ORIGINAL REDDIT POST
Best way to advertise B2C
Hello all! My small business is Zorpads. Zorpads are small, stick in place shoe inserts that stop shoe odor. I have manufacturing down and I am making all products in my warehouse by myself ! I want to get some advice on how and where you would advertise the…
Hello all! My small business is Zorpads. Zorpads are small, stick in place shoe inserts that stop shoe odor. I have manufacturing down and I am making all products in my warehouse by myself ! I want to get some advice on how and where you would advertise the product. I would like more eyeballs on the product because I think it’s a product everyone potentially could use in their shoes! What strategies have worked for you ? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Collected discussion
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What’s the best way to approach your shoe store just give free samples for them to test in their store or charge them?
Always give samples to store owners. It's part of your marketing/promotional budget. You also need to develop a simple display box/sign to explain/sell product to shoppers and make sure packaging is clear. You can offer no risk trials to stores. One box of 24 (for racks or in display box) to try, payment due in 30 days or at reorder time.
Shoe stores?
I’d avoid positioning it as “everyone with shoes” at the start, even if that’s technically true. Broad products usually get easier to advertise when you pick one narrow, painful use case first. For something odor-related, I’d test angles like: nurses, restaurant staff, warehouse workers, and other people on their feet all day parents buying for kids’ sports bags/cleats gym-goers who keep shoes in a locker or car travelers packing worn shoes in luggage people who already buy foot powder, sprays, or replacement insoles The ad should probably show the problem quickly rather than explain the product first: shoe comes off, odor moment, insert goes in, shoe/bag/locker situation is better. Simple demo beats polished branding here. I’d start with small paid tests on Meta/TikTok using 3–5 different customer situations, not 3–5 versions of the same generic ad. Watch which situation gets saves, comments, and cheap add-to-carts. Then build around the winner. Offline could work too, but I’d keep it targeted: local gyms, running stores, dance studios, youth sports teams, shoe repair shops, or podiatrists. A tiny sample/trial pack near the exact moment someone is thinking about shoe odor will teach you more than broad awareness ads.
Instagram should be a place to start since shoe inserts are visual products. Try it out with different formats until one starts converting much more than the others. Then focus only on the one that converts and discard the rest for the early part of your product's growth.