The future is digital. As a collective, recent strides in technology have pushed us into a world that is undeniably digital. From social media to artificial intelligence, the world is changing at a pace that we have never seen before and businesses are continuing to find ways to keep up. The same goes for businesses in the eCommerce space.
It’s no secret that every online store wants to convert leads into customers. However, without a strategy in place, it’s going to be difficult to drive leads into your eCommerce site. Let’s talk about eCommerce marketing.
What is eCommerce marketing?
According to Hubspot, eCommerce marketing is the process of driving awareness and action toward a brand that sells its product or service electronically. Put simply, eCommerce marketing enables businesses to increase their visibility while also allowing them to guide potential leads through the conversion funnel.
When it comes to eCommerce marketing, it is imperative for businesses to pay attention to the audience segmentation process so that they can craft personalized strategies depending on where the consumer is on their buyer’s journey. A customer centric strategy should cover a business’ email list, email campaigns, various social media platforms, as well as other offline marketing channels.
What is an eCommerce marketing strategy?
Digital marketing is an ever-evolving industry. As audiences change, so will strategies. To be able to develop a robust eCommerce marketing plan for new and current customers, businesses would need to put both online and offline tactics into place to foster growth and, in turn, increase your conversion rates. But first, what exactly is an eCommerce marketing strategy?
The simple answer is that it depends. Like most digital marketing strategies, an eCommerce strategy depends on a plethora of factors such as a business’ KPIs, available tools, benchmarks, goals, and target market. Without taking these factors into consideration, your strategy will fall through due to a lack of accountability and having no clear path to achieve your goals.
What’s the best marketing strategy for my eCommerce business?
Unfortunately, eCommerce marketing is not just about boosting your conversion rates or your click-through rates. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to crafting eCommerce marketing tactics. However, there are some ways that you can ensure that a marketing strategy will fit your business and the goals that you want to achieve. Before developing an eCommerce marketing strategy, here are some questions that you need to ask yourself:
- What are your goals? Even before a strategy is developed, you must first establish measurable goals that you want your business to achieve. To make sure that your goals are measurable, follow the SMART concept. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Not only will SMART goals help you determine realistic goals, but they will also give you a sense of direction to stay motivated in the process.
- What are your strengths? Conducting an extensive SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a surefire way to better understand your business and the specific industry that you’re in. By thoroughly evaluating your own capabilities, you can learn to capitalize on strengths and opportunities that will enable you to have a competitive advantage over your competitors.
- What are the tools at your disposal? As mentioned above, being in a realistic headspace when planning your eCommerce strategy will enable you to set feasible goals. It also keeps you grounded and allows you to take advantage of the tools and various digital channels that you have at your disposal. The great thing about eCommerce marketing is that most tools are available for free.
- Email marketing? Check out MailerLite, MailChimp, and Sender.
- Social media management/Social media marketing? Try Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, and Later.
- Insights? All you need is Google Analytics.
4 Digital Marketing Tips for eCommerce Businesses in 2021
- Focus on the customer experience. Whether it’s on your website or on your socials, focusing on the customer experience is a long-term play that always converts. After all, happy customers are the lifeblood of any business, right? Regardless of the type of business you have, exceptional customer experience builds loyalty and keeps customers coming back for more. According to the Stratford Group, customers are willing to pay more for the same products and services if they feel that a certain company is providing extra value through interactions.
- Increase your social media presence. When possible, engaging on social media is a great way to foster a relationship with your customers. After all, who isn’t on social media nowadays? Companies that use social media are effectively broadening their horizons while empowering their brand to actively reach, engage, and convert potential customers.
- Pay attention to content. Personalizing content for a particular customer is a useful, albeit tedious, tactic to build a loyal audience. Thanks to the digital age, the consumption of online content has enabled businesses to develop effective digital marketing campaigns. From emails to social media posts, personalized content marketing is key for any eCommerce business as there is usually a huge selection of products that should, individually, reach the right audience. Ultimately, paying attention to content will also improve a customer’s shopping experience.
- Mobile optimization is key. Whether you like it or not, mobile is now an important part of your consumer’s daily life. In the U.S., Americans spend an average screen time of 5.4 hours on their mobile phones daily. If your eCommerce store isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re losing out. Optimization is the process of adjusting your website content depending on the devices that your visitors are using. From desktops to mobile phones, optimizing your website content across all devices will ensure a seamless experience for your customers.
