(1) Search engine optimization and Google ads.
The most important online promotion methods for foreign trade e-commerce are search engine optimization and keyword bidding ranking. Guo Quji, one of the four founders of Google China, special assistant to the president of Google China, and current CEO of LightInTheBox, is very proficient in search engine optimization and is a recognized search engine genius. It can be said that in the early development of LightInTheBox, LightInTheBox’s rapid growth was largely due to its strong advantages in search engine optimization and keyword bidding ranking.
(2) Social network community marketing.
LightInTheBox attaches great importance to the use of social marketing tools such as SNS and BBS, which is LightInTheBox’s biggest advantage. In this set of technologies, the most core competitive one is social network community marketing. In short, LightInTheBox’s product information will appear directly on Facebook (the world’s most well-known social network service website), Twitter (the world’s most well-known microblog website), LinkedIn (a social network service website for business customers) and many other social network communities. This type of marketing is very different from the traditional website advertising model. It is a new “silent” advertising form with more interactions, better results and lower costs.
(3) Website Alliance.
Linghtinthebox has established a website affiliate program (Affiliate Program). Through the affiliate program, Linghtin provides partners with content and tools to attract visits. When users enter the Linghtinthebox website through the affiliate website and purchase goods, the partners will receive a certain percentage of sales commission. In addition, Linghtinthebox also provides partners with an agent franchise program, from which agent sales can get kickbacks.
According to statistics from Internet data research organization Hitwise, in March 2013, among the visits to www.linghtinthebox.com in North America, more than 45% of the traffic came from Google, followed by the social networking site Facebook, which brought it about 3% of the traffic, and other websites including eBay, Yahoo! Search, Bing, Ask, Yahoo! Mail, Amazon, etc., which brought it about 2% of the traffic.