Running an ecommerce business is hard work, and you’ve been putting in the effort — from choosing the best products to setting up a website and trying to make sales.
But despite all your hustle, you’re wondering why you’re not seeing the results you expected. Worry not, because in this article, we will discuss ecommerce marketing strategies that can help you stand out online.
First, let’s have a short recap of ecommerce marketing.
What Is Ecommerce Marketing?
Ecommerce marketing involves strategies to promote and sell products and services over the internet. These aim to attract potential customers, drive traffic to online stores, and convert visitors into buyers.
In simple words, ecommerce marketing is all about getting people to notice you and buy from your online shop. An example of a strategy is making your website look nice and easy to use so that your visitors would want to spend more time browsing your products and services.
When it comes to promotion, ecommerce businesses take advantage of various channels to get the word out. Customers love a good deal, so offering freebies or special promotions is a smart move.
The bottom line? Ecommerce marketing is telling people your business exists and making it easy for them to purchase from you.
Ecommerce Marketing Strategies That Drive Success
A frequently asked question is: What are the most effective strategies for ecommerce businesses to build customer trust and brand loyalty?
The first thing to remember to help your business succeed is to be transparent. This means being honest about product details, pricing, shipping, and other information — all of which can help you build trust with customers.
Moreover, delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service can help you build a base of loyal customers and keep your brand top of mind.
At the end of the day, you can achieve success online by using a combination of different strategies. The best ecommerce marketing strategies will depend on your goals, target audience, and nature of your offerings.
You can try out the following:
1. Offer free products or incentives
If you’re wondering, “How can e-commerce businesses market to their customers quickly?” The answer may lie in contests and giveaways!
The truth is that people are often drawn to the idea of getting something for free, and this serves as a perfect opportunity to introduce them to your brand.
In exchange, you can collect valuable customer information, such as their email addresses. This will help you in building a mailing list for future marketing efforts.
You can offer free products and incentives through a giveaway. To win, participants need to complete certain actions that benefit the ecommerce business, such as:
- Sharing a post
- Referring their friends
- Following the business’ social media channels
- Visiting their shop
- Filling out a survey form
Winners are then selected randomly or based on specific criteria. Giveaways are a fun and effective way to generate interest and gain new potential customers.
💡UpViral has helped businesses and marketers to effortlessly run and manage successful giveaway campaigns. You can create campaigns where participants can earn more points to win by sharing the campaign and referring friends, which helps you attract more leads.
For example, Exact Clothing, a fashion brand, was able to generate 5,580 leads, thousands of shares, and 800 Instagram followers from a simple e-commerce giveaway using UpViral. Moreover, the brand generated $1.2K in sales as a bonus!
They were able to achieve these results with the help of the UpViral Custom Actions feature. Using this feature, they gave away extra points to participants for following Exact Clothing’s page on Instagram, tagging friends to the competition post, and sharing the post on an Instagram story!
2. Run a PPC campaign
A PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign is an online advertising strategy that involves paying a fee each time one of your ads is clicked.
In a PPC campaign, you can bid on specific keywords relevant to your target audience, and when users search for those keywords on search engines like Google, your ads are displayed. You pay a fee to the search engine each time a user clicks on the ad, hence the term “pay-per-click.”
PPC ads appear at the top of search engine results, providing immediate visibility to your products or services! A PPC campaign is suitable for promotions since you can generate traffic immediately through it.
3. Use live chat to boost engagement on your website
Live chat provides instant communication between your business and website visitors. This allows you to address customer queries faster and even offer assistance in real time.
Moreover, live chat allows your team to provide personalized help by guiding users through product choices or helping with challenges they encounter while purchasing.
Visitors will appreciate the convenience of getting immediate responses, and this can lead to higher satisfaction levels. ⭐ They are also more likely to stay on your website if they have a means of easily obtaining information or help when needed.
This way, you can help them in decision-making and encourage them to complete transactions.
4. Optimize your website to rank higher in search engine results
Search engine optimization (SEO) involves practices and techniques to improve your website’s visibility on search engines like Google. The main goal is to increase the likelihood of your website appearing at the top of the search results when users search for relevant terms or keywords.
The higher your ranking, the more likely users will visit your content. Traffic turns into leads and converts.
Here’s an example:
a bookstore might use the keywords “best online bookshop” or “bookstore with free shipping” on their website’s product pages and blog posts so that users looking to buy books online can easily find them.
Compared to PPC, the traffic generated through SEO is free, but it takes time to build and requires ongoing efforts. SEO is considered a long-term strategy for building organic traffic over time.
5. Create valuable and relevant content
Content can help you attract, educate, and engage your target audience. In ecommerce marketing, it’s important to communicate the features of your product or service to potential customers, which allows them to make informed decisions.
Good content not only helps people understand what they’re getting but also builds trust in your business. It’s like a conversation that goes beyond just selling — it’s more about sharing, helping, and making the shopping experience more enjoyable! 😊
Keep in mind that good content involves thoughtful planning, knowing your audience, and crafting relevant and engaging material. Identify keywords related to your industry and ensure that your content adds value to a reader.
It could solve a problem, answer a question, or entertain them. Common types of content you can create include blog posts, case studies, product reviews, tutorials, or interviews.
6. Leverage social media platforms
Social media platforms play an important role in ecommerce marketing by helping businesses increase brand awareness and visibility to a wider audience. You can access a vast and active user base and target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors in social media.
For instance, Facebook provides you with a broad audience reach and diverse demographics. It is suitable for brands targeting a wide audience, such as businesses producing consumer electronics, offering food and beverages, or catering to the health and wellness sector.
When it comes to fashion and beauty brands and businesses with visually appealing products, Instagram is perfect because it is a highly visual platform.
For Twitter/X, tech and software companies can benefit especially for brands that have frequent updates and announcements.
7. Collaborate with influencers in your industry
In influencer marketing, you leverage the credibility, reach, and influence of individuals who have a substantial following on social media platforms. Influencers have a specific niche or target audience, so you can work with people whose followers align with your target demographic.
For instance, if you have an ecommerce business specializing in sustainable fashion, you can collaborate with a fashion influencer known for promoting eco-friendly lifestyles! They can create engaging content featuring your latest collection and share their experiences with the products.
The influencer’s followers who trust her opinions will be interested to visit your website and look at your products. Their endorsement increases your brand’s visibility and also drives traffic and sales on your website.
Read more: What Is the Premise Behind Influencer Marketing?
8. Optimize your website for mobile devices
A huge number of online users prefer accessing websites through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This means that you need to optimize your website for mobile users and make the shopping experience easy and hassle-free.
Imagine that you’re a customer browsing on an ecommerce website. You might feel frustrated if the site is not loading quickly, or the images and text are not properly sized. Because it’s difficult to look around, you close the page and just look for another online store.
A mobile-friendly website adapts to different screen sizes, so your content is displayed properly without the need for zooming. It should have a fast loading speed and be user-friendly so visitors can easily browse, view products, and complete transactions easily.
Adapt These Strategies to Improve Your Growth
Unlike purely brick-and-mortar businesses, ecommerce allows you to go beyond geographical boundaries and connect with customers from around the world. 🌎
Through the strategic online marketing efforts mentioned above, you can expand your business reach and potential for growth.
Keep in mind that in the world of ecommerce marketing, you need to keep an eye on what’s happening in the market and what customers like to stay relevant.
Be ready to try new things, as the online world moves quickly! You can consider running a giveaway using UpViral to attract more customers while getting the word out about your business in a fun and engaging way.
Click here to find inspiration from other businesses that used UpViral!
