Marketing is not just about creating a great product; it’s about getting people to find, understand, and remember your brand. Without a well-crafted digital marketing strategy, even the best products and services will go unnoticed.
From website optimization and SEO to social commerce and PPC advertising, there’s much to consider when creating your own strategy. This is why, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ecommerce marketing to help your business grow and thrive online!
Ready to attract more buyers to your store? Let’s get started!
What is Ecommerce Marketing?
Ecommerce marketing is a strategic approach that uses various promotional tactics to attract potential customers to an online store, convert them into paying customers, and foster long-lasting relationships.
Businesses use these techniques to drive traffic to their online stores, showcase their products clearly, and encourage customers to make purchases.
A successful ecommerce marketing strategy incorporates both on-site and off-site elements. On-site marketing focuses on optimizing the website’s content, design, and user experience to improve engagement and conversion rates.
On the other hand, off-site marketing efforts, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email campaigns, and content marketing, aim to increase brand visibility and attract targeted audiences.
Types of Ecommerce Marketing Strategies
Digital marketing professionals need to understand the objectives, target demographics, and constraints associated with each channel, including social media and email campaigns to paid advertising.
This section will detail the types of ecommerce marketing and how each can help your store stand out in the digital marketplace.
Social Media Marketing
Social media, with its focus on visual content, is a natural fit for ecommerce marketing. Unlike traditional marketing where brand awareness might be the main goal, ecommerce social media campaigns are designed to drive traffic and sales.
These campaigns mostly rely on captivating product images to grab the customer’s attention and spark interest. Instagram is built around image sharing, which makes it the perfect platform to showcase your products and expand your reach beyond the individual product pages.
It also lets you create Shoppable Content, which allows viewers to purchase products directly from your posts. You can strategically display ads within social feeds or add tags that direct users straight to your shopping cart.
Content Marketing
Content marketing might seem like it’s just for improving search engine ranking and answering industry questions through blog posts and videos.
But for ecommerce stores selling products, it’s about creating valuable content that attracts potential customers and guides them through the buying journey. Here’s how to use content marketing for your ecommerce store –
- Optimize Your Product Pages
Target short, product-specific keywords with your product page copies. Think about the terms people would search for to find your product.
For example, if you sell school supplies, including terms like “discount school supplies” in your page content and titles will improve search engine results. Don’t forget to optimize image alt text and headers for those keywords as well.
- Write Compelling Blog Posts
Use blog posts to attract potential customers at various stages of their buying journey. For example, an online store for school supplies could write blog posts on “Where to buy school supplies” to attract parents to your store.
As visitors become engaged, you can create posts that move them further down the purchase funnel, like adding “Can teachers use school supplies as tax deductions?” to the FAQ section or offering downloadable guides like a “school supply checklist” to capture leads.
Here’s an beginner’s guide to ecommerce copywriting to help you better understand what to include in your blogs.
- Use Guest Posting
Guest posting on relevant websites gets your products in front of new audiences, often for free. Look for websites that rank for keywords related to your products and offer guest posts that expand on existing content with additional resources like videos or infographics linking back to your site.
- Upload Product Videos on YouTube
With over a billion users, YouTube is a perfect platform to reach potential customers. Creating videos based on highly searched keywords can get viewers interested in your product. Content can range from product demos and tutorials to helpful guides related to your product’s use.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing includes both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertisements. It relies on optimizing website content and structure to improve its natural ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This type of marketing also involves pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, display campaigns, and product-specific ad campaigns, for which you have to pay for top spots on search engine result pages.
However, you need to understand how Google’s ranking algorithm works to improve your store’s visibility, without paying for ad placements. This involves various techniques such as keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO.
Investing in SEO helps businesses increase their chances of appearing higher in search results, which leads to more website visitors and potential customers.
Email Marketing
Despite being one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, email marketing is still a valuable asset and its magic lies in automation!
You can create targeted drip campaigns based on subscriber interests or buyer journey stage, letting your emails work for you while you focus on other tasks.
However, building trust with your audience can be a difficult, and ongoing process. Data privacy is a major concern for users, so you need to be careful about who you add to your mailing list and how you collect data.
Here’s how email marketing can be used in ecommerce –
- Post-Purchase Follow-Up
After purchase, a well-timed email keeps the conversation going and explores their future interest in your products. This shows that you care about them beyond the sale and their use of your product. It’s also a chance to gather feedback and improve the experience for future customers.
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
Visitors abandon their carts for a myriad of reasons. Emails aimed at identifying the issue and recapturing their business can turn lost sales into loyal customers.
A gentle reminder to complete the checkout process, offering assistance, or suggesting related products can re-engage them and bring them back to your store.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals or brands that have a significant influence on your target audience.
While Instagram accounts with thousands of followers are commonly associated with influencers, they can also include celebrities or communities that your target market follows or belongs to.
These influencers garner communities of people who know, like, and trust them, making them great advocates for your products.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has become quite popular in recent times, with 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers using it to market their products.
Ecommerce businesses are particularly well-suited for affiliate partnerships. Affiliates, individuals, or businesses, promote your products online in exchange for a commission.
Affiliates are known to employ traditional marketing tactics to gather interest. These methods can include paid advertising, content marketing, and other strategies to drive traffic to their pages promoting your product.
If you’re using a WordPress ecommerce store, we recommend using WC Affiliate to effortlessly manage your affiliates and commissions.
Local Marketing
Local marketing is an often overlooked strategy that allows you to concentrate your efforts on areas with a high density of potential customers.
You can track cookies to pinpoint your prospects’ location (with their consent) and use this information to create targeted promotions like discounted or even free shipping to customers near your warehouses.
How to Create a Successful Ecommerce Marketing Strategy?
Now that you’re familiar with the different types of ecommerce marketing strategies, let’s explore how to implement them effectively to attract visitors and sales to your business.
Step 1: Set Objectives
A well-defined ecommerce marketing strategy starts with setting clear objectives. Whether you want to increase revenue, expand market share, or launch a new product, these objectives have to align with your business goals.
Once your objectives are in place, you need to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your progress. For example, if your goal is to increase online sales, relevant KPIs might include total sales revenue, conversion rate, and average order value.
Or if you want to improve website traffic, KPIs may include unique site visitors, page views, bounce rate, and organic search traffic. These metrics work like yardsticks for tracking the performance of your marketing strategy.
Step 2: Identify the Target Audience
A one-size-fits-all marketing approach is a recipe for failure, considering the competitive nature of the ecommerce world. To connect with your audience, you need to first learn about their shopping habits.
Begin by analyzing your existing customer database, and identifying shared characteristics like demographics, behaviors, and purchase history. Next, create detailed buyer personas – fictional representations of your ideal customers.
And finally, understand their buying journeys, motivations, and what sets you apart from competitors. Combine these analytics from your website, social media channels, and CRM data to paint a vivid picture of your target audience.
Step 3: Research the Market
Once your target audience has been identified, you need to research both internal and external market data to get insights into your target audience, industry trends, and competitor strategies.
Below are some metrics and methods to help you figure out your market –
- Conduct Primary Research
- Surveys: Gather quantitative data on preferences, pain points, and product perceptions.
- Interviews: Get in-depth insights into customer needs and experiences.
- Focus Groups: Encourage discussions among target customers to find common themes.
- Social Media Listening: Monitor online conversations to understand customer sentiment and trends.
- Analyze Secondary Research
- Industry Reports: Gather data on market size, growth rates, trends, and competitive landscape.
- Competitor Analysis: Identify strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of key competitors.
- Economic Indicators: Assess factors like GDP, inflation, and consumer spending.
- Conduct a SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis is a framework that helps you research the factors that go into making a marketing strategy for your business. Below is a list of elements you need to analyze to understand your business and industry better.
- Strengths: Internal capabilities and advantages.
- Weaknesses: Internal limitations or challenges.
- Opportunities: External factors that can benefit the business.
- Threats: External factors that could harm the business.
- Research Pricing and Distribution
- Competitive Pricing Analysis: Compare your pricing to competitors.
- Cost-Based Pricing: Consider your production costs and profit margins.
- Value-Based Pricing: Determine the perceived value of your product in the market.
- Distribution Channel Analysis: Evaluate direct sales, retailers, wholesalers, or online channels.
And remember to stay ahead of industry trends and new technologies to help you keep up with competition.
Check out our guide on ecommerce market research for a more detailed information on how to navigate each step.
Step 4: Allocate Your Budget
When determining your marketing budget, you need to consider factors such as business size, revenue, and available labor. Established retailers spend around 15-20% of revenue on marketing, depending on their profitability. However, the right amount varies based on individual circumstances.
To figure out how much you should set aside, assess your business goals and the resources required to achieve them. Consider factors like your desired market share, customer acquisition costs, and the competitive landscape.
Step 5: Conduct A/B Testing
Once your strategies are in place, you must continuously refine your marketing efforts through A/B testing. This involves comparing different versions of marketing materials, such as website elements, product descriptions, pricing strategies, or ad creatives, to determine the best marketing approach for your brand.
Common A/B testing areas for ecommerce businesses include –
- Landing page elements: Experiment with product images, descriptions, CTAs, and layout to boost conversion rates.
- Product descriptions: Test different product descriptions, headlines, and copy to engage customers.
- Digital advertising: Test ad creatives, copy, headlines, and formats for paid advertising campaigns.
- Pricing and promotions: Try various pricing strategies, such as discounts, bundling, or tiered pricing to maximize revenue.
Step 6: Analyze Data and Reports
If your marketing strategies are in place, you must conduct data analysis to evaluate how well they’re performing. Begin by pinpointing the most important metrics for your business. Common KPIs include conversion rate, revenue, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and average order value (AOV).
Gather data from various sources, such as website analytics, ecommerce platforms, email marketing tools, advertising platforms, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Gather data from various sources, such as website analytics, ecommerce platforms, email marketing tools, advertising platforms, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Additionally, leverage SEO tools for ecommerce to track website performance and improve your search rankings, ensuring your business remains visible and competitive.
Step 7: Review and Adjust the Plan
Always monitor and analyze your marketing efforts to make sure that they’re working towards your goal. If a product launch falls short or a campaign receives negative feedback, be prepared to adapt your strategy.
Remember to regularly track KPIs for email open rates, website bounce rates, and click-through rates to verify your progress. Also, review your PPC ad copies, adjust spending, or swap out creatives to get maximum conversions and ensure long-term success.
Tips on Ecommerce Marketing
Building a successful ecommerce strategy is a challenging and continuous task, but if done right, it can take your business to incredible new heights.
Here are some tips from experts in the industry, for successfully managing your ecommerce marketing efforts –
- Focus on User Generated Content (UGC)
Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences with your products or services on social media. UGC can be a powerful endorsement and help build trust with potential customers.
- Personalize the Shopping Experience
Use customer data to personalize product recommendations, email marketing campaigns, and website content. It helps gather authentic followers who are truly interested in your product.
- Experiment with New Channels
Stay updated on emerging marketing channels like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and podcast advertising. Experiment with these platforms to reach new audiences.
- Partner with Micro-Influencers
Collaborate with micro-influencers who have a niche following that aligns with the interests of your target audience. They can also provide more authentic and relatable endorsements than celebrities.
- Enable Live Chat
Chatbots offer immediate assistance during browsing and checkout, you can address questions, overcome objections, and increase conversions.
Consider the size of your business and the volume of customer inquiries when deciding between chatbot or human-powered live chat.
You can simplify the ecommerce experience by optimizing each stage of purchase, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process.
Kickstart Your Ecommerce Marketing Today!
With everything we’ve covered thus far, there’s no doubt that a well-designed ecommerce marketing strategy can help you reach your target audience, boost your average order value, and drive sales growth.
Using the strategies and tips outlined in this guide, anyone can create a thriving online store that delivers exceptional customer experiences and rewards your entrepreneurial efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What are the 4 main marketing strategies?
- Digital Marketing: Uses online channels like websites, social media, and email to reach customers.
- Traditional Marketing: Employs offline channels like print ads, TV commercials, and radio spots.
- Content Marketing: Creates valuable and informative content to attract and engage customers.
- Public Relations (PR): Manages a company’s reputation and builds relationships with the media.
Q. What is the best marketing for ecommerce?
The best marketing for ecommerce depends on your specific goals, target audience, and budget. However, digital marketing strategies like SEO, PPC, email, and social media marketing are more effective for online businesses.
Q. What are the 7 principles of marketing?
- Customer Value: Deliver value to customers that exceed their expectations.
- Customer Satisfaction: Make sure customers are happy with your products or services.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Build and maintain strong customer relationships.
- Target Marketing: Focus on reaching your specific target audience.
- Product Planning: Develop products or services that meet customer needs.
- Pricing Strategy: Set competitive and profitable prices.
- Promotion: Communicate the value of your products or services.
Q. How do I promote a new product?
Use a combination of strategies below to promote a new product –
- Social media marketing: Create engaging content and run targeted ads.
- Content marketing: Develop informative blog posts, articles, or videos.
- Influencer marketing: Partner with influencers to reach your target audience.
- Email marketing: Send targeted email campaigns to your existing customers and potential leads.
- Paid advertising: Use platforms like Google Ads or social media ads to reach a wider audience.
- Public relations: Secure media coverage and build brand awareness.