![\"The](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/DSC02226-Edit_2.jpg?v=1682373878\")
Jacob Winter picked up a new hobby during the pandemic. He discovered he was good at making tufted rugs—and people loved watching him create his designs on TikTok. After his rug-making videos went viral, Jacob transformed his hobby into a full blown business.
\nJacob and his team at Mush Studios are challenging conventional designs by creating playful rugs in fluid abstract shapes. The result? Standout décor statement pieces that are undeniably Mush designs. “We felt like we were missing this otherworldly, unconventional, not that serious, kind of aesthetic within rugs,” Jacob says. “People wanted something they had never seen before in terms of shape and texture.”
\nAhead, learn how Jacob created social media content that directly grew his business, and the strategy behind his long-term partnerships and unique collaborations with established retailers and brands.
\nMush Studios’ TikTok videos racked up 23 million views in just 12 months. Jacob didn’t want the business’s success to be truncated, and knew the brand would have more opportunities to grow if they expanded past their TikTok virality. “We didn’t want to just be associated with TikTok, or known as a DIY fast fashion brand,” Jacob explains.
\nTo achieve that, the brand expanded its range of content on the platform. “We thought it would be the best idea to showcase how we were going to operate as a brand, what our day-to-day work life was like, and who we are as people,” Jacob says.
\nAs Mush Studios’ content on social media shifted, it attracted an audience that appreciated the product as much as the process—and the brand’s sales grew as a result.
\nSince launching in 2020, Mush Studios has collaborated with luxury retailers and brands like SSENSE, MRKT, and Frankie’s Bikinis.
\n![\"Four](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/MRKT_NK_W1_2.jpg?v=1682374252\")
“We’re big believers in manifestation, so early on we layed out who we wanted to collaborate with, what brands we wanted to work with, and what retailers we’d want to share our essence with,” says Jacob. His vision from the start included partnering with retailers and brands he had looked up to since childhood. When companies started to reach out to him, he was more than ready.
\nThese companies not only had to share similar design values, they had to believe in the longevity of Mush Studios and be willing to invest. “For any retailer [we work with], we have to make sure we’re aligned visually,” says Jacob. “Since we were such a young and new company, we had to know these retailers were going to fight for us by investing in our brand.”
\nThrough their love of interior design and fashion, Jacob and his co-founder, Franki Peroff, have found these unique collaborations to be one of their favorite parts of growing the brand. “Once you have a partnership, it’s important to keep it,” Jacob says. “There are always more projects to come, or they could tell someone else about you, so always show you’re invested back.”
\nThe co-founders have put every part of themselves into the business, and have seen the brand grow as a result of their authenticity and willingness to experiment and think outside the box when it comes to traditional design and content creation.
\nTune in to the full Shopify Masters episode to hear Jacob share how the team transitioned their viral success to sales, built partnerships with major brands, and scaled their production.
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/mush-studios-tik-tok-partnerships
\n"}]},"page_header":{"background":null,"backgroundOpacity":100,"color":null,"fieldGroupName":"page_header","title":"Convert TikTok to Sales","opacity":100,"position":"on","size":{"desktop":64,"tablet":null,"mobile":null},"spaces":{"top":null,"bottom":null,"leftright":null,"units":"em"}},"link":"/blog/how-to-turn-tiktok-videos-into-big-sales"},{"id":"cG9zdDo1NTQ4","title":"Pilgrim Saves Time Using Shopify to Streamline Order Fulfillment","date":"24.05.2023","schemaDate":"2023-05-24","modifiedGmt":"2023-07-27T07:16:35","slug":"pilgrim-saves-time-using-shopify-to-streamline-order-fulfillment","acfSchemaPost":{"blogPostingImage":null},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTox","name":"General Articles"}]},"levels":{"nodes":[]},"acfPost":{"fieldGroupName":"acfPost","excerpt":"Pilgrim got its start 40 years ago, with one woman who had a passion for jewelry. In 1983, designer Annemette Markvad turned her creativity into a collection of handmade jewelry that she sold at music festivals throughout Europe","squaredImage":{"altText":"Pilgrim Saves Time Using Shopify to Streamline Order Fulfillment","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#d8c8b8","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/b956e/IMG_9175_1.webp","srcSet":"/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/d1fa5/IMG_9175_1.webp 750w,\n/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/b956e/IMG_9175_1.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.4228515625}}}},"metaData":{"title":null,"description":"Discover how Pilgrim, a jewelry brand founded in 1983, transformed its operations with Shopify. Learn how Pilgrim streamlined its order management, fulfillment, and shipping processes to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction"},"banner":{"title":"Pilgrim Saves Time Using Shopify to Streamline Order Fulfillment","showTitle":true,"image":{"altText":"Pilgrim Saves Time Using Shopify to Streamline Order Fulfillment","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#d8c8b8","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/b956e/IMG_9175_1.webp","srcSet":"/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/d1fa5/IMG_9175_1.webp 750w,\n/static/f49ec09ca4752476e92a7b835fd2de9f/b956e/IMG_9175_1.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.4228515625}}}}},"timeToRead":null,"sections":[{"fieldGroupName":"post_Acfpost_Sections_ArticleRichTextContent","content":"Name: Simon Paquin, Director of Digital Marketing
\nBusiness: Pilgrim
\nYear founded: 1983
\nBased in: Montreal, Canada
\nSolutions: Order management, fulfillment, Shopify Shipping, returns management
Pilgrim got its start 40 years ago, with one woman who had a passion for jewelry. In 1983, designer Annemette Markvad turned her creativity into a collection of handmade jewelry that she sold at music festivals throughout Europe.
\nNow a thriving worldwide business, her mission is carried out by a team in Montreal who share her vision and values: bringing beautiful jewelry to individuals in North America who are looking to express themselves.
\nWith a booming online store, as well as busy retail locations, Pilgrim needed a way to streamline its operations to make fulfillment more efficient. That’s where Shopify helped.
\nThanks to Shopify, Pilgrim has been able to:
\nCustomers sometimes place their order online, only to realize shortly after that they need to change it. Whether they’ve selected the wrong item or entered the incorrect quantity, these last-minute updates happen.
\nOn Pilgrim’s side, these requests get delivered to customer support, who enter the change into the system, which notifies the warehouse team so they can make the update while fulfilling the order. The original system that Pilgrim used was buggy, so updates didn’t always sync in real time. This meant a delay between customer support receiving a request and the warehouse team being notified of the change.
\nPilgrim needed a way to provide a positive customer experience while streamlining the process for accommodating order updates. The company also needed a more efficient system for managing communication between the customer support and warehouse teams.
\n“For customer experience purposes, I was annoyed that our shipping tool was buggy sometimes and didn’t sync with order status in real time with Shopify. It started to create friction between our warehouse team and customers that had requested something from our CX team. Therefore, I began to envision how we could streamline everything.” —Simon Paquin, Director of Digital Marketing, Pilgrim
\nTo reduce this friction and ensure timely updates, Pilgrim turned to Shopify to manage, fulfill, and ship orders. “I like the simplicity, everything is in one place,” Simon says of Shopify, “and the support is great too!”
\n\nI like the simplicity, everything is in one place, and the support is great too.
![\"Simon](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/Pilgrim_image_1.jpg?v=1682621496\")
Customers send their requests through, the Pilgrim customer support team updates the orders page in Shopify, and the change is immediately sent to the warehouse team. Thanks to Shopify’s streamlined, real-time updates, Pilgrim spends less time going back and forth between teams. The company also saves time and money by not having to fix orders after the fact.
\n![\"Pilgrim](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/Pilgrim_image_6.jpg?v=1682622360\")
“There are fewer steps between what we did versus what we do now,” says Simon. “What changed is the time people spent fixing things that never should’ve happened in the first place. Prevention is the big benefit; Shopify helped a lot in terms of efficiency and saving costs that way.”
\n\nWhat changed is the time people spent fixing things that never should’ve happened in the first place. Prevention is the big benefit; Shopify helped a lot in terms of efficiency and saving costs that way.
Pilgrim works with Canada Post for efficient shipping and delivery to its customers, and connects its account to manage orders and purchase shipping labels within Shopify. The company also uses shipping presets to save preferred packaging and shipping carriers by default. This means Pilgrim doesn’t have to continually re-enter its preferences regarding Canada Post. Using the Shipping Manifest app is crucial—thanks to manifests, Pilgrim saves on costs incurred by Canada Post, since it no longer needs to scan individual packages.
\n![\"An](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/Pilgrim_image_5.jpg?v=1682622336\")
As part of the daily pickup in the warehouse, packages need to be organized by whether they are express or local pickups. Using Shopify’s custom order views, Pilgrim can quickly see which orders fall into each category—from one centralized view.
\n“The biggest money and time-saver here is the back-and-forth we used to have with the customer support team based on orders that didn’t sync with [our previous solution]. It created a lot of friction, meaning delaying the work to get done, and therefore shipping fewer orders every day. With Shopify, we’re making more money per hour with less friction.” —Simon Paquin, Director of Digital Marketing, Pilgrim
\n\nWith Shopify, we’re making more money per hour with less friction.
Pilgrim has already seen results from embedding Shopify into its day-to-day processes, positioning the company for long-term success.
\nHaving the ability to pick, pack, and buy labels all in one place has reduced the time it takes to complete each order. With less back-and-forth communication across multiple channels, the fulfillment team has seen increased efficiency and improved accuracy of orders—ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.
\nShopify’s capabilities to search, tag, and filter orders have helped the company practice better (and more timely) decision making, reducing order delays while preserving attention to detail. Creating custom order views allows Pilgrim’s team to find and surface the most relevant information, enabling them to make better decisions in less time.
\nThe platform has also helped Pilgrim avoid delays and disconnects between apps, enabling more timely order fulfillment. “The idea is to have the leanest team possible, to scale, with the highest output,” Simon says. “More often than not, that comes with software solutions, such as Shopify.”
\nPilgrim also regularly uses shipping presets for packaging and carriers, saving them time and shipping-related costs. This tool has improved profitability and reduced waste, promoting a sustainable business model.
\nSimon notes that Pilgrim is undergoing massive growth, moving out of the Tribe stage and into the Village stage. According to Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies, a popular book and business model by Chris Yeh and Reid Hoffman, a company enters the “Village” stage once it exceeds 100 employees, shifting to a more formal culture and established processes for rapid growth. This is a step up from the “Tribe” stage, which would describe a company with less than 100 employees, and a developing company structure. With five retail stores, and more on the horizon, Pilgrim is growing and here to stay.
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/case-study-pilgrim
\n"}]},"page_header":{"background":null,"backgroundOpacity":100,"color":null,"fieldGroupName":"page_header","title":"Efficient Order Fulfillment","opacity":100,"position":"on","size":{"desktop":64,"tablet":null,"mobile":null},"spaces":{"top":null,"bottom":null,"leftright":null,"units":"em"}},"link":"/blog/pilgrim-saves-time-using-shopify-to-streamline-order-fulfillment"},{"id":"cG9zdDo1NTQy","title":"Wolfpak Grows From Lone Wolf to a Pack of Many Thanks to Shopify","date":"24.05.2023","schemaDate":"2023-05-24","modifiedGmt":"2023-07-27T07:17:20","slug":"wolfpak-grows-from-lone-wolf-to-a-pack-of-many-thanks-to-shopify","acfSchemaPost":{"blogPostingImage":null},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTox","name":"General Articles"}]},"levels":{"nodes":[]},"acfPost":{"fieldGroupName":"acfPost","excerpt":"WOLFpak is a functional backpack brand that empowers people to not only carry their gear, but also share their stories. WOLFpak CEO Michael Henderson was inspired to create the company during a challenging time in his life.","squaredImage":{"altText":"Wolfpak Grows From Lone Wolf to a Pack of Many Thanks to Shopify","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#885828","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/84676/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp","srcSet":"/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/bcae1/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp 750w,\n/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/84676/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.47753906249999994}}}},"metaData":{"title":null,"description":"Discover how WOLFpak, a functional backpack brand, transformed its operations and achieved growth with Shopify. Learn how CEO Michael Henderson's personal journey inspired the brand's mission and product innovation. Explore how Shopify streamlined order management, fulfillment, and inventory control, resulting in improved efficiency and cost savings. With centralized tools and discounted shipping rates, WOLFpak optimized its fulfillment processes and enhanced customer service. Experience the success story of WOLFpak's journey and its commitment to empowering individuals through functional and customizable backpacks"},"banner":{"title":"Wolfpak Grows From Lone Wolf to a Pack of Many Thanks to Shopify","showTitle":true,"image":{"altText":"Wolfpak Grows From Lone Wolf to a Pack of Many Thanks to Shopify","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#885828","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/84676/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp","srcSet":"/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/bcae1/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp 750w,\n/static/efd2eec42ec6fbdb991d0af427be5e8a/84676/WOLFpak_image_1_1.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.47753906249999994}}}}},"timeToRead":null,"sections":[{"fieldGroupName":"post_Acfpost_Sections_ArticleRichTextContent","content":"Name: Michael Henderson, CEO
\nBusiness: WOLFpak
\nYear founded: 2019
\nBased in: Costa Mesa, United States
\nSolutions: Shopify Shipping, order management, fulfillment, inventory management
WOLFpak is a functional backpack brand that empowers people to not only carry their gear, but also share their stories. WOLFpak CEO Michael Henderson was inspired to create the company during a challenging time in his life.
\nIn 2019, Michael was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. This difficult news led him to reevaluate his life, and he decided he wanted to spend more time with close family and friends—his pack.
\nFor months, Michael had a daily hours-long commute to the hospital to receive chemotherapy treatments. During those drives, he started brainstorming ways in which he could build a brand and make his mark on the world.
\nAs an active member in the fitness community, he saw an opportunity to transform the traditional gym bag to be more functional and customizable. And so, WOLFpak was born.
\nNew to the ecommerce world, Henderson needed a way to grow his business, while streamlining operations for maximum efficiency. That’s when he decided to leverage Shopify.
\nThanks to Shopify, WOLFpak has been able to:
\nWith a variety of products across more than 500 stock keeping units (SKUs), WOLFpak needed a way to easily manage inventory. This meant finding a way to accurately understand how many items were left in the warehouse, which products were selling faster, and other helpful metrics.
\nOn top of managing inventory, WOLFpak handles all order fulfillment in house, across its two warehouses. Several shipping options are available to customers, so orders need to be pulled, packed, and sent out for delivery according to their chosen shipping method.
\nWith more than 3,000 orders per week, WOLFpak handles fulfillment processes throughout each day. The company is constantly packing orders and printing shipping labels, but with such a high order volume, it was becoming challenging to stay organized and keep things running on time—and on budget.
\n“There would be mistakes when we’d pull up the labels and purchase the labels—they’re on the screen. Then, the person gets distracted and closes the window. So the labels are paid for, they show to be printed, but they never actually printed. Then, you get that horrible email from the customer asking where the package is. And so we realize we paid for it, but we never printed it.” —Michael Henderson, Founder & CEO, WOLFpak
\nTo improve organization and operational efficiency, WOLFpak turned to Shopify’s built-in order management and delivery solution to manage this work.
\n“There are variables when you have to go from one platform to another,” says Henderson. “When you can reduce those variables and work out of one platform, it just makes more sense. It creates a user-friendly experience for me and the staff, and it’s easier to train on one platform versus jumping around.”
\n\nWhen you can reduce those variables and work out of one platform, it just makes more sense. It creates a user-friendly experience for me and the staff, and it’s easier to train on one platform versus jumping around.
![\"WOLFpak](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/WOKFpak_image_2.jpg?v=1682694954\")
Shopify has made the fulfillment process much easier and more affordable for WOLFpak, enabling the company to create and buy its labels from a centralized location. For domestic shipments, the company leverages UPS, but for its international customers, WOLFpak uses Shopify’s Markets Pro to send packages through DHL. Thanks to Shopify’s industry-leading rates, it costs less for WOLFpak to buy and print labels through Shopify Shipping than it would working directly with the carrier.
\n![\"For](\"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/WOLFpak_image_3.jpg?v=1682694974\")
Thanks to the shipping labels index, WOLFpak can check in real time whether shipping labels were printed—saving time and money, while also providing great customer service through on-track deliveries.
\nTo better understand business performance and see which items are in stock, WOLFpak uses Shopify’s robust inventory reporting capabilities. Leveraging the days-remaining metric helps the company understand approximately when an item will run out. WOLFpak also leverages inventory automations with Shopify Flow to let specific team members know when the company is running low in stock for a specific product. In addition, using metrics like quantity sold per day and top products and units sold, WOLFpak can see which products are performing well, helping the company better plan its business roadmap.
\n“With Shopify, we can streamline order fulfillment by doing everything in one place. We have one place to view and organize orders, and buy and print labels. We also like using Shopify to ensure our information is accurate and no fulfillment mistakes are made. We can double check order and shipping details are correct, and use the shipping labels index to see what labels have been purchased and printed, as well as ensure all packages are being delivered by UPS. We want to provide a great delivery experience to our customers, and Shopify helps us do that.” —Michael Henderson, Founder & CEO, WOLFpak
\n\nWith Shopify, we can streamline order fulfillment by doing everything in one place. We have one place to view and organize orders, and buy and print labels. We also like using Shopify to ensure our information is accurate and no fulfillment mistakes are made.
WOLFpak has seen impressive results and is happy to be growing with Shopify. “When I first started my business, I thought about it like building a castle,” says Henderson. “You start with picking the best plot of land for the castle. Shopify was that plot of land. It provided me with the best foundation to build my business empire. It has given me everything I need, each step of the way.”
\nThanks to efficiencies provided by the platform, WOLFpak is able to leverage Shopify’s ecommerce platform, providing one centralized place to handle all of its business operations. In addition, by using UPS through Shopify Shipping, WOLFpak saves $12,000 per month.
\n“What I love about Shopify is that it gives us a great platform to create a website, but takes it beyond that point,” says Henderson. “Shopify gives us all these features that support a business and its growth—from the point of sales channels to the analytics, inventory control, and the bar-coding. It’s everything a business center needs all on one platform. I believe Shopify has it figured out, which keeps us as part of the Shopify family.”
\n\nShopify gives us all these features that support a business and its growth—from the point of sales channels to the analytics, inventory control, and the bar-coding. It’s everything a business center needs all on one platform.
As Henderson has expanded WOLFpak with Shopify, he has seen the power in sharing his own personal story of overcoming challenging times, and he’s proud to provide a brand that inspires others to do the same.
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/case-study-wolfpak
\n"}]},"page_header":{"background":null,"backgroundOpacity":100,"color":null,"fieldGroupName":"page_header","title":"Wolfpak: Shopify Success","opacity":100,"position":"on","size":{"desktop":64,"tablet":null,"mobile":null},"spaces":{"top":null,"bottom":null,"leftright":null,"units":"em"}},"link":"/blog/wolfpak-grows-from-lone-wolf-to-a-pack-of-many-thanks-to-shopify"},{"id":"cG9zdDo1NTM2","title":"How To Build a Martech Stack for Your Business","date":"24.05.2023","schemaDate":"2023-05-24","modifiedGmt":"2023-07-27T07:22:32","slug":"how-to-build-a-martech-stack-for-your-business","acfSchemaPost":{"blogPostingImage":null},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTox","name":"General Articles"}]},"levels":{"nodes":[]},"acfPost":{"fieldGroupName":"acfPost","excerpt":"A tech stack is the set of technology tools used to run your business. For instance, if you run a bakery that accepts credit card payments, your payment processor is part of your tech stack.","squaredImage":{"altText":"How To Build a Martech Stack for Your Business","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#487878","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/b956e/martech_20stack.webp","srcSet":"/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/d1fa5/martech_20stack.webp 750w,\n/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/b956e/martech_20stack.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.4228515625}}}},"metaData":{"title":null,"description":"Learn what a martech stack is and how to build one for your business. Discover the components, including foundational, function-specific, and advanced technologies, and get tips for selecting the right tools and integrating them smoothly. Improve your marketing efforts and achieve your business objectives with an effective martech stack"},"banner":{"title":"How To Build a Martech Stack for Your Business","showTitle":true,"image":{"altText":"How To Build a Martech Stack for Your Business","localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"fullWidth","backgroundColor":"#487878","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/b956e/martech_20stack.webp","srcSet":"/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/d1fa5/martech_20stack.webp 750w,\n/static/d3378755bdb367838200ac2be9365f3c/b956e/martech_20stack.webp 1024w","sizes":"100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1,"height":0.4228515625}}}}},"timeToRead":null,"sections":[{"fieldGroupName":"post_Acfpost_Sections_ArticleRichTextContent","content":"A tech stack is the set of technology tools used to run your business. For instance, if you run a bakery that accepts credit card payments, your payment processor is part of your tech stack.
\nIndividual business units like HR and accounting teams can also have their own tech stacks. Marketing teams use a specialized stack called a martech (marketing technology) stack, and the decisions you make for this stack can be as significant as selecting a hosting service for your website or payment method for your business.
\nIn this article, we’ll show you what a martech stack is, and how to build one.
\nA martech stack—or marketing tech stack—is the combination of tools and platforms you use to support your marketing efforts. The term “stack” refers to the layers of technology working together to achieve marketing goals or objectives. These technologies include platforms that help you manage and optimize your marketing campaigns and strategies, uncover user behavior on your site, and send and track email campaigns. They vary depending on the size and type of business and its specific marketing objectives.
\nMarketing tools like Google Analytics, Klaviyo, Ahrefs, and Zapier are commonly included in martech stacks.
\nA martech stack can be divided into separate levels. The lower part of the stack consists of foundational technologies that support the entire marketing technology infrastructure, whereas the upper part consists of more specialized and targeted tools that perform specific marketing functions. In other words, the lower levels (your stack’s foundation) will impact which tools you select for the upper layers. Therefore, it’s best to consider your stack in three parts: foundational, function-specific, and advanced components. Here’s how they differ:
\nFoundational martech components include the services you use to build and manage your website. They are often the first software you decide on in your marketing tech mix because, through compatibility or integration, they influence what advanced or complementary tools can be added on top of them. For example, content management systems (CMSs) like Shopify and WordPress have a marketplace of integrated plug-ins or apps designed for that CMS. If you need the functionality of a specific plug-in, you’ll need to choose the related CMS.
\nThe two primary foundational martech components are:
\nWhen choosing foundational martech components, marketing often isn’t the only consideration, since these components can impact other business units. For example, your operations team may have specific CMS requirements, such as the ability to edit prices without touching the code.
\nUnlike foundational martech components that impact many areas of your business, function-specific components are designed specifically for marketing tasks. When considering these parts of your martech stack, identify their ability to integrate with the other tools across your stack. Here are examples of function-specific martech components:
\nAdvanced martech components help unify activities across channels and level up existing channels in nuanced and technical ways. Unlike function-specific components, their purpose isn’t to unlock new marketing channels.
\nMost of these tools, which can be technical and costly, are typically used when your business is large enough for a marketing team to manage them. A few examples of these components include:
\nThe right martech stack for your business depends on your business model, marketing strategy, and budget. Consider the following when building your martech stack:
\nTools like BuiltWith.com can help you see the martech stack of companies you admire. Here’s an example of a typical martech stack for an ecommerce business:
\nThere are three key components in a martech stack: foundational, functional, and advanced. Within these categories, there are many individual marketing technologies, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and tag management systems (TMS).
\nThe goal of a martech stack is to enable efficient, effective marketing. The best way to measure martech performance is to calculate your marketing efficiency ratio (MER): your total sales divided by your total marketing costs. A higher MER indicates more efficient marketing operations.
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/martech-stack
\nIt’s a familiar problem in ecommerce: Your online store lets you reach potential clients all over the world, but the lack of a physical location keeps you from interfacing with customers directly. How do you catch the attention of and connect with your audience?
\nA clearly defined brand identity that characterizes all your digital marketing media—executed with the help of branding tools—can help you navigate this dilemma. Here’s an overview of branding tools, plus guidance on selecting the right tools for your online business.
\nTable of Contents
\nBranding tools are software applications that assist you in the task of branding, or the act of creating a distinct look and feel for your business. You can use branding tools to create assets ranging from graphics, logos, video content, and social media content. These tools let you work toward a unified look, sound, and feel across all your platforms, which can promote brand recognition among your target customers.
\nCommonly used types of branding tools include:
\nA well-defined brand helps you cut through a crowded marketplace. Your business may be quite similar to your competitors in terms of products and pricing, but it can stand out if it’s instantly recognizable to your target audience. That’s where branding tools come in. They help you in several ways, including:
\nShopify Logo Maker—Hatchful
\nIf you’re looking for the best free logo maker online, Shopify has got you covered. Trusted by 140,000+ business owners this mobile app for iOS and Android helps you build a brand from scratch.
\nBranding a business takes a concerted effort, and intuitive, easy-to-use branding tools can make the process more efficient. Here are some great tools to help you with various parts of your branding efforts:
\nNo single image will represent your business more than your brand logo. Shopify’s free logo maker offers hundreds of templates for you to customize into a unique logo.
\nOnce you have a logo, you can start featuring it on business cards. Use Shopify’s free business card maker to complete your card design. You’ll pay to print the cards, but the design tool is free to use.
\nVideo branding tools let you create videos and animations with a signature look. Some of these tools can be pricey, but you may be able to address your branding needs with free video editing software.
\nVimeo Create offers a useful free plan that lets you not only create videos but also host and distribute them across the internet. You can upload your own footage and logo and let Vimeo’s AI-powered editor suggest colors, themes, music, and fonts. The platform’s free plan sometimes brackets your videos with ads, so you may choose to upgrade to a paid subscription, starting at $12 per month.
\nWriter is an AI writing tool that creates content for blog posts and marketing. While generative AI may not match human writers in terms of originality and accuracy, the technology can help ensure a consistent application of your brand voice. With Writer’s Styleguide tool, you set guidelines for your company’s prose writing (much like a traditional style guide), and Writer nudges your team to follow these guidelines as they draft new content. This helps ensure that the team’s writing always retains a signature brand voice. Writer offers a free trial, after which you can subscribe to plans starting at $18 per user a month.
\nCreating a signature brand feel goes beyond the syntax of your prose. It also includes colors, fonts, and aesthetic details. Frontify helps you manage all of these, in addition to a prose style guide. This comes in handy as your brand grows, when you may have a wider array of people contributing content, whether that’s an outside marketing agency designing graphics or a freelance writer authoring guest posts for your blog. All of these features come under the umbrella of Frontify’s core product: a shared hub that aligns your team around anything related to branding. You can test out Frontify with a free trial, at which point a Frontify representative will get in touch with pricing options.
\nCreating slogans can be tricky, but Shopify’s free slogan generator can set you on the right path. Provide it with information about your business, plus key terms to include, and it can generate thousands of slogans for your consideration. You can either use one verbatim or tweak it to meet your exact needs.
\nWhether you’re brand new to ecommerce or a longtime industry veteran, you probably send a lot of emails over the course of a week. Ending those emails with a branded signature helps reinforce your brand identity to each recipient. Instead of having each employee create their own email signature, you can design and share a company-wide signature for everyone on your team. Check out HubSpot’s free email signature generator to create one of your own.
\nCanva helps you design visual content to appear just about anywhere—from a website landing page to social media posts to printed brochures. Canva’s free plan is remarkably useful with a drag-and-drop editor and access to over one million free photos and graphics. Paid plans start at $12.99 per month and include advanced graphics tools and one terabyte of cloud storage.
\nWhether it’s for an email newsletter, a social media update, or a product photo for your online store, correct image size supports your branding efforts. Among other things, a properly sized image looks better, helps your website load faster, improves your search engine rankings, and improves the user experience (UX) as people browse your site. Check out Shopify’s free image resizer, and crop your photos and graphics to optimal dimensions.
\nIf you plan on launching a podcast, you may want a signature sound effect or jingle to appear in every episode. You can use Storyblocks to find royalty-free music and sound effects. You can also scale up and hire a composer or sound designer to create sounds and music unique to your company. Storyblock subscriptions start at $15 per month, but you get unlimited downloads when you scale up to a $30 per month subscription.
\nGet your free branding worksheet
\nDevelop your brand’s look, language, and marketing strategy to create a brand your audiences will love with our free branding template.
\nChoosing the right branding tools will hinge on two factors: the scope of your business and your budget. Depending on your marketing strategy, you may want to use branding tools to support image generation or video content creation. Or, you may choose to keep things simple and just use a logo generator to start. If you’re on a budget, check out Shopify’s free business tools, which include tools for custom branding.
\nYou can use most of today’s website branding tools without any prior coding knowledge. Many employ drag-and-drop editors and customizable templates, which makes content creation simple and intuitive.
\nEcommerce entrepreneurs use branding tools to ensure they maintain a consistent brand identity across all platforms. For instance, you can create a business logo using a custom logo creation tool and then apply that logo to all aspects of your online presence from your website to your social media profile. You can also use style guides to make sure that your written content has a unified voice, or an audio branding tool to make sure that any recorded content features the same signature sounds.
\nThe key components of branding are a logo, color scheme, fonts, written brand voice, sounds, graphics, and video animations. You’ll also want a brand story to communicate your brand’s reason for being. The idea is to keep all of these elements consistent throughout your marketing materials so people intuitively associate them with your business.
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/branding-tools
\nSocial selling uses trust built through personal connections to sell products or services. The industry has pivoted to the digital realm, and most social selling now relies on social media platforms to create that trusting, organic connection with potential customers.
\nEffective social sales means engaging in actual conversations with potential customers and business partners, either in person or via the web. As you build trust and establish relationships, you can eventually move the customer through the sales funnel toward lead generation and a successful deal.
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Social selling is a sales process that uses social media platforms to build relationships with potential customers, with the eventual goal of selling products or services to them. It relies on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to engage with prospects, provide them with valuable content, and establish trust and credibility. This is different compared to traditional advertising that focuses on pushing products to customers by highlighting their benefits or how they solve a problem.
\nSocial selling builds relationships and provides value to potential customers before asking them to buy. Social sellers who invest in this relationship-building process increase their chances of converting prospects into customers and ultimately driving more sales.
\nSocial selling offers key benefits to sellers promoting a professional brand or their own personal brand.
\nTrust forms the basis of dealmaking and the sales process—people want to do deals with someone they trust. Communicating with your customers and building a personal relationship with them establishes a baseline of trust so they feel comfortable with you and, by extension, with buying your product or service.
\nFor example, when selling with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you can build a community around you and your company that gives people a sense of belonging (however big or small).
\nSocial selling doesn’t aim for impulse purchases. It steadily and progressively builds relationships with potential clients, and it maintains those relationships after they become paying customers.
\nFor instance, the online audio retailer Sweetwater assigns each customer to a “sales engineer” who periodically sends emails to check in, and who always follows up a purchase with a direct note of thanks. This has led to substantial repeat business for the company.
\nWhen a company commits to social listening and robust dialogue with customers, it learns a lot about what motivates those customers. In this regard, social selling is not only a sales technique but also a market research technique. Even if a social interaction does not yield a sale, it can still provide the company with valuable information about customer wishes and interests. Companies can use this information to shape future marketing campaigns, develop new product designs, and refine product descriptions.
\nSocial selling largely takes place via online social network platforms. And choosing the social media selling platforms for you comes down to an honest self-assessment of your brand.
\nFacebook and Twitter are big for salespeople, given their emphasis on discussion. Instagram and TikTok reach younger audiences, while LinkedIn is great for networking in the professional world. Reddit and YouTube comment threads often draw enthusiasts with deep knowledge of a topic, or those looking to learn.
\nSome of the main social selling platforms to consider include:
\nLinkedIn is a B2B platform, where people refine their personal brands to pitch themselves as employees or business partners. It features a proprietary tool called the LinkedIn Sales Navigator that helps you target business customers. It also gives you a Social Selling Index, LinkedIn’s proprietary profiling tool. It’s a great platform for social selling to a business audience, ideal for promoting your business services, digital products for professionals, and other relevant offerings.
\nThere are many ways to sell on Instagram, as well as use the channel to connect with customers and build relationships. It’s visually driven, so you’ll need to be prepared to post photo and video content to your feed and Stories. Overall, it’s an excellent platform for social selling because it has a massive base of engaged users. In fact, more than 500 million Instagram users browse the app on a daily basis, making it home to one of the most engaged audiences around. Plus, you can open an Instagram Shop to make sales directly within the app.
\nRelated:
\nTikTok’s unique algorithm offers social sellers the opportunity to go viral, quickly. It’s not just videos and memes that go viral on TikTok—products go viral too, and often sell out in a matter of days. While TikTok’s own ecommerce strategy isn’t as advanced as other social media platforms, like Instagram, it’s quickly becoming more refined, including through a prominent partnership with Shopify. Companies can tap into a younger market by using TikTok to track and engage with viral trends, and leverage that to make viral content of their own.
\nFacebook is a great channel for selling products on social media. Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users browse the social media site to discover new brands and products. The company has tapped into this trend with Facebook Shops, its own native ecommerce platform, making Facebook a one-stop shop for learning about and acquiring a product.
\nLearn more: The 11-Step Guide to Facebook Marketing for Ecommerce
\nFacebook is also known for lengthy discussions in its comment threads, including those by product enthusiasts sharing their experiences on a brand’s official Facebook page. Lengthy, substantive discussions naturally foster social engagement and are a key facet of social selling.
\nTwitter is an influential discussion forum, especially for customer service. Many social sellers use Twitter marketing to monitor mentions, respond to customer service queries, and take extra care to take action on negative feedback.
\n\nTwitter hasn’t invested in ecommerce to the same degree as Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram), so brands use it more for product discussions and fielding feedback. Plus, its future is uncertain after Elon Musk acquired the platform.
\nYouTube offers many options to make money, social selling being one of them. While you can’t sell on YouTube directly, it’s an important promotional channel and outlet to connect with shoppers. Many major brands create a YouTube channel where they showcase products and provide useful content to interest their customer base. Successfully marketing on YouTube requires effective videos, authentic engagement with your audience, and general-purpose information. Over time, the sales will come organically.
\nAs you embark upon your own social selling campaign, remember what distinguishes social selling from traditional advertising—it’s that trusting connection. Here are some social selling best practices and tips to keep in mind:
\nIf you want potential shoppers to not only trust but also respect your business, it’s time to get professional. This includes making your venture “official”—by way of business registration, incorporation, and even building out a digital presence. Research any required business licenses or relevant industry certifications.
\nOnce you’ve got the paperwork filed, build and maintain a website that’s cohesive with the rest of your online presence and brand. And always remember to provide prompt, respectful communication to your customers.
\nLinkedIn pioneered a tool called the Social Selling Index, or SSI, which measures social selling success and relationship building based on four broad criteria. Using that tool and this guide you can check your social selling index score. Whether you use its tool or not, these guidelines can help you create a unique and successful social selling campaign.
\nA key advantage of social selling is that you connect with customers who genuinely care about your product (if you’re promoting a professional brand) or your core competencies (if you’re promoting a personal brand). The most self-aware and efficient social sellers hone in on the people who seem truly engaged, and they don’t bother with uninterested people who are unlikely to turn into paying customers.
\nWith a tool like Shopify Audiences, you can ensure you’re putting your ads in front of the right buyers. Shopify’s unique insights from commerce data help you create custom audience lists to make better targeting decisions.
\n\nIn case you haven’t picked up on the theme here, trust is the cornerstone to successful social selling. It’s important to engage in genuine conversations and listen to potential customers about their needs and current pain points, using those interactions to foster authentic relationships.
\nAside from showing up authentically in all your interactions, you can try the following to help build and strengthen your customer relationships:
\nMany online platforms offer social selling tools that steer companies toward their presumed customer base. These tools involve lead generation and a statistical breakdown of who is visiting your pages. LinkedIn reports that social selling tools can make a big impact on company-customer connections—62% of B2B buyers responded favorably to salespeople who knew something about them, including business model, objectives, and pain points.
\nSocial selling tools are not limited to the native functions of a platform. Other companies, including Salesforce, Hootsuite, and Amplify, have tools that let businesses easily communicate with customers on a variety of platforms. These tools are particularly useful for communicating with a unified message so a recipient gets the same experience whether via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or email.
\nWhether you’re promoting a professional brand or your own personal brand, it helps to begin your interactions with social listening. This means paying attention to online conversations to hear what people are saying about your product, noting customer pain points or things they love about your company, and building your messaging around that. You can engage in these conversations and answer people’s questions, but don’t launch into salesperson mode. The goal is to have authentic discussions, not to put on a hard sell.
\nThere are many ways and places to listen to your customers. Here are some ideas:
\nMost social networks provide robust analytical insight. You can use these insights to identify the types of people who engage with your profiles, which content they like, and which posts and ads they’re clicking on. Top social sellers use these insights to inform and refine their messaging and outreach.
\nSocial selling is an excellent way to build relationships, promote your brand, and drive sales. However, it’s important to be strategic and professional in your approach. Engage with customers, listen to them, and make a plan to reap sufficient rewards as time passes.
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