In the ever-evolving world of e-commerce, having a great product and a slick website is only part of the equation. Success hinges on mastering the art of marketing.
Welcome to our comprehensive guide where we dive deep into the most potent e-commerce marketing strategies nowadays. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur looking to make waves online or a seasoned e-commerce pro aiming to refine your tactics, our insights will light the way to your success.
Contents
What Is Ecommerce Marketing Strategy?
Ecommerce marketing strategy refers to activities that aim to drive traffic to a brand. Normally, these tactics are intended to increase brand exposure and sales.
Customers can’t buy your products if they don’t know you. Ecommerce marketing strategy is the main method of attracting customers, introducing products, and generating cash flow to help companies survive. Without a strategy, your business will soon be out of the game.
In addition, online marketing campaigns have a lot of metrics to help businesses evaluate their effectiveness. Thanks to those data, you can set KPIs for each campaign more efficiently, thereby detecting immediately when campaigns are ineffective.
In short, marketing is an inseparable part of eCommerce!
11 Kick Ass Ecommerce Marketing Strategies You Can Try
In this section, we will explore the best eCommerce marketing strategies that have proven to be game-changers for businesses of all sizes.
1. Email Marketing
When trends come and go, one channel has stood the test of time and continues to reign supreme: email marketing. It remains one of the most potent tools at your disposal for driving sales and nurturing repeat customers.
Email is an “owned” digital marketing channel, providing senders with full control over content and distribution. It thrives when used to transmit personal, pertinent messages to segmented recipient lists.
The key to unlocking the potential of email marketing doesn’t stop at amassing a list of email addresses. Instead, it hinges on the consistent delivery of valuable content to your subscribers. Email marketing’s enduring effectiveness can be attributed to its ability to foster meaningful engagement over the long term.
To resonate most effectively with your audience, your emails should be more than mere notifications; they should be personalized and valuable. Take the opportunity to infuse your emails with a personal touch, offering not just promotions but a chance to socialize and connect on a deeper level.
2. SMS Marketing
One of the remarkable aspects of SMS marketing is its universal appeal. Regardless of age or generation, from young tech-savvy Zoomers to seasoned Boomers, everyone is well-versed in the art of texting.
Moreover, a text message feels personal—it’s akin to a conversation with a friend rather than a transactional exchange. The simplicity and authenticity of text messaging make it an immensely practical and appealing channel.
SMS marketing for eCommerce brands isn’t just about sending messages; it’s about implementing a well-thought-out strategy. When executed correctly, this channel has the potential to supercharge your revenue, often by multiples.
While you can send various types of text messages to customers, maintaining brand consistency is crucial. It’s essential to align your SMS content with your brand’s identity and values. Equally important is pacing your messages; avoid inundating your audience with too many texts in a short span.
Some of the most effective SMS messages include conversational ones (where a customer initiates contact for information), personalized birthday or anniversary messages, and updates about reward programs.
3. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has firmly established itself as a vital marketing channel for eCommerce brands, and it’s easy to see why.
In today’s digital age, influencers have risen to stardom as internet celebrities. They’re reshaping the way eCommerce brands reach their audiences. Influencer marketing involves collaborating with these digital trendsetters, compensating them with free products, cash, or discounts, in exchange for promoting your brand and products.
This strategy boasts high engagement rates and excels in strategically targeting online audiences. Whether you’re a retail giant or a new eCommerce player, influencer marketing offers an efficient path to achieving your marketing goals.
The real strength of influencer marketing lies in its ability to leverage the credibility of influencers. This trust often translates into the audience’s willingness to try a new brand for the first time and, more importantly, to become returning, loyal customers.
4. Content Marketing
In the dynamic world of eCommerce, content marketing isn’t just an option; it’s a must-have strategy. It involves consistently creating valuable content to connect with customers and boost your visibility.
Effective eCommerce content marketing isn’t just about producing content; it’s about strategically guiding customers through their buying journey to maximize online sales. This means integrating valuable content at every touchpoint and ensuring potential buyers can access the information they need across various channels.
In eCommerce, visual content takes center stage. Buyers want to see what they’re buying, often in great detail. Visual content, such as images and videos, holds more significance in this sector compared to many others.
Successful content marketing is a long-term commitment. You should identify channels where you can consistently produce content. Options include:
- Blogs: Ideal for sharing lists, guides, and thought leadership for audiences at all stages of the buyer’s journey.
- Podcast: Connect with your audience on a personal level or build a vibrant community.
- YouTube: Showcase your expertise and humanize your brand through video content.
- Instagram: Connect with a wider social media audience through bite-sized stories or longer Reels.
- LinkedIn: A platform focused on business connections and ideal for reaching industry professionals.
- TikTok: An increasingly popular platform among younger audiences, offering unique content discovery opportunities.
5. SEO
In the fiercely competitive world of eCommerce, securing a prominent place in search engine results is quite a big deal. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the key to ensuring that your product pages shine in the search results of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
SEO stands out as the low-hanging fruit that offers high returns. It boasts one of the most impressive returns on investment among all the eCommerce marketing strategies. Surprisingly, many online stores are designed with little regard for search engines. Instead, they rely heavily on social media and paid advertising, which can yield results but require ongoing time and financial investments.
SEO primarily demands an initial investment of effort and expertise. Once your eCommerce site climbs the search engine ranks, it becomes a self-sustaining engine for sales, needing little effort to maintain. It’s the digital storefront that operates on autopilot, consistently attracting organic traffic and transforming curious visitors into loyal customers.
6. Social Media Marketing
To maximize the impact of social media marketing, eCommerce businesses should establish an organic presence on platforms that are relevant to their target audience. This may include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Snapchat, among others.
When it comes to generating buzz, there’s no better marketing channel than social media. It’s the perfect stage to promote your new store, products, services, events, or promotions.
The mantra here is simple: “Post early, and post often.” This approach helps you gain traction, test what resonates with your audience, and build a loyal following. Consistency in posting not only keeps your audience engaged but also ensures you’re aligned with your social media strategy.
Maintaining a consistent tone and personality for your company across social media is very important. This consistency is the bedrock upon which trust is built with your audience.
7. Paid Ads
Paid advertising involves the practice of delivering paid messages through various channels, including social media, search engines, and online publishing sites, all with the goal of driving online product sales. Brands, in this case, act as advertisers, paying for placement, impressions, and clicks
Below are different ways that you can utilize paid ads:
- Paid Search (PPC): Paid search advertising, commonly known as pay-per-click (PPC), is when a brand pays for a sponsored listing on search engines like Google or online marketplaces such as Amazon. It’s a direct way to put your products in front of potential customers actively searching for them.
- Paid Social: Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube offer a diverse array of options for paid advertising. These ads can vary in type, format, content, visuals, and target audiences.
- Native Advertising: Native advertising takes the form of paid content seamlessly integrated into publisher sites. These can include articles, infographics, videos, and other content that blends naturally with the platform, making them less intrusive and more engaging for the audience.
- Display Advertising: Display advertising involves brands showcasing their products on a publisher’s website or app using a display format. These advertisements can include text, images, video, and even audio files. Brands can employ platforms like Google Ads or establish partnerships with affiliates to manage their display ads.
- Podcast Advertising: Podcast advertising offers two main avenues. Programmatic audio involves placing ads within podcast content, while host-read ads involve the podcast host personally endorsing the product during the show.
8. Loyalty Program
Ecommerce loyalty programs are the secret sauce behind nurturing and celebrating the most valuable asset of any online store—their loyal customers.
A robust rewards program is designed to both encourage and reward repeat business. It offers an array of benefits such as points accumulation, discounts, free shipping, exclusive shopping days, member-only perks, and more. These incentives keep customers engaged and excited about your brand and products.
At the heart of loyalty programs lies a powerful principle: reciprocity. You reward your customers for choosing your brand, and in return, they reciprocate with their unwavering loyalty. The ultimate goal is to become the go-to merchant for your customers, where they instinctively turn to your store whenever they need a product.
However, achieving this level of customer loyalty requires consistent cultivation, and loyalty programs are the most effective tool in your arsenal. They provide the structure and motivation needed to transform occasional shoppers into lifelong, dedicated customers.
9. Personalization
In the fiercely competitive world of ecommerce, personalization is a game-changer. It’s all about customizing online shopping experiences for each customer based on their unique preferences, behaviors, and demographics.
By delivering relevant content, product recommendations, and offers, personalization aims to boost customer satisfaction, engagement, and conversion rates, creating a shopping journey that feels tailor-made.
The magic of personalization lies in predicting what customers want before they ask for it. By doing so, brands cultivate loyalty and improve the overall customer experience.
Understanding where and what your customers want to buy helps you tailor their interactions with your brand. Personalization entices customers to engage because it shows them what they want, how they want it.
Personalization also takes cross-selling and up-selling to the next level. Cross-selling suggests complementary products based on past behavior, while up-selling recommends premium versions. By using accurate customer data for personalized recommendations, you drive more purchases and enhance the shopping experience.
10. Retargeting
The reality is that the majority of people who land on your website won’t make an immediate purchase. But that’s perfectly normal! Many visitors are in research mode, comparing prices, seeking product details, or simply enjoying the act of virtual window shopping. Your goal with retargeting is to reconnect with these visitors rather than starting from scratch with entirely new customers.
Retargeting deploys a variety of tools, including ads, emails, and SMS messages, to re-engage past visitors and potential customers. Sometimes it’s a gentle reminder that your brand is still here, ready to serve them. Other times, it’s a tempting offer. But the end goal remains the same: winning back those customers who came close to making a purchase but didn’t seal the deal.
In today’s noisy digital landscape, standing out is key. A great retargeting ad rises above the noise by being relevant. Ensuring your retargeting message resonates with your audience is crucial, as irrelevant messages are often dismissed as spam.
You might wonder, “How can I personalize every message individually?” The answer lies in segmentation. By categorizing your customers into smaller groups, you can tailor your messages to match their specific needs. Start by understanding the different types of customers you have and where they are on their journey with your brand.
11. Conversion Rate Optimization
For e-commerce retailers, the ultimate goal is conversions – turning site visitors into paying customers. It’s a strategic approach that aims to increase the percentage of website visitors who take specific actions. By enhancing your site and removing sales barriers, conversion rate optimization (CRO) creates a seamless shopping experience that boosts conversions.
It’s important to note that conversions can vary across different businesses. While it often refers to product purchases, it can also include actions like adding items to a cart, joining an email list, or sharing content on social media. The key is crafting effective messages that guide potential customers toward desired actions.
Throughout the journey of optimizing conversion rates, flexibility is crucial. If a particular approach isn’t working, research and adaptability become your allies. Testing plays a pivotal role, allowing you to refine your strategies and align them with your customer base and business goals.
6 Pro Tips For A Successful Ecommerce Marketing Strategy
Crafting a winning marketing strategy is a blend of art and science. These insights will serve as your compass, guiding you toward a successful e-commerce marketing strategy that drives growth, engagement, and customer loyalty.
1. Impress customers with your website
For direct businesses, the store is their face. A clean, beautiful, and impressively decorated store will definitely catch customers’ eyes.
The same works for online marketing. Remember that most marketing activities will gradually bring users to the website. All purchases, sales, and payments will take place here. Therefore, a quality website is a decisive factor in customers’ purchase decisions.
A standard online store needs to meet design and performance requirements. More specifically, it needs to show the brand’s personality and have a beautiful, eye-catching design.
On the other hand, the website’s performance also needs improvement. A web with high speed, no errors, and no broken links will retain customers better than websites that do not meet these factors.
2. Real-time personalized and time-limited voucher
Many studies prove that people are more interested in what relates to their individuality than just general content.
Therefore, personalized vouchers can make customers feel cared for and noticed. Such utilities are like telling customers that they are special.
Many types of promotions like this are being used by businesses, such as women’s day sales, first 100 person priority, etc. These are all typical eCommerce marketing examples of customized vouchers.
Also, the offers should be within a limited time. This limitation will make the customer feel rushed, boosting the customer’s buying decision process. It can even create a sense of pride when owning favorite goods with a particular cost. As a result, regrets after buying will decrease, and brand love will increase.
3. Increase traffic from social media
You can get more customers by building an online presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and the like.
These social networks are often perfect for interacting with customers constantly if they forget about the brand. Brands’ daily posts on Facebook and Instagram will help maintain your touchpoints with customers. Videos on TikTok and YouTube will help you make a stronger impression on your users. From there, the connection between users and you will be tighter.
In addition, advertising on social networking platforms also makes it easy to attract customers’ attention. Then draw this attention to your website and convince them of your excellent product and limited-time offers.
4. Write about what your customers care
There’s more chance to attract customers with an excellent blog SEO strategy. The key is to target what customers care about and bring them into your writing.
Firstly it’s recommended to carry out keyword research. Estimate the number of customers that can be reached through keyword searches. Imagine just 30% of your articles to the top of Google, surely the ability to reach thousands of people is possible.
You can open a blog to share experiences related to your product or provide a user guide. Each blog post will have a different keyword ranked by search engines. Also, interact with your blog readers/customers to make them feel more connected to your brand.
5. Invest in eCommerce marketing automation
Several small shops have an erroneous assessment of the need for eCommerce marketing tools. Many people feel this is waste and superfluous. They don’t want to cut their budget while spending a little more time running the campaign themselves.
However, the reality is precisely the opposite. Automated marketing tools help reduce the workload and increase sales and customer care efficiency. Businesses that know how to utilize available tools can take the lead in understanding and connecting with their customers.
You can make a revenue ten times higher than currently with quality tools. The most common tools for e-commerce marketing strategy are Google Analytics, Google Ads, Semrush, Ahrefs, etc.
6. Find your companion
Another tip is to look for an eCommerce marketing company to be your companion in solving marketing-related issues for your business. They have an optimized process to fix every problem.
Find the one with suitable services and budgets for your business. Set a revenue KPI or lead in marketing activities (e.g., SEO, ads, etc.). This is commonly one of these companies’ eCommerce marketing services.
Bottom Line
Along with online business growth, eCommerce marketing strategy has also become more necessary for business owners. An effective campaign can lead thousands of customers to your online store every day.
However, don’t forget that no matter how many customers you drive to your store, it won’t work if your website can’t afford to convert. Therefore, invest a reasonable amount of money and effort in building your store. If you are a non-technical person, you can consider the eCommerce services of Tigren – a reliable website development agency.
We hope this article was helpful to you! Thanks for reading!
Read More:
Is Ecommerce Email Marketing Still Effective?
How To Reduce Marketing Costs While Still Approaching More Customers?
Trending E-commerce Marketing Strategies To Liven Up Your Online Store
