Every industry, and business type, requires a slightly different approach to marketing to see the best results and achieve the goals they are trying to achieve.
For eCommerce businesses, the main goal is to get more people to your website and achieve more sales once they are on the site!
What is an eCommerce business?
An eCommerce business sells products through online channels such as a website or social media channels.
Usually, eCommerce companies or online shops cater to customers nationwide or globally. This means millions of potential customers are out there; you just need to reach them! You’ll need to focus heavily on your online presence through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and channels such as social media and emails.
The importance of a dedicated marketing strategy for eCommerce
As your business doesn’t have a physical location, marketing can often look different to traditional methods.
For your eCommerce marketing strategy, you will need to emphasise digital marketing methods, including:
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): the process of optimising your website to improve its visibility in organic search results, such as Google Search. This aims to increase traffic going to the site and requires consistent effort to stay at the top!
- Email Marketing: involves sending commercial email messages to a group of people. This is a popular online shopping marketing method, as it helps build relationships with your audience and drives direct traffic to your site. Consider including discount codes or sending your latest products in email updates.
- Social Media Marketing: involves creating and sharing content on social media channels. This is great for building a community, engaging with them, building brand awareness, and driving people to your eCommerce website.
Each eCommerce marketing method can help you to achieve different goals, but they all work in tandem with one another to help you achieve the main goal: more sales!
eCommerce SEO
With over 8.5 billion Google searches a day and only 0.63% of people clicking onto the 2nd page of Google when they search, optimising your site to reach the first page of Google is undoubtedly essential in your strategy. This is where SEO comes in…
Given the fierce competition in the industry, a well-executed SEO strategy can be the key to getting ahead! Successful eCommerce SEO strategies include:
- Optimising product listings with relevant keywords and descriptions.
- Optimising category pages with relevant content and internal links.
- Building high-quality inbound links to product pages.
- Ensuring the overall website architecture is user-friendly and search engine-friendly.
By carefully tailoring the website to the needs of both customers and search engines, eCommerce businesses can increase their visibility, attract more qualified leads, and ultimately increase sales and revenue.
However, SEO is a skill that takes practice and dedicated time. If you are running a busy eCommerce business, the chances are that you don’t have the time to do this yourself. The value of hiring an eCommerce SEO specialist can’t be understated.
Check out an eCommerce SEO project we worked on here.
Social Media Marketing for eCommerce
Social media can be a great strategy if you are wondering how to boost eCommerce sales.
With social media being an integral part of the daily lives of millions of people worldwide, it presents a significant opportunity for eCommerce businesses to generate brand awareness and reach new customers.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest can be used to showcase products, promote sales events, and interact with customers in real time, building a strong community and brand loyalty.
Organic social media marketing is often used to build brand awareness and gain followers, but eCommerce businesses can leverage paid advertising, social media influencers, and hashtags to target specific audiences, amplify their reach, and drive conversions. A social media marketing expert can create specifically targeted ads that effectively generate leads for your business.
By implementing an effective social media marketing strategy, e-commerce businesses can increase brand visibility, drive traffic and conversions, and ultimately grow their business.
Email Marketing for eCommerce Businesses
Email marketing is essential to any eCommerce marketing strategy. It allows businesses to communicate directly with customers and subscribers and keep them informed about the latest products, promotions, and sales.
With email marketing, businesses can segment their email lists by demographics, preferences, and behaviours and send targeted messages that resonate with their audience. This personalisation and segmentation can improve engagement, click-through rates, and conversions.
Email marketing can also be used to nurture leads through the sales funnel, re-engage inactive customers, and build lasting relationships with subscribers. By incorporating effective email marketing tactics like automation, personalisation, and A/B testing, businesses can increase brand loyalty, drive traffic, and boost sales, making it an ideal marketing strategy for eCommerce companies.
In a Nutshell
As you can see, marketing for online shopping brands requires dedication and a customised strategy to be successful. It takes time and sustained focus, so is often something that is outsourced by businesses.
TFA is a leading marketing agency based in Milton Keynes, serving customers worldwide. We have worked with eCommerce clients to build stunning sites, boost their organic traffic through SEO, enhance their social media presence, and generate custom through email marketing.
Get in touch with us to find out more about eCommerce marketing, or check out our projects and let our work do the talking.