Since rising to prominence in the 1990s, e-commerce has grown in popularity and impact. Global revenue from e-commerce will reach $3.03 trillion this year, with nothing but increases on the horizon. User penetration currently exceeds 61.1%, and by 2028 it will be closer to 81.2%. Likewise, it’s anticipated that projected market volume will reach a staggering $4.91 trillion by 2028.
We’ve come a long way from the first dotcoms that boomed (and busted) in the late '90s. E-commerce is now a way of life for the majority of the world’s shoppers. It’s safe, efficient, and in many cases, even fun. So if your business wants to compete in this modern business landscape, the e-commerce component is non-negotiable.
Of course, reaching your e-commerce goals won’t happen on its own. You need an e-commerce marketing strategy to ensure the right people are getting your message.
Short for “electronic commerce,” e-commerce is the buying and selling of things via an electronic network—usually over the Internet. These transactions take many forms, including:
Business to consumer
Business to business
Consumer to consumer
Consumer to business
In nearly all scenarios, customers use electronic devices such as a laptop or smartphone to place an order with your business. Their web browser communicates with the server that hosts your website. Then, relevant data is sent to databases that manage payment information and inventory to ensure the transaction can be completed.
Assuming everything goes smoothly, the payment is recorded, the fulfillment team is notified, and the customer receives an order confirmation. All these actions, and any others that are required, happen in a matter of seconds and are powered by the internet.
Most e-commerce transactions take place when a customer visits an online store, but how do you get customers to visit your website? There are about 26 million e-commerce websites, meaning you need to strongly promote your brand if you want to stand out.
A marketing strategy outlines the tactics you’ll use to:
Build brand awareness
Drive trafficConvert sales
Retain customers.
The best strategies are holistic, with an array of complementary tactics working simultaneously. Key components often include an email marketing strategy for e-commerce, a content marketing strategy for e-commerce, and an e-commerce social media marketing strategy.
What’s crucial is that you reach your targeted audience with a relevant message. When you meet people where they are and provide positive brand interactions, sales follow and loyalty grows.
Sustained success in today’s e-commerce landscape requires a well-defined marketing strategy. Let’s delve into four essential steps of a winning marketing plan for e-commerce.
Identify your key objectives
Start by identifying your key objectives. Understanding your destination makes mapping your route more straightforward. Possible goals include:
Reaching new customers
Building excitement around a new product
Increasing customer loyalty
Decreasing bounce rate on your website
Reducing cart abandonment on your website
Analyze your competitors
Once you know what you want to accomplish, research what your competitors are doing and how successful they are. A competitor analysis helps you identify best practices to apply to your own e-commerce marketing strategy, as well as opportunities to differentiate your brand.
For example, you might discover that your chief competitors have a strong e-commerce digital marketing strategy but lag behind in other aspects. In response, you could focus on honing your digital marketing efforts while allocating more resources to channels where you have a better chance of standing out.
Create your benchmarks
Using the data you’ve gathered from your competitor analysis, create benchmarks for your campaign. You already have key objectives, so this is the ideal time to quantify what success will look like in each of these areas.
Define your audience
Next up is identifying the demographics of your target audience. Knowing which customers you aim to connect with improves your chance of establishing meaningful connections.
Key elements of these customer personas include:
Age range
Geographic locations
Shopping habits
Online habits
Interests
Pain points
Motivations
Use these learnings to personalize your message and build meaningful engagement. Generic ads are a dime a dozen, while targeted messaging can work wonders on your bottom line.
Success with these targeting efforts means using the full range of channels to connect with your audience. But many marketers falter by only running e-commerce ads on the channel they’re most familiar with. This restrained approach is convenient but won’t yield substantial and sustainable results.
With an omnichannel marketing strategy, you’ll be able to connect with your audience across various digital touchpoints. For example, your customers can engage with your social media posts, then have the message continue in a targeted email. Or they can see a compelling display ad that leads them to visit your online website, and then get a reminder email if they abandon their cart before making a purchase.
Your brand likely has marketing tactics that have worked well in the past. Perfect. You should keep finding ways to incorporate these proven tactics into your marketing strategy for e-commerce.
At the same time, successful campaigns are evolutionary. Your customers aren’t static. Your industry isn’t static. So you can’t afford to be, either. Always seek new ways to connect with your audience by providing them with distinct benefits, educating them on relevant topics, or just sharing a moment of delight.
Here are six tips that have the potential to engage your customers and bring new life to your e-commerce sales.
1. Let your users generate content
First, let’s look at a tactic that simplifies your life. As the name suggests, user-generated content is material that your audience makes for you. Common examples include reviews they write about your brand or photos they post on social media that reference your brand.
Here are a few key advantages to this type of content:
It’s created and shared with you at no charge.
Customers react favorably to it because it comes from a peer.
It has the potential for virality when your followers share it.
Your goal with user-generated content is to shine a spotlight on the positives. For example, you could encourage customers to post photos of themselves using your products and then tag your brand in the posts. To reward this organic promotion, you could highlight the best user photos on your own social channels and even send the top users a gift card to express your appreciation.
2. Recruit an influencer
Along these same lines, influencer marketing is an effective way to build customer trust and reach new people. Yes, influencer marketing can be expensive. But it’s an effective way to get a prominent voice to promote your brand. Now that most social media platforms allow clickable product links in posts, you can drive real-time sales from an influencer’s shoppable posts.
Always do your due diligence and find a partner who is respected in your market and can showcase the qualities of your brand authentically.
3. Make your brand’s posts as impactful as possible
Aside from user-generated content and influencer collaborations, encourage your team to share social media posts they have created. An empowered team can have a sizable impact on your e-commerce efforts.
Start by boosting your best posts. The return on investment is usually great with this tactic, thanks to the vast reach of social media. You can also make your posts shoppable on platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest, which streamlines the buying process and increases conversions.
4. Use content marketing for higher visibility
All modern businesses need an e-commerce content marketing strategy. Your brand’s blog should feature relevant posts that answer product questions, share educational resources, and promote new products. And don’t forget keywords that boost your SEO performance.
Spread the love by guest posting on other blogs and inviting quality creators to contribute to yours. These collaborations expand your reach and can drive strong e-commerce results.
5. Create a loyalty program
Modern customers are accustomed to brands rewarding loyalty. If they’re going to choose you over the competition consistently, you should provide exclusive promotions, redeemable points, or other perks.
A well-run loyalty program keeps your customers engaged throughout the year. They’ll be more likely to make purchases and refer your brand to their friends.
6. Follow up on those abandoned carts
There are few things in e-commerce more frustrating than when customers add items to their cart but leave your site before completing a transaction. Thankfully, you can reclaim some of these sales by using email to follow up. Marketers often include a special offer, such as a 10% discount if the customer completes the purchase using a special link in the email.
A robust email program is essential to your e-commerce success. When you use a business email provider like Twilio SendGrid, you’ll be able to:
Welcome customers to your email list.
Broadcast exciting updates about your loyalty program.
Tease new products before they’re publicly announced.
Share curated product recommendations.
Run engaging contests.
Remind shoppers about abandoned carts.
Make your customers feel recognized and appreciated.
Our team of email experts at SendGrid is dedicated to helping you get the tools, resources, and support necessary to thrive. Start today by opening your free account (no credit card needed). You’ll immediately gain access to the most user-friendly email platform on the market so that you can begin crafting your next successful e-commerce email marketing strategy.
