Success lies at the heart of strategy and careful planning, and the same applies to running a successful online shop. A good marketing strategy strives to captivate the attention of your target audience and guide them on their purchasing journey.
However, developing an e-commerce marketing strategy isn’t as easy, and in this guide, we’ll go over some of the best tips and tricks for e-commerce and how to maximize your outreach, website traffic, and e-commerce sales.
What is E-Commerce Marketing?
E-commerce marketing is a form of digital marketing that relies on specifically designed marketing strategies developed to boost the performance of your e-commerce business. One of the main goals of these strategies is to increase the level of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and thus increase the organic traffic to your online store by ranking your webpage higher in Google Search.
However, it’s also worth noting that e-commerce marketing doesn’t rely solely on SEO as the only marketing channel; there are also other digital marketing channels that you should use. It’s safe to assume that the primary goal of e-commerce marketing is to reach your target audiences and direct them to your e-commerce store
More visits equal more conversions, which is why you need a good online marketing strategy to compete in today’s market. A good strategy outlines your target market and demographics, helps identify proper marketing channels, engages with potentially new and existing customers, and leads them through their purchasing journey.
You should entrust your marketing efforts to a full-service e-commerce marketing agency, as they grant you access to a team of marketing experts who, backed by streamlined communication and knowledge, are well-versed in developing and implementing cohesive marketing strategies.
Types of Digital Marketing Channels for E-Commerce
We already mentioned SEO as the foundation of a good e-commerce marketing strategy. However, not all e-commerce marketing is the same, and in this section, we’ll discuss different types of digital marketing channels.
Pay-per-click: PPC advertising refers to ads paid by businesses to rank higher than organic results on the search engine results page (SERP). These will rank completely independently from organic results, usually with an “Ad” symbol attached to the link.
Organic search: Organic search, also referred to as SEO, is a set of practices that, when implemented, increase the visibility of your online store to search engines.
Content marketing: Content marketing is an important part of your e-commerce marketing campaign, and one of the most important parts of your SEO. It involves posting content (some of which is user-generated content) on your e-commerce website and blog for your customer base to interact with. Just like SEO, content marketing often overlaps with other marketing channels, such as email marketing, social media marketing, product pages, and landing pages.
Social media marketing: Social media marketing involves both paid and organic marketing efforts via TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms. This allows businesses to engage with their customers, provide special offers, build brand awareness, and publish content.
Influencer marketing: Influencers and social media celebrities often have access to niche audiences that your e-commerce brand needs. Collaboration with influencers allows you to promote your products to their audiences in exchange for online sales commissions.
Best Digital Marketing Tips for E-commerce
Your e-commerce strategy has to include several tactics for building brand awareness and converting potential customers into shoppers. Here’s a list of tips that can aid you on your journey of crafting a great e-commerce marketing strategy:
Use Data
Customer data and defining your buyer’s persona have become a fundamental part of your e-commerce marketing plans, as it allows you to connect with your ideal customer using the most adequate marketing channel.
Taking this data-driven approach to online business marketing can help you personalize content more accurately and target your target demographics more precisely. Additionally, through subsequent analysis of your benchmarking data, you can optimize and improve your marketing strategies over time.
Grow Your Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is important for any online business. Regardless of how great your products and services might be, no one will buy them if they’re unaware of their existence. It’s important to build a strong social media presence through content marketing and engagement, as well as strategic partnerships with other social media influencers.
Use Automation
Certain aspects of your marketing efforts could be automated through programmatic advertising, retargeting, and email marketing, allowing your brand to re-engage with the customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. You could also automate post-purchase communications, like thank-you emails, feedback requests, or product recommendations based on the customers’ previous purchases.
Personalize the Customer Experience
Personalized offers and content lead to a better customer experience; they improve customer loyalty and increase customer retention. A good AI personalization engine can deliver near-perfect recommendations and purchase predictions, with the ability to reach the right customers, at the right time, with the right content.
Develop a Customer Loyalty Program
Loyal customers add value to your business and are basically a marketing channel themselves, as they help you grow your e-commerce site through word of mouth, social sharing, and engagement. They’re also known to spend more money on the platform than new customers. Why not reward that loyalty with an adequate program, either point- or spend-based one? It’s really a good marketing tool.
Create Content
Content is really important, regardless of which marketing channel you’re focused on. Even email campaigns require content. Good content can enhance your SEO, drive traffic to your site, and ultimately increase your conversion rates. And the best thing about it is that it can be placed almost everywhere, from social media posts and Facebook ads to product descriptions and blog posts.
How to Develop an E-commerce Marketing Strategy
A good marketing strategy doesn’t just rely on a single type of marketing. Instead, it’s built upon many different marketing tactics. Following the steps listed below to get started:
Conduct market research: Conducting market research grants you insight into market shifts and customer behavior. It also helps you identify market gaps, thus allowing you to adjust your strategies.
Define your marketing goals: Setting specific goals can provide you with measurable results regarding your marketing strategy’s effectiveness, and these numbers can help you identify and optimize the weaker aspects of your strategy.
Identify your target audience: Creating an effective marketing strategy begins with identifying your target audience and demographics. This helps you perform market segmentation, which further affects the effectiveness of your entire marketing strategy.
Choose your marketing channels: Choosing the right marketing channels depends on your market and audience research and might directly impact the reach and efficiency of your marketing campaign.
In the end, there’s no universal solution when it comes to developing a solid e-commerce marketing strategy. Instead, a good strategy results from thorough research and trial and error, and the tips we’ve listed in this guide can help you in your marketing efforts. If you’re looking for a company to help you with an e-commerce marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to contact Orchard Marketing.Â