About This Column
This monthly column on Online Business Canada is intended to inspire action. You know digital transformation is critical to growing your business, but there are so many moving parts and so much to learn! It’s easier to navigate if someone points you in the right direction so you can take the first steps. You don’t have to master anything right now, you only need to move forward and learn as you go.
If one growth tip doesn’t work for your business, pick another one and try that. If you do that over the course of a year, you may be surprised at how much your business has grown and how clear your path is to further growth. A custom strategy will naturally emerge from your efforts, all from trying something new every month.
Content for this column will vary from month to month. We’ll cover what’s trending, motivation, tools, diversification, funding, actionable Canadian data, expert quotes, and how & where to grow your business online over the following month. New posts will be announced in our newsletter, so sign up to ensure you don’t miss a single month of growth.
Grow Your Canadian Small Business Online in June
Summer shows up in June, both on the calendar and outside. Consumers are busy having fun and that can mean slow sales, but it doesn’t have to be that way. These bite-size tips reveal fast ways to grow your Canadian small business online this month.
[DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
TIP 1: Consistent Growth Through Customer Loyalty
Customer retention and repeat purchases are always critical for businesses that want a healthy bottom line, but it’s even more important in an unstable economy and evolving search environment. Fortunately, from apps to influencers, brands are enjoying spectacular success in bringing their brand management into the online world. Nowhere is that more true than in brand loyalty generation.
Loyal, repeat customers can be a brand’s most valuable asset, insurance, and competitive advantage. The result is a customer journey that’s automatically steered towards your business, often bypassing the discovery stage (and your competitors) entirely. It tips the scales in your favour each and every time that customer goes shopping within your niche.
What are the Top Marketing Strategies to Build Customer Loyalty & Advocacy?
- User-Generated Content (UGC) & Influencer Marketing
- Gamification & Interactive Experiences
- Email Personalization & Customization
- Loyalty Programs
- Purpose-Driven Marketing
Using marketing strategies to build and maintain customer loyalty (and encourage advocacy) can be the difference between being part of the customer journey, and owning it. Learn more in Brand Management: Top 5 Strategies to Build Customer Loyalty.
TIP 2: The Latest AI Tools for Ecommerce Growth
In 2025, staying competitive in online retail means embracing AI tools for ecommerce that streamline operations, optimize marketing, and elevate customer experiences. Whether you run a dropshipping store or manage a global ecommerce brand, AI tools for ecommerce are revolutionizing how online businesses operate.
Following are the top five ways AI is being used for ecommerce in 2025, according to Statista:
- Marketing automation (48.90%)
- Virtual agents or chatbots (31%)
- Data analytics (29%)
- Natural language processing (21%)
- Text analytics (20%)
AI tools for ecommerce bring automation, data intelligence, and personalization into every aspect of online retail. Ecommerce brands that have adopted these AI tools for ecommerce are already seeing higher profits, reduced workload, and an increased level of customer satisfaction.
Get started with the 7 Best AI Tools for Ecommerce & Dropshipping Stores.
TIP 3: Optimize Summer Ad Revenue
Whether it’s affiliate advertisers or private sponsorship, focusing on summer themes and categories can bring in traffic and increase advertising revenue. For example, we offset the “summer slump” on business-to-consumer (B2C) sites by focusing on ads in travel, home cooling, gardening, outdoor living, and activities for kids. On business-to-business (B2B) sites, we go to that site’s customer avatar and ask ourselves how their business needs change in summer.
Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few advertisers, contact their affiliate/ad managers and ask them what their best selling products are during a typical summer. Then, create content or marketing funnels that are specifically designed to promote those products. It’s an impactful way to come up with profitable content.
Steal some ideas from The Best Affiliate Program Categories for Sizzling Summer Sales.
TIP 4: Boost Ad Revenue with Affiliate Marketing
You don’t have to be an affiliate marketer to generate revenue from affiliate programs. Any business with a website can add advertisers in complimentary categories to boost their bottom line.
Publishers who make the most money with affiliate marketing put in a lot of thought, time & effort to promote their brand partners and increase conversions.
Here’s how top affiliate marketers earn more with affiliate marketing:
- Promote Local/National Businesses
- Add AI Tools
- Create Exceptional Content That Sells
- Participate in Collaboration Opportunities
- Choose High-Commission Products
- Stay Engaged with Affiliate Marketing Managers
- Start and Grow an Email List
- Tune Into Your Ideal Customer’s Trends & Challenges
- Extra Effort
We go into all of that in more detail in How You Can Make MORE Money From Affiliate Marketing.
TIP 5: Get Your Press Releases Onto Top Blogs
Press releases are still being written and used in the same way they have been for decades. Out here in the digital world, they aren’t reaching their full potential.
When most marketing departments think of working with popular bloggers, they envision sponsored posts, reviews, and influencer marketing tactics. When it comes to press releases, they send out standard news in their usual format. By doing so, they’re missing an opportunity to be published on hundreds of blogs, free of charge.
You can tap into blog publicity with press releases, but traditional press releases for news outlets rarely do the trick unless it’s truly news their readers will be interested in. Everything they post must add value and engage their readers. Your press release should be considered a hybrid of a press release X guest post. Include information that will help and engage their readers, like tips or statistics, and more blogs will pick it up.
Learn How to Get More Bloggers to Publish Your Press Release.
TIP 6: June Content
Grow your traffic, grow your business! Timely content can differentiate your business while generating traffic that converts.
Note: We post a list of holidays & observances (monthly, weekly and daily) for marketers in the Online Business Canada Facebook group. There’s a lot of them! You’re bound to find some that are a perfect fit for you business.
Here are just a few June holidays & observances:
Audiobook Appreciation Month
Camping Month
Candy Month
Disaster Preparedness Month
Entrepreneurs “Do It Yourself” Marketing Month
Homeownership Month
Men’s Health Education & Awareness Month
Professional Wellness Month
Aquarium Month
June content themes and slants can include summer, growth, change, warmth, travel/camping, and the outdoors. Father’s Day is on June 15th, 2025. June Solstice is on June 20th.
TIP 7: Business Books Worth Reading
Here we share quick quotes from business books we’re reading to help your knowledge grow with your business.
“Maintain brand relevance. Brands face three threats: fewer customers buying what the brand offers, emerging reasons not to buy, and losing energy. Detecting and responding to each requires an in-depth knowledge of the market, strategic agility, a willingness to invest, creative programs, and sometimes risking by trying the new and dramatic.” ~ David Aaker in Aaker on Branding: The Playbook to Building Strong Brands, 2nd edition.
Incremental Change
Changes spread out over the year will combine into powerful results. When growth based on technology overwhelms us, we can make small changes to continue growing and develop further as we feel our way through it.
How will you grow your online business in June? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
For weekly inspiration, insights, tips, and resources, sign up for the Online Business Canada newsletter!
7 Recession Proof Online Businesses To Start From Home
Expert help to choose, start, and run a successful online business!
“Almost 200 pages of pure gold…”
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DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Our content is provided for informational purposes only and does not guarantee results.
Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business/marketing education and enhanced by training and mentorship. She has owned or managed both educational and ecommerce websites. Her book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home, is available from all major ebook retailers.
Melody has worked with many businesses in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadianDigitalMedia.com, CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net, and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.
Time to step up my game……the year is almost half over! I’m looking for marketing tips to help now that %^$@#^(%^ Google & AI have cut everyone’s traffic to pre-SEO days. I hope someone comes up with an actually working way to search the internet without putting people out of business, stealing their content or demanding crazy ad prices. 🙁