Ecommerce has seen a huge shift in recent years. The old days of simply having an online store are long gone, and now it’s time to expand your digital marketing strategy.
In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of ecommerce digital marketing strategies for businesses, as well as provide you with 10 tips that will take your business to the next level.
What is an Ecommerce Digital Marketing Strategy?
An ecommerce digital marketing strategy is a plan of action that businesses follow to help bring in more customers and increase revenue.
This type of marketing can be both online and offline, but it usually involves using the internet (and its various digital tools) as a way to get your company’s name out there while also engaging potential prospects.
The overall goal is to use digital marketing to become more visible, build trust with users, and ultimately increase sales.
Now that you’re familiar with these excellent strategies, you have to make a plan in order to maximize sales!
Why is Ecommerce Marketing Important?
If you’re looking to grow your business, then ecommerce marketing is a must. It can help you attract new customers and increase conversion rates. In addition, ecommerce marketing is a great way to reach more people than you would with traditional marketing methods.
It means you can connect with customers all over the world, no matter where they are! This was simply not possible before the arrival of digital marketing. As such, there is no limit to how large your ecommerce company can grow.
How Can I Get Started with Ecommerce Marketing?
The best way to get started with eCommerce marketing is to create a strategy. This involves understanding your goals and determining the tactics that will help you achieve them. Once you have a strategy in place, you can start implementing it and track your progress. The key is to constantly test and measure your results.
The Best Ecommerce Digital Marketing Strategies
There are many strategies a business can implement, but a few stand out from the rest. The following are some of the best ecommerce digital marketing strategies to help you grow your online store:
1.) Use social media advertising to attract qualified leads
Social media advertising has become the most effective way to drive traffic, leads, and sales for ecommerce businesses.
With social media ad platforms like Instagram, Facebook Ads, or Google AdWords, you can target your ideal customer based on age group, gender, location, etc.
This allows you to get in front of people who are more likely to convert into customers and as a result, increase your ROI.
An ecommerce digital marketing strategy that incorporates social media advertising is essential for businesses looking to grow and expand their reach online.
2.) Use shoppable content on Instagram to boost sales
Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, with over 800 million monthly users as of 2018.
The majority of these people use Instagram to scroll through their feed and discover new content from brands or influencers they follow.
Because there are so many posts on a person’s newsfeed at any given time, most users will skip over the majority of content without fully engaging with it.
Shoppable or clickable images are proven to be more effective than simply uploading a photo because they encourage user interaction. This is especially true for ecommerce businesses that rely on social media advertising strategies like Instagram Ads, which can help increase conversions and sales when used correctly.
Using shoppable content on Instagram is a great way for ecommerce businesses to drive sales and engage their target audience.
3.) Use Google Shopping ads for increased visibility
Google Shopping Ads are a great way to gain more exposure for your ecommerce business.
You can target search queries that are related to the products you sell, as well as set bids based on how much you’re willing to spend.
By spending money upfront and bidding strategically, Google Shopping ads ensure that your company is always the first result to appear when someone searches for a product.
This ensures that people looking to make a purchase will be able to find your company and products, which can lead directly to increased conversions and sales.
4.) Ensure your website is optimized for mobile shoppers
Mobile users often have a different experience on websites than desktop users.
For example, people using mobile devices tend to be in a hurry and will take whatever action necessary to complete their goal as quickly as possible. This means that if your website takes too long to load or is difficult for someone with a smaller screen size to navigate, they might leave and go elsewhere.
Increasing your site speed can be achieved through improving hosting services, moving from an older platform like WordPress to the newer one (ecommerce platforms are built for speed), or simply removing any unnecessary plugins.
5.) Use remarketing to keep your brand top-of-mind
Remarketing is a digital marketing strategy that uses targeted ads to reach specific people at certain times.
For example, if someone has visited your website or viewed one of your products but didn’t make a purchase at the time, then remarketing allows you to continue showing them content from your brand until they are ready to make a purchase.
What’s great about remarketing is that it lets you reach people who already know your brand, which can lead to increased conversions and sales as well as an improved ROI for your business.
The key here is to ensure that the content of your ads align with what these users have already viewed and make them feel like they’re not wasting their time by clicking on your ads.
If someone has already visited your website to look at a specific product, then use that information to create an ad for the same item with special offers or discounts attached.
This could be as simple as showing people who have previously looked at your product page that the price of the item has gone down, for example.
Remarketing ads can be created using Google Ads or other ad services like Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads (which are great if you’re already advertising on those platforms).
6.) Create an email marketing campaign to promote your products
Email marketing is one of the oldest but most effective digital marketing strategies out there.
With this strategy, you collect email addresses either by asking people to subscribe to your website or partnering with other companies that have a similar target audience and offering them incentives in exchange for their contact information.
You can then market directly to these people via email, typically by promoting your own products and services through sales or discounts.
Many people use this strategy for their ecommerce business because of how effective it can be when done correctly.
The key to success with an email marketing campaign is collecting the right contact information so you’re only reaching out to customers who are interested in your company.
You might want to start by asking interested customers for their email addresses when they make a purchase on your website, or you can work with other companies that have an audience similar to yours and offer them free products in exchange for the contact information of individuals who fit your target market profile.
7.) Create a referral program
Referral marketing is an effective digital strategy that uses the power of word-of-mouth advertising.
In a referral program, you reward customers for sharing their positive experiences with others and bringing new business into your company. This could be as simple as offering discounts or free products on future purchases when they refer a friend or family member to your website.
What’s great about referral marketing is that it doesn’t require a lot of effort on the user side, which is why so many people are fans of this strategy.
The key here is to ensure you have an easy-to-use tool in place for customers who want to refer their friends and family to your website.
8.) Utilize videos to encourage conversions
Videos are one of the most popular types of content on social media, and as such, they can be a great way to promote your ecommerce website.
When you create videos, it’s important to ensure they align with your target market. This means creating content that is relevant and engaging while also providing some sort of value for users who are watching it (whether this value comes in the form of information or entertainment).
You could even go a step further by promoting these videos on social media and using them as organic content on your website.
You’ll want to track the performance of each video you create (and all other forms of digital marketing) so that way if one is performing better than another, you can replicate it and continue doing what works.
To do this with videos specifically, have a goal in place before you even create the content, like getting people to sign up for your newsletter or sharing their contact information in exchange for access to your video.
If you’re utilizing TikTok as a social media marketing tool, make sure that you read our article on Best Times to Post on TikTok for Maximum Views!
9.) Use chatbots for better customer service
Chatbots are another type of marketing strategy that can be used to improve customer service.
For this strategy, you’ll want to invest in a chatbot software or app that customers can use to communicate with your business directly without the need for contacting an actual person (which can take longer).
The primary benefit here is improved customer service because you can answer questions, help solve issues and even automate some of the more basic tasks that are required for your business.
You might also consider using chatbots to provide automated updates on products or information on your ecommerce website.
The possibilities with chatbots are virtually endless, which is why so many companies turn to this strategy when they need an easy way to automate some of their customer service tasks.
10.) Share user-generated content to showcase your products
Last, but certainly not least, you might be interested in sharing user-generated content on your ecommerce website.
User-generated content is created by customers who are using or have used the products you sell and typically includes pictures of them wearing or using these items while also providing a review about what they thought overall.
When shared to your website, this type of content can help to improve your SEO efforts while also showing potential customers that real people are using and enjoying the products you sell.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved because consumers feel confident about what they might be buying if it has already been tried by someone else (and had positive results), while you also get to showcase happy customers and show off your products.
The key here is to provide a tool on your ecommerce website where users can easily post their photos or reviews of the product in question, which will then be shared online for other shoppers to see.
Customer-generated content like this could be anything from uploading a picture with a review of a product to leaving a video on YouTube that showcases how they use your products.
11.) Upsell other products
A common strategy for marketing an online store is to encourage customers to buy more than one item by upselling other products. Upselling is a great tactic because you already have already convinced your target customer to buy, so it makes sense to nudge them in the direction of a second product.
12.) Offer coupons or discounts
Another way that retailers market their online stores is through discount offers, which could be a coupon code or a percentage off the regular price of an item. This tactic can be very effective if done well.
You can offer these discounts to new customers or those who have already bought from your store. In fact, a great way to market your store is to offer a discount to every customer that recommends your products to a friend. Not only does this get you another sale from the loyal customer, but it means you win another new customer – hopefully for life!
13.) Optimize your website for search results
If you want consistent sales over the long term, then search engine optimization (SEO) is the way to go. Basically, SEO involves making improvements on your ecommerce website to move your store higher up in the search engine results pages (SERPS).
With the correct tactics and some patience, you can move your store to the top of Google! As you can imagine, this will have a huge impact on the number of sales you make.
SEO tactics include creating good quality content, using keywords in your title tags and meta descriptions, making sure you are attracting the right attention on social media sites like Facebook or Pinterest (for example), creating backlinks to your site from other relevant websites, and making your website as fast as possible.
14.) Consider influencer marketing
Another great benefit to the rise of social media is the amount of influencers and authorities within your niche. Influencers are people with a large following on social media that have an interest or knowledge in your industry. They are often paid by companies to teach their followers about the benefits of using certain products and/or give away free samples.
The best way to do influencer marketing is to find those who are popular in your specific niche. The more specific you get with the niche, the better the outcome should be. Ideally, you want your target customers to be the same people that follow the influencer.
15.) Be consistent
It’s important that you stay committed and focus all your efforts on one single campaign at a time. In order for any strategy to work properly, consistency is necessary – there should not be too much jumping around between different ideas throughout the month (unless they have been proven successful).
16.) Launch press releases
Press releases are a good way to get your business in the media and seen by a lot of new people. These should be sent out whenever you have any special announcements about what’s going on with your company, such as when new products or services come out that might interest customers.
17.) Retarget visitors who abandoned their cart
A large number of online shoppers will add items to their cart, but then leave the store, which is an unfortunate waste of marketing potential. You can use retargeting marketing to grab these potential customers by showing them ads for products they left in their cart.
18.) Encourage customer reviews
Positive reviews play such a crucial role in making a purchase decision, which is why you should do your best to get as many positive reviews as you can. You should then showcase these reviews EVERYWHERE, including your website and social media pages.
You can simply ask your customers to leave a review, but if that doesn’t work, then tempt them with an offer for 15% off their next order when they leave a review.
19.) Consider running paid ads
PPC ads are a great way to make your business stand out in the marketplace. Ads might be displayed on search engines, social media platforms (Facebook Ads), or even on the sidebar of other websites in your niche!
This type of marketing is beneficial for when you’re launching a new product and want it to become a success right away. Other marketing efforts require patience to see results, but PPC advertising allows you to get sales from day one.
It’s important to keep in mind that PPC ads can get expensive, so make sure your budget allows for this type of marketing. It means nothing to sell out of stock in one week if you made a loss doing so.
You also want to be targeting the right keywords and have a landing page set up ready before running any campaigns (you may find some helpful tips on Google Adwords).
20.) Content Marketing
Last but not least, content marketing is another way to get more sales. Content could include anything from articles, videos, infographics or blog posts. The best thing about this type of marketing is that it helps your company establish its expertise in the industry and also shows potential customers how they can solve their problems through your products. If you are unsure of where you can get content, there are many different sources you can use to get great product images.
21.) Research the right keywords to use in your content
You must know what products and services your potential customers are looking for. Keywords, or search terms, provide the foundation of every SEO strategy – so we recommend you start there before doing anything else!
22.) Improve your website’s speed
Your site load time is part of technical SEO, which is very important for SEO. Speedy sites not only look better to your visitors, but Google also takes it into account when ranking your website in their search results.
23.) Get high-quality backlinks
Getting backlinks is another crucial aspect of SEO. A link from an established site like Forbes or Entrepreneur will carry significant weight with Google crawlers, while a link from your cousin’s pet grooming blog probably won’t help much at all! The more authority backlinks your site has, the better.
24.) Engage a PR firm
If you’re not comfortable with promoting your products to customers directly, good news! You don’t have to do it all on your own. There are many PR agencies that specialize in marketing and they will be able to get the word out about what you’re offering for a fraction of the time.
PR is about generating hype and awareness for your company. You want people to be talking about you, so a PR agency will send out press releases, pitch stories, or even create ads to get the attention of consumers.
25.) Run giveaways
Free stuff is always a good idea, right? Giveaways are an inexpensive way to get new customers and it’s easy too. You can offer free samples of your product or even coupons that people can redeem when they purchase from you.
A common giveaway for ecommerce stores is running a contest on social media where people have to tag three friends.
26.) Run or sponsor events
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, try hosting an event for people who may be interested in learning more about what it is you do! You might already have some loyal followers so this could be a great way to get new leads into your database as well.
27.) Push for product reviews
The number one way to increase your conversion rates is by having a review system in place. Reviews give the customer a sense of trust and security when making an online purchase.
Reviews are great because they show that you care about providing only the best products/services to your customers and it also shows that other people feel similarly!
In order to get these reviews though, make sure you provide good product descriptions with clear pictures so that potential buyers know exactly what they’re purchasing before purchasing.
Try using product review software to increase your conversions. There are many out there that will allow you to set up a review system quickly. This software will even send reminder emails to past customers to leave a review after they make their purchase!
The best part about reviews is that they are free! That’s right, no money is needed for this technique – all it takes is time and effort on your end.
It’s a good idea to also show that the reviews are verified. In a world of fake reviews, doing this will increase confidence even more!
28.) Provide shopping cart reminders
Cart reminders are a great way to get people who have added items to their cart, but have not made a purchase yet. This is another free method that costs you just your time and effort!
People tend to forget about things they want or need when going from site to site, so it’s a good idea to remind them before they purchase from a competitor.
You could offer discounts for those that add products into their carts but don’t buy anything – this will incentivize the visitors to take the plunge!
Make sure these emails are personalized as well! Instead, use each person’s name instead of generic words like “Dear Customers.”
With ecommerce marketing software, you can send personalized cart reminder emails directly from your dashboard without having to spend hours making it. There is no easier way to increase your average cart size than using a cart reminder app!
29.) Offer personalization services
Personalization is a process that allows you to understand the preferences of people who visit your website. It tracks their behaviors on and off-site so as to gain better insight into what they like or dislike.
The next step is to implement tracking cookies. Personalization cookies help you use customer preferences to give them a more tailored experience.
Great personalized experiences improve relationships with repeat visitors by delivering the right message at just the right time.
By offering special deals to certain individuals, they may feel more appreciated and motivated to buy on your website.
With the help of personalization software, you can easily create targeted promotions based on a person’s individual history. Use these opportunities to increase your average order value and gain more revenue!
30.) Provide product recommendations
Using product recommendations on your website is a great way to increase sales. These are especially helpful for new customers because they don’t know what else you have that might interest them!
Product Recommendations help grow your business by presenting interested buyers with different products/services that may peak their curiosity and get them thinking about the next purchase.
There are a few different ways to recommend products. The first way is for the company itself to recommend products that are similar to what the customer has already bought.
The second way is to highlight what other customers are recommending. Hearing the views of other people will make the visitor feel more confident in the product, which will increase the chances of a purchase being made.
The third way is for a company to recommend products that are complementary. This encourages cross-selling as well as upselling, which can generate additional revenue from those who may not have purchased something originally because it wasn’t on their mind.
If you are using ecommerce marketing software, then this process will be extremely easy for you! That’s because the app can automatically track your purchases and recommend products based on what people have bought in the past. This ensures that every purchase goes smoothly with no hiccups along the way!
31.) Allow social sharing of products
By letting your customers share their purchases on social media, you can potentially expand the reach of your business and introduce potential consumers to items they might not have seen before.
Social sharing allows your customers to market for you. All you have to do is provide the product and a means with which they can share it, such as via social media icons.
With ecommerce marketing software, you can add social sharing buttons to your website in just a few clicks. This feature will save time and money so you have more to put towards other aspects of the business!
Allowing people to share their purchases with others also helps build brand loyalty among existing clients. It makes them feel like they’re part of the brand, while also making them feel good about helping others.
32.) Ensure your responsive design works properly
Responsive design is a type of ecommerce web development that adjusts to fit any device. This ensures a great user experience no matter the screen size, which is essential for smartphone users nowadays!
As people are shifting towards mobile usage more and more each day, you need to be prepared with an ecommerce platform that caters to their needs.
If your business doesn’t have responsive web design then you’re potentially losing out on sales from potential buyers who only use smartphones/tablets, rather than desktops or laptops.
Responsive design requires a lot of foresight and planning, but it can have major benefits for businesses that are trying to increase sales online. As such, it’s worth using a responsive website theme or hiring a web designer with experience in responsive design.
This might be the best thing that you can do to make more sales for your ecommerce business.
33.) Build and nurture an email campaign
Email campaigns are a great way to get in touch with your customers. These campaigns can be used for customer feedback, introduce new products/services, or even just remind people of the existence of your business!
In fact, doing it correctly will result in more customers and more revenue in your back pocket!
Even better… it doesn’t have to cost anything! All you have to do is set up your email marketing software and create a campaign that will hopefully get people interested in what you’re trying to offer.
To optimize these campaigns further, be sure not to send them too frequently or they’ll become seen as spam by customers who don’t want another message about products/services related to yours clogging up their inboxes.
As always, your emails should be personalized so everyone feels like they’re being treated as an individual, rather than part of some sort of mass.
34.) Engage online store visitors with live chat
One technique you can apply to get more engagement is by using live chat. A lot of people are on their phones now, which means that they can’t easily search through your website.
A live chat software or app will allow you to answer any questions and solve problems for the customer in real-time.
35.) Go to a local event
Attend a local event and get your business card into the hands of people.
At every trade show you attend, give out company information including booth number or address to anyone who might be interested in what you have to offer. Your goal is not only to meet potential customers, but also to find new vendors that can help improve your store.
36.) Run A/B testing to make data-driven decisions
This is one of the best ways to improve conversion rate optimization (CRO).
You can experiment with what words work better on your page, what typefaces work best (think Comic Sans versus Helvetica), or what buttons get clicked on the most.
37.) Focus on customer retention
It is a common misconception that customers are only worth the amount of money they spend on their first purchase.
In reality, it’s more important to focus on customer retention, because this will make them lifelong supporters and brand ambassadors.
You can do this by making sure you have a good return policy in place (even if it means you have less money to begin with).
Most Important Ecommerce Marketing Takeaways
1.) Know your brand and your audience
It is important to know what kind of brand you are and the lifestyle that goes along with it. What do we mean by this? Consider Nike, they sell sportswear so their customers will be people who like staying active and keeping fit. They might also live an urban lifestyle where going for a run at lunchtime is a daily occurrence.
Knowing your audience will help you to understand what type of marketing campaigns they respond well to and who the influencers are in their social circle that can also get them interested in your site. This information will allow you to tailor targeted adverts for this group of people, which increases the chance of converting them into buyers!
Not knowing your audience is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in business. Make sure you know who your customer is and what they will respond to best by doing market research.
A great way to do this for free (although it can be time-consuming) is simply asking them! You could run a survey through your website, send out an email questionnaire or even post on social media with some questions about the demographics of your customer and their habits.
2.) Set goals for your ecommerce marketing strategy
It is important to set goals for your ecommerce marketing strategy so that you can track and measure the success of each campaign. This will help you to determine what works well for your business and what doesn’t so that you can make changes as needed.
Some common goals that could be set include increasing website traffic, generating more leads, or increasing the number of sales. By setting goals you will know which parts of your strategy are working and what needs to be improved upon.
It’s important that all members of your team know and understand the goals of your marketing strategy so that everyone is on the same page and can help to achieve them.
3.) Decide which ecommerce marketing strategies you plan to use
There are many different ecommerce marketing strategies out there that you can try, however, it is important to pick the ones which will be most effective for your business.
For example, if you are a small business with a limited budget, then it might not be wise to invest in paid search campaigns. However, investing in content marketing would be a better option as it is more affordable and can produce long-term results.
4.) Implement and test your chosen strategies
Once you have decided on the marketing strategies that you want to use, it is important to start implementing them and testing how well they work. This will allow you to make changes and improvements as needed so that your campaigns are constantly getting better.
You can use A/B testing to compare the results of two different versions of a campaign to see which is more effective. This can be used for everything from subject lines in emails to the colors and designs you use on your website.
Make sure you are tracking the data that comes in from each marketing campaign so that you can analyze it and make decisions based on the results.
Why Invest in Ecommerce Marketing Services?
Ecommerce marketing services are so important for businesses because they can help increase sales, brand awareness, and lead customers to your site.
With the right ecommerce marketing strategy (and some hard work), companies will be able to see an improvement in all areas of their business within a short period of time!
Here are some benefits of hiring a marketing professional:
1.) It will save you time
Outsourcing your marketing work means you’ll have more time to focus on other areas of your business. This can be especially beneficial if you’re a small company and don’t have the resources for marketing tasks that larger companies do!
By hiring an agency or professional, you won’t need to worry about creating content (blogs, videos), sharing it online, and analyzing results yourself – all things that take up a lot of valuable time. Instead, these services will handle everything so you can run your store like normal while getting real results from ecommerce marketing strategies!
2.) You’ll get industry-specific expertise
Not only will you be able to save time, but hiring an expert means the strategy is suitable for your specific industry and goals.
For example, if your business sells clothes online and an agency specializes in fashion, then they probably already know the best places and methods for promoting and selling those types of items.
Another benefit is that these professionals often work with a variety of companies (not just yours) so they’re always growing as marketers themselves. This allows them to stay up-to-date on any new strategies or techniques that can help improve results over time because their knowledge has literally been “tested” by other businesses before yours!
3.) You’ll potentially better understand your data analytics
Hiring a professional means that they’re constantly monitoring your website’s analytics to see what content is working, which marketing strategies are the best, and so forth.
They’ll be able to point out exactly where companies can improve within their digital presence (i.e.: what pages aren’t getting any traffic/engagement) so you know exactly how many resources should go into different areas on your site!
Besides valuable information for businesses, this will help keep track of sales conversions as well; allowing clients to understand why certain items sell better than others at specific times of the year or during certain seasons.
4.) You’ll be able to leverage multiple marketing channels
Hiring an expert means companies will be able to leverage multiple marketing channels at once.
For example, if your business is just starting out, then it might be difficult to get the word out about what you sell. But agencies can simultaneously use social media marketing (Facebook ads), SEO traffic generation, and email marketing – so small businesses never miss an opportunity!
This also helps with identifying which strategies work best for certain demographics (like men vs women). Plus, it’s always beneficial to have more than one way of reaching out to consumers; it makes a company less dependent on any single platform and ensures they’ll be able to keep customers interested even if there are changes in the future.
With these reasons in mind, ecommerce marketing services can help companies succeed online while saving time and money! By outsourcing this work instead of doing it all themselves, businesses will see results much faster from their small investment. This is why partnering with an agency or professional for support should take priority over managing everything yourself!
What Metrics Should Ecommerce Marketing Services Measure?
Again, this depends on what the company is trying to accomplish and which services they’re focused on. But in general, metrics that should be tracked include:
- Number of sales conversions per month/week/day
- How many sessions are occurring on your site
- What percentage of visitors become customers (i.e.: conversion rate)
- Number of new customers per month/week/day
- Top selling items and why they’re popular (i.e.: to better understand what your demographic is into)
Plus there are also other things that businesses might not realize should be monitored, such as: page load times, bounce rates, website uptime, etc. All of which can have a serious impact on sales conversions, so it’s worth having an expert try out different strategies in order to improve these metrics.
How Much Do Ecommerce Marketing Services Cost?
As with most marketing services, the amount of money a company will have to pay for these kinds of strategies depends on which ones they choose and who is going to be doing them.
In general, though, having an expert handle everything from beginning to end should not cost more than around 20% – 30% of monthly revenue (and can often even work out as less expensive).
Many agencies work on a shared revenue pricing structure, which means the marketing agency gets a percentage of each sale the ecommerce company makes. This is a win-win situation because it’s beneficial for both parties; the company doesn’t need to worry about losing money and paying upfront fees, while agencies get more money when they help generate sales!
Whatever works best for your company, make sure you do some research beforehand so you know what to expect from hiring a professional.
Final Thoughts on Implementing an Ecommerce Marketing Strategy
In conclusion, there are many strategies you can use when it comes to increasing your ecommerce website’s visibility and driving more traffic through a variety of channels.
From using social media to share videos, chatbots for improved customer service and user-generated content showcasing products, there is something here that every business has the potential to implement with relative ease.
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