approach can boost click-through and conversion rates.

💡Pro tip: Reach more customers, save time and money, and boost sales with Shopify’s marketing automation tools.

3. Send email or SMS sign-up coupon codes

Another effective retention tactic is to offer a discount in exchange for email and/or text message sign-ups. Combine email and SMS as part of an omnichannel marketing approach to reach customers across platforms and boost conversions.

Not sure how to get started with SMS marketing? Try the Shopify plug-in Postscript.

Use a pop up on your homepage to capture attention early. Offer an exclusive perk like free shipping or 10% off customers’ first orders to encourage signups. 

Once someone opts into your mailing lists, send a welcome email with the coupon code. If the subscriber doesn’t make a purchase within a day or two, follow up with a friendly SMS reminder, highlighting that their discount is still waiting.

This integrated approach keeps your brand top of mind, captures attention across channels, and significantly increases the likelihood they’ll take action.

4. Release new products on a schedule

If you’re looking for ideas on how to market a new product, consider scheduling product launches on the same day every week or month. If your customers know the date of a new drop, chances are they’ll visit your website to check what it is or at least be more likely to open the announcement email.

For example, when Mejuri, a fine jewelry shop, was first getting started, it dropped new products every week.

For curious customers and new shoppers alike, this drummed up excitement. Each new Monday Drop was featured on the homepage of the website and in a timely announcement email.

To build even more anticipation, start promoting your launch before the release date. Give your audience sneak peeks on social media, tease upcoming products in your email newsletter, or share behind-the-scenes content that hints at what’s coming. This pre-launch phase is a great opportunity to collect zero-party data through quizzes or waitlists—and warm up your audience for conversion. 

5. Build a subscription model

As customer acquisition costs (CAC) continue to rise, subscription models are becoming one of the most reliable ways to protect margins and drive sustainable growth.

Subscriptions aren’t just a fulfillment model—they’re a built-in customer loyalty strategy. Instead of paying repeatedly to reacquire the same customer, subscriptions help you turn a one-time purchase into predictable, recurring revenue. They also shift your focus from constant acquisition to long-term value, which matters more than ever as ads get more expensive and competition increases.

While building a subscription business model can take more upfront work than running a promotion or launching a new ad campaign, it’s one of the most effective ways to secure repeat customers and reduce your reliance on paid acquisition over time.

If your product requires refills (think razors needing replacement blades), you can create a subscription model that automatically renews on a standard schedule. That way, customers won’t even have to visit your store or even remember that they’re running low before you’ve already sent them a refill. 

If your product doesn’t require refills, subscriptions can still work. Instead of replenishment, focus on curation or variety. Package Free offers eco-friendly home and body care products and allows customers to build custom subscription bundles from a wide product selection. This approach keeps subscriptions flexible while encouraging ongoing discovery and repeat purchasing.

To grow and optimize a subscription model, track key metrics like:

• Churn rate. How many customers cancel over time.
• Average subscription length. How long the typical customer stays subscribed.
• Customer lifetime value (CLV). The total revenue a subscriber generates.

Use these insights to test pricing, bundling strategies, or perks that reduce cancellations and boost long-term loyalty.

6. Use mean, median, and mode to your advantage

Raising your average order value (AOV) can drive meaningful revenue growth, and it’s often simpler than you might think. You don’t need massive changes or aggressive sales tactics. Small, well-placed shifts in how you frame offers and present incentives can move the needle.

To build an effective AOV strategy, you’ll need to understand the mean, median, and mode of your orders, along with how cross-sells and upsells influence customer behavior.

First, let’s define the terms you probably haven’t thought about since fourth-grade math class:

• Mean. The average order value (traditional AOV).
• Median. The middle value of all orders.
• Mode. The order value that occurs most often.

Now let’s look at the mean, median, and mode of orders on our demo store, Kinda Hot Sauce.

Creating a simple chart of product orders over the past 30 days makes these patterns easier to spot and helps you calculate each metric. In this example, the mean order value is $24, but the most common order value (mode) is only $15.

This gap matters. The mean can be skewed by outliers (e.g. those occasional big or unusually small purchases). The mode, on the other hand, reflects what most customers are actually comfortable spending. That makes it a more useful reference point when designing incentives.

When you’re trying to raise AOV, you’re not asking customers to double their spend. You’re encouraging a small step up from what they already do naturally. That’s why the mode is often the number worth targeting.

A common tactic is to set free shipping or bundle thresholds just above the most frequent order value. For example, if $15 is the most common order size at Kinda Hot Sauce, offering free shipping on orders over $25 nudges customers to add one extra item.

7. Perfect cross-sell and upsell strategies

If free shipping isn’t the right incentive for your margins, there are other online product marketing tactics, like cross-selling and upselling, to help increase AOV. 

Cross-selling is when you invite customers to purchase a complementary item. Cross-selling suggestions work best on the cart or checkout page, similar to the aisle of impulse buys a shopper might walk through at a brick-and-mortar store. (SellUp is a great Shopify app for cross-selling.)

Upselling is when you encourage customers to purchase a similar product that’s higher end. Upselling is more effective on the product page before the customer has committed to buying one particular item. 

Cross-selling and upselling are based on the idea that, when you have a compelling product, 10% to 20% of your customers are willing to spend a lot more than the average customer. Your goal is to understand what they want, and make it easy to say yes. From there, you can use tools to automate upsell and cross-sell suggestions, or you can advertise products through another method, like email, phone, or live chat.

Traditional customer acquisition includes methods like: 

• Paid social media ads
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Press releases
• Influencer marketing
• Conversion rate optimization
• Email sign-up promo codes 

Whichever method you choose, you’ll want to gear your marketing toward the segment of your target audience who tends to spend more.

Integrate AI-powered product recommendations for better results. AI-driven recommendation engines analyze customer behavior and preferences to suggest products that align with their interests. 

Best practices for implementing cross-sell and upsell strategies include:

• Strategic placement. Introduce cross-sell offers on cart or checkout pages and upsell suggestions on product pages.
• Personalization. Use customer data to tailor recommendations that resonate with individual preferences.
• Clear value proposition. Ensure that the suggested products offer clear benefits or enhancements to the customer’s original selection.
• A/B testing. Regularly test different strategies to determine what resonates best with your audience.

8. Start with paid marketing

Paid marketing remains a cornerstone for product validation and scalable growth, but knowing how to advertise a product effectively in 2026 means being strategic about the channels you choose. With rising customer acquisition costs (CAC) and increased competition, the channels you choose (and how you prioritize them) really matters.

Core paid channels to consider include:

• Social media advertising
• Influencer partnerships
• Search engine marketing (SEM)
• Display & retargeting ads

Social media advertising

In 2026, social media ad spending is projected to reach $317.33 billion. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest offer advanced targeting options, making it easier to reach specific audiences with precision.

Each platform shines in different ways:

• Instagram is ideal for visually driven products, lifestyle branding, and social proof. Prioritize short-form video and use retargeting ads to convert people who’ve already engaged with your content.
• TikTok excels at discovery and demand creation, especially for newer products. Test multiple hooks in the first two to three seconds and lean into videos with user-generated content (UGC) rather than traditional ad creatives.
• Pinterest is strong for high-intent shoppers who are actively planning purchases, especially in home, fashion, wellness, and gifting categories. Focus on keyword-rich pin titles and descriptions, and link ads directly to product or category pages.

You can manage social ads yourself using each platform’s ad manager, or work with an agency to handle creative, copy, and placement. 

Influencer marketing

Have you ever seen someone you genuinely trust on social media talk about a product they use and share a discount code with their audience? That’s influencer marketing at work, and when done well, it can be extremely effective. 

Today, the success of this kind of marketing hinges on audience alignment and engagement rather than follower count. A creator with a smaller but highly engaged audience that closely matches your target market will almost always outperform a larger creator with passive followers. What matters most is whether the audience trusts the creator and whether your product naturally fits into their lifestyle.

That’s why influencer content has also shifted toward authentic, low-production formats, with polished ads giving way to casual videos and honest reviews. These more organic posts tend to drive stronger engagement, because they don’t look or sound like traditional ads.

Here, Glossier spreads the word about its products on Instagram through a partnership.

Search engine marketing (SEM)

Platforms like Google Ads are often the fastest way to convert demand that already exists, especially through Google Shopping ads and branded search.

These channels work because they capture high-intent shoppers, or people actively searching for a specific product or your brand by name. 

• Google Shopping ads put your product image, price, and brand directly in front of shoppers at the moment they’re comparing options. Tip:Make sure your product feed is clean and complete with clear titles, accurate pricing, high-quality images, and correct categories. Start with your bestselling products before expanding the feed.
• Branded search ads (keywords that include your brand or product names) protect demand you’ve already created through social and email. Tip: Bid on your own brand terms even if you rank organically. It’s usually fairly cheap, boosts trust, and stops competitors from winning over ready-to-buy customers.

For non-branded search, targeting specific keywords with responsive search ads helps your brand show up when shoppers are researching solutions. Focus on high-intent keywords (like “buy,” “best,” or “near me”) and let Google’s responsive ads test multiple headlines and descriptions to find what converts.

Measure ROI with attribution tools

Attribution models show which ads actually drive purchases. For example, multitouch attribution looks at every step a customer takes before buying and assigns credit to each one. With these insights, you can focus on what’s working and cut back on what’s not.

Here’s how to get started:

• Use built-in analytics. Platforms like Meta Ads, Google Ads, and Shopify provide detailed performance data across campaigns.
• Try attribution tools. Platforms like TrueProfit, Usermaven, and Improvado give you a more complete view of your customer journey across channels.
• Keep testing. Run A/B tests on your ad creatives, messaging, and offers to see what gets the best results.

Measuring ROI with proper attribution tools helps you understand which channels are actually moving the needle on sales, not just driving clicks.

💡Pro tip: Drive up to two times more retargeting conversions and use commerce insights available only on Shopify with Audiences. 

Instead of trying to be everywhere at once, choose one or two starting channels based on your resources and growth stage:

• Early-stage or less than $100,000 in revenue. Lean into organic social media and expand your product offerings before heavy paid spend. These channels tend to deliver strong engagement without large ad budgets and can naturally build audience relevance. Among established Shopify merchants, those earning less than $100,000 report organic social and new product expansion as their most effective growth drivers.*
• Scaling brands and $1 million or more in revenue. Once you have product-market fit and a bit more marketing budget, paid advertising becomes a leading growth channel. In the same Shopify survey, merchants earning more than $1 million are more likely to cite paid ads (31%) as their most effective growth channel.*

9. Publish educational SEO content

Educational content helps potential customers discover your brand, builds trust, and drives long-term traffic through search engine optimization (SEO)—without ongoing ad spend. Unlike paid ads, which stop working the moment your budget runs out, content optimized for search can keep attracting new customers for months (or even years).

At its best, content marketing answers real questions your audience is already asking. Over time, this increases your visibility in search, brings in more qualified visitors, and strengthens customer loyalty before anyone ever reaches the checkout.

High-impact content types that drive organic traffic include:

• How-to guides and tutorials. Step-by-step content that helps customers solve a specific problem or use a product more effectively. 
• Educational blog posts. Deep dives into topics your audience wants to understand better, such as ingredients, materials, use cases, or industry trends.
• Comparison and “best of” content. Articles that compare products, explain alternatives, or help shoppers decide what’s right for them.
• FAQs and explainer pages. Content that answers common questions customers ask before buying, reducing friction and supporting conversions.
• Evergreen pillar content. Long-form resources that act as a hub for a topic, supported by shorter related articles that link back to it.
• Video content (repurposed for search). YouTube videos, embedded demos, or short explainers paired with written content to capture both visual learners and search traffic.

Content marketing can also include social posts, podcasts, and emails, but search-optimized content is what tends to deliver the most consistent, compounding traffic over time.

For example, Four Sigmatic, a brand known for its caffeine-crash-free mushroom coffee, publishes SEO blog content that explains the benefits of functional ingredients. By focusing on customer education, the brand earns consistent traffic without relying heavily on paid ads.

Don’t just publish—distribute

Creating great content is only half the equation. To get the most out of your efforts, you also need a strong distribution strategy. 

Here’s how to amplify your reach:

• Repurpose across channels. Turn blog posts into short videos, social posts, or email content to reach different audiences.
• Use SEO tools. Platforms like Ahrefs or SEMrush can help you target keywords your audience is already searching for.
• Build backlinks. Partner with relevant brands or creators to link back to your content and boost your search rankings.
• Share consistently. Promote new content through your newsletter and social media. Don’t be afraid to reshare top-performing posts regularly.

With the right mix of SEO and smart distribution, your content can become a steady source of qualified traffic, and a powerful tool for educating and converting customers.

10. Convert more of your traffic

Once you’re driving consistent traffic, the most efficient way to grow is by improving your conversion rate—turning more of your existing visitors into paying customers. That’s where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in.

CRO involves making small changes that encourage more shoppers to complete a purchase. It’s often more cost-effective than paying for new traffic, and it helps you get better returns from your existing marketing efforts.

Think of it like this: You’re using a funnel to pour soap into a bottle, but the funnel has a few holes in it. No matter how much soap you pour in, you’re losing some along the way. Your online store is the same. Instead of driving more traffic (or pouring in more soap), it’s smarter to fix the leaks—like slow checkout pages, confusing product descriptions, or missing trust signals.

Start by tightening up your checkout flow with tools like Shop Pay, which makes the buying process faster and easier.

Run A/B tests to improve key elements

One of the best ways to optimize your store is through A/B testing. This means testing two different versions of a page element, like a product headline, call-to-action button, or image, to see which one performs better.

Even small tweaks can make a big difference. For example, changing the color of your Add to Cart button or rewriting a product description could lead to more completed checkouts. Tools like Shopify A/B Testing, Google Optimize, or Convert can help you run these tests without needing to code anything yourself.

CRO is a continuous process, but each improvement gets you closer to making the most of every visitor, turning more of your hard-earned traffic into paying customers.

11. Use social commerce platforms

Social commerce lets customers discover and buy your products without ever leaving their favorite apps.

Platforms like TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping, and Facebook Shops turn your social content into a storefront. This means customers can scroll, click, and buy from the same place.

For example, TikTok Shop makes it easy to tag products directly in videos or livestreams. If something catches a viewer’s eye, they can purchase it instantly without leaving the app. The same goes for Instagram, where you can tag products in posts, Stories, and Reels, linking straight to your offerings.

Why social commerce works:

• Shoppers are already spending hours on social platforms.
• In-app purchases reduce friction from the buying process.
• It’s mobile-first, which matches how people browse and shop today.

To get started, connect your product catalog to your social profiles and start tagging your products in posts. Keep the content casual and native to each platform—think short, engaging videos over polished ads. The goal is to meet shoppers where they are and make buying easy.

12. Implement sustainable product marketing practices

Shoppers today care about more than just price, they want to support brands that align with their values. 

Sustainable product marketing means promoting your products in a way that’s ethical, transparent, and environmentally responsible. It starts with the products themselves, but it extends to how you talk about them, package them, and ship them.

Here’s how to build a more sustainable approach:

• Highlight your eco-friendly practices. If your products are made from recycled materials, ethically sourced, or packaged in compostable materials, say so. Be specific and transparent to build trust.
• Tell your brand’s story. Share behind-the-scenes content that shows how your brand reduces waste or supports ethical supply chains.
• Use low-impact marketing channels. Digital content like blog posts, email, and organic social media has a lower environmental footprint than printed flyers or mass mailers.
• Avoid greenwashing by backing up your claims. Customers are savvy. Back up any claims with certifications or data to keep your messaging authentic and credible.

Brands like Package Free and Allbirds have built loyal followings by putting sustainability at the heart of their product and marketing strategies. When you lead with purpose, you don’t just attract buyers—you build a community that believes in your brand.

How to measure product marketing success

You’ve launched your product, tested different campaigns, and engaged your audience. Now it’s time to measure what’s actually driving results. Tracking the right metrics gives you clarity on what’s working, what’s wasting budget, and where small changes can unlock bigger gains.

Here are the key performance indicators (KPIs) worth paying attention to:

• Conversion rate. Measures how many visitors complete a purchase. A strong conversion rate signals that your messaging, product pages, and offers are resonating.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS). Shows whether your paid campaigns are profitable and scalable.
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC). Tells you how much it costs to acquire a new customer. Lowering this over time is a sign of improving efficiency.
• Customer lifetime value (CLV). Estimates how much revenue a customer generates over time. A higher CLV often reflects strong product positioning, retention, and repeat buying.
• Repeat purchase rate. Tracks how often customers come back to buy again. This is one of the clearest indicators of product-market fit and long-term growth.
• Email sign-up and engagement rates. Reveal how well your campaigns capture interest and keep your audience warm.
• Traffic sources and attribution. Show which channels (social, search, email, or referrals) are driving the most qualified traffic and conversions.

To make this easier, start with Shopify’s built-in analytics, which give you a clear view of sales, customer behavior, and repeat purchase trends in one place. Pair that with tools like Google Analytics for traffic insights, or marketing attribution platforms like Triple Whale and TrueProfit to understand true profitability across channels.

Just as important as what you track is how often you review it. According to a Shopify Merchant Survey from November 2025, 69% of established Shopify merchants review their finances at least weekly, with 41% checking daily.* Among merchants who hit revenue milestones and became profitable, regular review habits were strongly correlated with success.

What is the best way to market your product?

Ask five marketers how to grow a product and you’ll get five different answers, because there is no single “best” strategy that works for every business.

What does work is principle-based thinking that adapts to your reality: your budget, your growth stage, and how your customers actually buy. Across business models, the most effective product marketing strategies tend to share a few core traits:

• They’re grounded in a deep understanding of the target customer
• They prioritize long-term value and retention, not just short-term acquisition
• They’re flexible enough to evolve as you learn what resonates

In the early stages, this often means resisting the urge to chase scale too quickly. According to Shopify’s November 2025 Merchant Survey, word of mouth (53%) and building a social media presence (35%) were the most common growth strategies among established Shopify merchants in their first year. Paid advertising tended to become more effective only after businesses scaled past $100,000 in revenue.*

That pattern reinforces a key principle: early growth is usually driven by trust, retention, and relevance rather than ad spend. As your customer base grows and your unit economics stabilise, acquisition-focused channels like paid ads start to make more sense.

“I used to obsess over every single word in our email marketing,” explains OSEA Malibu cofounder and CEO Melissa Palmer. “I’d redesign everything—I felt like it all had to be perfect. Then I started A/B testing myself to see if my obsessively polished version actually performed better … and it didn’t.”

That experimentation changed her approach.

“Sometimes you just have to go for it and learn as you go,” she says. “I think that mindset really applies to marketing. But when it comes to the product, that’s where your time matters most. Nail the product, and then you can be much more experimental with your marketing.”

In other words: Don’t wait for perfection. Start small, iterate quickly, and build from a strong product foundation. Let retention, feedback, and real customer behavior guide your next move.

Rather than treating every tactic as mandatory, think in terms of strategy layers you can add over time:

• Clear positioning and branding that customers understand and remember
• Search optimized content that compounds traffic and trust
• Email and SMS that support repeat purchases and loyalty
• Paid marketing and influencer partnerships once budgets allow
• Conversion rate optimization to get more value from existing traffic
• Social commerce and messaging that aligns with your values and audience

You don’t need to do everything at once. A bootstrapped business might start with content, community, and retention, while a scaling brand could layer in paid acquisition and partnerships.

*Based on a 2025 survey of 500 Shopify merchants conducted in English across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. Respondents were established merchants with two or more years on the platform. Results reflect the experiences of this specific sample and may not be representative of all merchants.