Ecommerce market is growing at a fast pace. Consumers prefer to shop online because it's convenient. They have access to a ton of information they need about products and can purchase it easily. According to 99Firms’ E Commerce Statistics for 2020, the ecommerce market is booming, and it is expected that more than 95% of all purchases will be through ecommerce by 2040.
So how does marketing fit into ecommerce? Digital marketing is important for ecommerce. Every ecommerce website utilizes various digital channels to promote their business online. There are different digital marketing strategies that can help businesses increase brand awareness and sell more products. In this article, we will discuss important ecommerce marketing strategies that can help your business thrive.
What is ecommerce marketing?
Ecommerce marketing involves using various marketing strategies to promote an online business, drive traffic to the website, convert visitors and retain them after the purchase.
All ecommerce marketers leverage social media, content marketing, SEO and email marketing campaigns to attract their target audience and drive more conversions. They also use online advertising like PPC ads or social media ads to increase sales. All these efforts allow marketers to reach their target market and influence their audience to take the desired actions.
Let’s take a look at the types of ecommerce marketing strategies and how they are used to help businesses grow.
Types of Ecommerce Marketing Strategies
Social Media Marketing
Brand use various social media networks to reach a wide range of audiences that share similar interests. Businesses can promote their products on various social media platforms through engaging posts or appealing images. From an ecommerce perspective it is definitely more useful to leverage a platform like Instagram. Because these businesses sell products, they can post high quality visuals of their products to attract customers. According to eMarketer, 71% of businesses use Instagram in the US. In 2017, it went beyond the number of businesses using Twitter.
Ecommerce businesses can use social media ads and boost posts to increase brand awareness and sales. In addition, including product tags that lead users to the product page is also helpful in boosting sales. This makes it easier for the users to shop the products as soon as they come across it. It makes their busing process seamless and encourages them to take the desired action. Using influencers to promote a product can help businesses reach more audience.
Another platform to promote products on is Pinterest. Businesses can use attractive images and ads to lead potential customers to their website. A Facebook Business Page can help you collect reviews from people who have purchased your products and display them to entice more customers to buy them. Every customer who purchases online relies on product reviews to help them make purchase decisions.
Content Marketing
An effective way to educate people about your products and encourage them to purchase it is through content marketing. Content can be used in a number of different ways that is preferred by your target audience. Any form of content you use should always be customized as per the interests and needs of your target audience.
Write Engaging Blogs
Building your blog content is a great way to start building your content strategy. Blogs can be then shared on your social media platform to get more traffic. Highly optimized blogs can help you rank better on search engine results pages. Your audience can look at your blogs as credible sources of information.
When choosing your blog topics make sure that people are looking for these topics and want more information. Do a quick keyword research to see the search volume of that specific search query. Choose a medium to low volume keyword that will help you rank better. These are some SEO tactics that can help you rank well. However, this should not be your only goal. You also need to focus on providing the users with relevant and helpful information.
Write on topics based on your industry, how to use a product, tips and tricks, giving solutions for a particular problem and more. This content should be engaging, relevant and informative. Invite guest bloggers from your industry to write a blog for your website. Also share your expertise on their website by writing a blog. By doing so you can reach more audiences with similar interests.
Create Videos
Product demo videos are a great way to attract audiences. Create videos for YouTube and any other social media platform you are using. Videos can get a user’s attention easily. Short videos that are informative can be more engaging. These videos can contain useful tips for using your products or any content to educate the users.
Email Marketing
Email marketing has been used by marketers for years. It is especially important to ecommerce. You can create automated email campaigns that are specific to the stages where each prospect is in the buying process. It is a good way to nurture leads and convert them into customers. Your customers already give permission to receive your email and are more likely to open and engage with them.
One way to communicate through emails is sending follow up emails after a customer has already purchased your products. Keep the conversation going by informing them about other products they might be interested in. These follow up emails can also include any discount or promotion related updates as well as upcoming launches. Asking a customer to review your product and their overall experience with your brand makes for a good follow up email.
Another set of emails you can send are for users who have added products to their cart but abandon their carts. These users have not completed their purchase. Send emails reminding them to complete their purchase. Also, send them information on other related products or offer help with any issues they might face.
Do you want to create an email marketing strategy for your business? Click here to know more.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank better on the search engine results page. SEO is definitely important for ecommerce websites since they sell products here. Hence, it is vital that your website visitors have a good user experience when they are shopping on your website. Improve quality of important landing pages, especially product pages.
Make sure to use high quality images of your product, a sound layout and color scheme, and a relevant CTA. The shopping cart page should be well optimized and easy to use. Sometimes complicated and slow landing pages can force users to abandon their carts and leave. Monitor the speed of these important pages to make sure that they are functioning fast. Optimize your website for mobile usage too as some users might access it through their mobile devices. Frequently monitoring and improving user experience is necessary for an ecommerce website.
Does your website have a low conversion rate? Learn more about how you can increase your website conversion rate.
PPC Campaigns
PPC or pay per click campaigns are paid advertisements that can help marketers promote their products across Google’s networks. Ecommerce marketers can use various ad formats that can help them reach a wider range of audiences. These formats include search ads, display ads, and shopping ads. Use these depending on your goals you have for your business.
One thing to remember is to build relevant ads to the user’s search queries. Link it to a relevant landing page. If the ads and landing page are not aligned, you will have a low quality score. This will negatively impact your ad rank and you might lose positions to your competitors. Hence, make sure that your ad copy and landing pages are relevant to your keywords. PPC ads can help you increase brand awareness and boost sales.
User Generated Content
User generated content is any content like text, images, videos etc. created by users that promotes a product. They can share this content on social media accounts, websites or any other marketing channels. For example, if someone posts a picture of a product on their Instagram posts, they are promoting the brand. Users also tag the brand in their pictures. This marketing is not done by brands but users. People see user generated content as a proof of the quality of that product and it would influence their buying decision.
Other types of user generated content that are very powerful is Reviews and Testimonials. Many online shoppers rely on reviews to make their final decision. Including reviews and testimonials on the website is a great way to gain a user’s trust. This encourages the user to purchase from you, as well as share their personal information.
Referral Marketing
Referral marketing is a type of marketing where a customer will recommend your product to people they know. If they really appreciate your product, they might just recommend it on their own. But if you wish to increase referrals, you can ask people to tell you about your brand in exchange for a discount or offer. Many brands hold Instagram giveaways where they ask the participants to tag a few people and make them follow the brand in order to enter the competition. Some also ask customers to give an email of any other friend who might enjoy the product in exchange for a discount. These are examples of referral marketing. Referrals enable businesses to increase brand awareness.
There are several marketing tools you can use to promote your ecommerce business. Assess your business goals and requirements to determine which ecommerce marketing strategy makes more sense for your business. It is always good to experiment with various methods to see which is more successful.
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