The number of digital buyers - people who purchase online - has grown from 1.32 billion in 2014 to an anticipated 2.14 billion in 2021. That’s a lot of buyers and this market is only going to continue to grow. As a result, all types of markets are becoming more competitive, requiring business owners to develop new e-commerce marketing strategies to take advantage of these changes. If you are aiming to grow your e-commerce capability, here are some useful hints and tips to consider:
One of the most effective ways to understand your audience is to add analytics to your e-commerce site. There are two types of analytics that you should implement on your website.
Traffic analytics shows where your audience is coming from and how they are finding you. This can help you decide what marketing strategies you should deploy to get more traffic. There are also a number of useful analytics tools that will help you understand your audience’s location, age, and gender. Analysing this information will allow you to create your target persona - a very useful exercise that will help you develop better marketing strategies. Behavioral analytics will show what the users are actually doing on your website. For example, you can use Hotjar or Hotjar alternatives to get a heatmap for your website. These tools will help you see where users are clicking when they’re on your website. Using this information can help you better place the elements that get the most interaction which should lead to better conversion rates.
It’s vital to establish a presence in places where your audience is spending time. That basically means social media as billions of users spend over three hours every day browsing social media platforms - driven in no small part by the pandemic. Currently, the most popular platforms are:
If you’re unsure where to start, the best way is to boost your social media marketing skills. Once you’ve grasped the essentials, you can use your new social media skills to build a community around your brand.
Focus on building customer loyalty right from the start. There are lots of ways to do this but one of the most effective is to offer rewards. Establish a loyalty system through which members receive a discount or special offer from time to time. Share your discount coupons and loyalty rewards on social media. You could also consider creating branded custom merchandise and offer this as a reward. You could also tie in your sales campaigns with Google ads to drive new customers to your brand. So, not only will you reward your existing customers, but you’ll also attract new ones to your e-commerce site.
Organic traffic from search engines will drive some traffic to your site but you might also want to consider running Pay Per Click campaigns using techniques like google ads retargeting to get more customers. Identify your highest selling products and advertise them to your target audience. It’s often useful to create multiple ads and run them for a couple of weeks. Once the analytics data is in, you can see which ads perform best. Repeat this process, in the long run, to ensure you are running the most effective ads.
Running PPC campaigns allows you to target specific audiences based on their interests as well as geographical areas. You can also run promotional campaigns by creating promotional flyers to raise brand awareness or generate leads. If you don't know how to make eye-catchy flyers, use online graphic design tools such as PhotoADKing, Visme, Canva, and Crello. The main advantage of using these tools is that you don't need professional design skills, simply select your designs and begin to personalise as needed, and your attractive flyers will be ready in just a few clicks.
Don’t strive for perfection. The Director of Marketing & Partnerships for Outback Team Building & Training, recommends launching your campaigns as soon as possible. The campaigns will give you the information you need to fine-tune them. “Oftentimes, folks will try to perfect their campaigns as much as possible before launching them. This is a big mistake, in my personal opinion. The sooner you get your ads out there, the quicker you’ll learn about what works and what doesn’t.” he says. “Get your ads running asap, carefully monitor what’s working and what isn’t, and adjust as needed. The data you collect is more powerful than anything you can do before launching your campaigns”.
There are thousands of influencers interested in collaboration. This can be one of the most effective ways of promoting e-commerce sales. Working with influencers gets you to access different audiences through an ambassador who is trusted by their followers. This is especially true for smaller influencers, where conversion rates can be particularly high. If you’re not sure where to start, explore various influencer search platforms to establish potential collaboration opportunities.
Customer reviews are great for stimulating purchases, building confidence with new customers, and establishing credibility. Good customer reviews can even help with SEO. One approach to displaying customer reviews is to use a Shopify reviews app. This allows your shop or e-commerce site to collect reviews and show the best ones automatically saving you a great deal of time and effort.
For many businesses, growing or developing e-commerce is a crucial part of future business strategy. We hope that utilising some of the above approaches will help you steadily grow your business. The important part is to measure the effectiveness of every approach you take so you’re aware of what works and what doesn’t. Double down on strategies that bring great results, and enjoy the growth that e-commerce brings!
by Mohamed Sehwail | 25 Jan 22