The Beginner’s Guide to Marketing for Ecommerce

The Beginner’s Guide to Marketing for Ecommerce

So… What Is Ecommerce Marketing?

Ecommerce marketing is any marketing that complements eCommerce sites by driving traffic and increasing sales. Not surprisingly, the most efficient marketing for eCommerce takes place online.

You will need to test which strategy works best for your customers. You will also need to be prepared to invest in several different tools to ensure your maximum potential customer base is reached.

Here are some of the tactics you might try...

Content Marketing

Content marketing refers to the creation of online content that attracts your target audience. This might be in the form of videos, photos, articles, blogs, or infographics. It is not created to directly sell your products or services – it is more about educating and informing people about your brand, industry, and related trends. Of course, plugging in a few links to your products is never a bad idea!

This process connects potential customers to your business by increasing awareness of your brand. It also shows you are authentic and knowledgeable about your industry.

Referral Or Word-Of-Mouth Marketing

Referral marketing is an incredibly effective tool.  Not only is it one of the least expensive ways to market your business, referrals make up about 65% of new business. You would have seen this type of marketing across businesses of all sizes.

A great example is one used by ride-sharing app Uber. They offer discounted rides as part of a referral program for their users. When a current user successfully signs someone new up to the service, they receive an Uber credit when the new user takes their first ride.

Word-of-mouth marketing is the verbal recommendation of a business from one consumer to another. It is most likely triggered by a great customer service experience or high satisfaction with a product. However, it can also take non-verbal forms such as sharing and liking social media posts or using customer testimonials and reviews.

Search Engine Marketing

This technique uses pay-per-click campaigns to position your business at the top of search engine results. You are essentially paying for Google to put you at the top of relevant search pages, ahead of the competition.

It has been established that around 95% of traffic goes to the first page of Google results, so you want to make sure your business is among that selection!

It can take a long time for organic SEO techniques to establish your web presence in search engine results. Search Engine Marketing presents a good opportunity to effectively reach customers while you are still building your organic web presence.

Social Media Marketing

With people spending more time than ever before on social media, these platforms present a huge opportunity for businesses to connect and sell to customers. Creating a Facebook business page allows you to target new and potential customers with specific ad campaigns, as well as providing a space for people to leave feedback about and easily interact with your business.

Instagram is also becoming increasingly popular for marketing campaigns. Using high-quality and attractive images to promote your products really plays to the visually focused Instagram audience. You can also connect with social media Influencer who will promote your products to their established followers list in exchange for product or a fee.

Email Marketing

Two of the most effective email marketing techniques are the abandoned cart and the after-purchase follow up. If someone has left items in their cart for a certain period of time and not checked them out, you can automate emails to remind them to complete the purchase.

These are most effective when it includes some sort of incentive, like 10% off the total price. Then after a purchase has been completed, you can automate emails to encourage reviews of the product or to promote other related items.

In conjunction with these tactics, you should also regularly stay in touch with your email list to keep your business front of mind and to give your audience regular chances to buy from you.

The thing with marketing is that you need to have a good home base to direct your traffic to - that means an excellent website. So if your Shopify website could use some work, get in touch with us here at Creative Web Design today.