Digital retail has become the main way in which we sell and shop. Very few brands, mostly small and local, have maintained a strictly brick-and-mortar presence, while the vast majority of all old and new businesses have transitioned into the eCommerce realm almost seamlessly. Now, the only question that remains is how they can increase their relevance in a constantly growing pool of digital businesses. One of the most effective ways remains, of course, marketing.
A proper marketing strategy to target your eCommerce audience and earn the spotlight instead of your competition is what makes all the difference today. It’s expected that there will be over two billion online buyers in 2021, so the slice of that digital pie you’re looking to claim can be rather vast and profitable. Making sure your brand is visible, memorable, and authoritative is vital, and building the right marketing approach to dazzle those millions of shoppers is vital. Here are a few eCommerce-approved tactics to add to your strategy.
Reviews and testimonials front and center
We live in the era of building trust over increasing sales. One inevitably leads to the other when done right, so eCommerce brands invest more time and effort into creating strategies that inspire feedback from their customers. Putting that feedback to work should be a major part of your marketing strategy if you want to truly earn your audience’s trust and preserve your reputation.
Reviews are a great visibility and trustworthiness vessel both for search engines and your customers. It should be your top priority to survey clients, seek feedback, and publish it regularly – and invite customers to do the same on other platforms that support feedback. This digital word of mouth is by far one of the most effective marketing tools in your arsenal.
Make yourself social media-friendly
When you sell toys, books, or fashion garments, we can safely say it’s relatively easy to connect with your audience, educate them, and start a conversation. One of the greatest issues specific eCommerce brands face today is the inability to establish an emotional bond with their customer base, especially when they sell very niched products. To tap into these connections, businesses need to use social media platforms to establish a presence, connect with their audience, and position themselves as leaders.
This is especially vital for industries that need to go that extra mile to connect with their audience, such as eCommerce brands selling oilfield equipment online, since it takes more than just product descriptions and a sleek site to connect. Using social media for this precise purpose is what these industries need to build a strong marketing presence – answer questions, build a rapport, inspire user-generated content, and engage on a regular basis.
Pairing up with influencers
At this point, influencer marketing is certainly not a new concept. It has become a must for most brands no matter their niche, especially because it gives a personal, human dimension to digitally-focused brands. It’s the simplest way to help your customers relate to your brand as more than just another business. What matters is that you need to focus on quality over quantity and choose people with the right outreach and the right values. Otherwise you risk alienating your target customers with overly sales-y content.
Then, you should focus on evolving that relationship, rather than perceiving it as a one-off deal. That way, you can develop a mutually-beneficial bond that will help your customers see how your products look and feel in real life, and hear from someone with first-hand experience on how to make the most of your products.
Optimizing checkout
New issues constantly arise when you own and run an eCommerce store. You always need to make sure your product descriptions are up to date, your backend operations smooth, and your images salable for all devices. Alas, some older issues persist even among newer brands, making online purchases less than optimal and user-friendly, one of them being the checkout process. If it’s too complex, too vague, or doesn’t appear to be secure, your customers will likely abandon their cart. However, even the smoothest of checkouts can serve as an unused source of marketing for businesses.
This is your chance to cross-sell or upsell relevant items and offer products that previous customers have shown interest in when buying the item in the cart. This is also a chance to offer holiday discounts for your on-sale items and inspire your customers to add a few more items to the cart. However, it’s key not to overwhelm the user with too many options, otherwise it can seem spammy and may discourage them from purchasing at all – it’s all about the balance.
The world of eCommerce will never be just a selection of a few strategies fit for a few predominant industries. In fact, as eCommerce continues to grow, you need to find new and innovative marketing strategies to appeal to search engines as well as your target audience. Make sure to keep these time-tested tactics in mind, and you will give your business the advantage needed to succeed and grow.
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