You are probably already sinking time and money into pay-per-click ads, an email newsletter, social media posts, and maybe even some SEO. However, these vanilla techniques will only get you so far, especially as the market gets more competitive with each passing year. You need powerful eCommerce digital marketing strategies that will actually produce profitable and beneficial results.
Digital marketing is essential if you want your online business or eCommerce store to succeed, but to achieve the best possible results, you need to be smart and flexible in your approach.
We put together this guide to help store owners understand how to promote their businesses by properly leveraging new and exciting digital marketing opportunities. Some of these techniques may be familiar to you, others not so much. What’s important is that you do your research into these methods and take action, because the most important thing to remember about marketing is that you have to be consistent.
Digital Marketing is Rapidly Changing
The first point that should be noted in regards to your marketing efforts is that the entire field of digital marketing is currently undergoing rapid and dramatic change. While old staples such as Google ads and organic social media outreach are still perfectly relevant, new platforms and strategies emerge seemingly every week, and if you aren’t utilizing at least some of them, your business is bound to get left behind.
One of the key differences between the marketing strategies of yesteryear and what’s currently popular, is the high degree of customer interaction and engagement that is now expected across the board. From a marketing standpoint, you have to ask yourself, how well are you communicating with prospective shoppers and long-term customers alike? What are you doing to not only improve sales but establish relationships?
Shoppers want to feel like they are a part of something. The idea of brand appeal itself has changed. Rather than simply supplying a reliable product, a brand has to provide shoppers with a complete experience. How easy is the shopping experience? How relatable is the content they share on social media? Is their email newsletter worth subscribing to? Do they do live streams or engaging blogs?
You might think some of this kind of content is irrelevant in eCommerce, when in fact these strategies could be what puts your online store on the map.
If you want your eCommerce business to prosper, you need to be ahead of the curve and change with the times.
Get Creative With Your eCommerce Digital Marketing
You don’t want to be doing what everyone else is doing when it comes to your digital marketing. If you are relying on the same techniques you and your competitors were using 5 years ago, there’s a good chance that there is a massive disconnect between you and your shoppers.
There is a certain expectation these days for people who shop online. Anyone can log onto Amazon for instance and shop until their heart’s content. What are you doing to stand out and offer a better experience? More importantly, what are you doing to connect with your shoppers?
Online shoppers don’t just want to be sold to, they want to be inspired. All of your eCommerce digital marketing needs to reflect this, from the content you post on social media to the way you approach your SEO.
Are the marketing strategies you are using creative? Do they help your business stand out compared to your competitors? Consider the following points:
- What social media platforms are you using and are you leveraging all of the features on these platforms?
- How sophisticated is your paid advertising strategy?
- How much keyword research did you perform in order to come up with your SEO strategy? Are you targeting what your competitors are, and is your content better?
- Is your SEO and PPC strategy eCommerce-centric?
- Are you focused solely on trying to get people to buy your products or are you investing time in providing free value in your marketing?
- Would you be moved to purchase a product or inspired to care about a brand based on the current tactics you are using?
Creativity and innovation should drive your marketing efforts, which is why it’s often more effective to invest in an eCommerce marketing agency that has plenty of experience when it comes to developing comprehensive strategies as opposed to basic cookie-cutter plans.
Let’s take a look at a few digital marketing strategies for eCommerce that you should think about adopting as soon as possible if you want to give your business a competitive push.
Effective eCommerce Digital Marketing Strategies to Consider
There are hundreds of different avenues to consider when talking about digital marketing. From running ads on YouTube to viral Tweets, press releases, backlink outreach, and Facebook groups, there is truly endless opportunity out there.
The question is, what methods are actually effective and worth investing your time and money into so you don’t get overwhelmed? It’s virtually impossible to try and pursue every avenue of marketing that’s available, so knowing which ones are the most viable is a huge advantage.
An Aggressive eCommerce SEO Campaign
The first arm of any innovative digital marketing campaign is a sophisticated SEO campaign that is well thought out and aggressive in its approach.
There is a good chance that your competitors that rank higher than you in Google are already pulling out all the stops with SEO. There are no more “accidental rankings,” especially in eCommerce, which is fiercely competitive.
What does this mean for your eCommerce marketing strategy? You need to make sure you are covering all aspects of search engine optimization, from in-depth keyword research to a smart content strategy that relies on SEO-driven blogs and powerful backlinks. Everything from on-site SEO and technical updates to careful competitor monitoring need to be considered.
It’s important to make sure that you are not dropping the ball with your SEO, which is why we highly recommend getting the help of a dedicated eCommerce SEO agency like us if you intend on ranking successfully for your desired keywords. SEO is one of the most potentially lucrative and impactful arms of digital marketing for online businesses, but it only works if you invest accordingly.
Tell a Story Using Social Media
Most eCommerce businesses are already using social media to one degree or another, but are you using it to its fullest extent? Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are not just for posting nice pictures and sharing updates.
Your customers want to feel like they belong to something. Tell an engaging story within your marketing strategy in order to create a sense of progression and build onto your brand image.
To get the most out of these platforms, you should learn how to tell a story that your customers can relate to. It doesn’t matter what your goals are for the post, whether you are providing some insight into your packaging methods, exploring customer opinion on a new product line, or simply letting your social media fans experience a part of your little world, you should always keep the storytelling element in mind.
Your fans want to know what is going on behind the scenes with your business, what you are doing in your daily life, how you operate your store, the trials and tribulations of running your business. For many users on social media, this kind of content is far more important than the products themselves. Unless you are in some kind of exclusive niche or have really cornered the market on a certain product, the element that is really going to set you apart from the crowd is your brand.
And to formulate a powerful brand, you need powerful and relatable digital marketing techniques that will help to promote real engagement and get people thinking about your cause.
Which social media platforms are best for telling a story? Try leveraging Facebook and Instagram stories, as well as TikTok, for this purpose. You can add a wide range of quickly digestible content this way, while telling your unique story. The best part about the “story” format is that it is featured more prominently in feeds, so your content has a better chance at being seen by your loyal fans.
Instagram itself is a great place for sharing a “behind the scenes” look at your business through visual storytelling. You don’t have to limit yourself to product photography or sales promotions. In fact, you are much more likely to spark genuine interest in your business by posting something heartfelt and personal rather than simply promoting a product. This way you make that real connection which in turn translates into sales later down the line, as well as a loyal customer.
Advertising With a Purpose
If the only goal of your eCommerce PPC is to get clicks and sales, you are going about it all wrong.
Look at paid advertising as a way to get in front of prospective customers, which is at times difficult to pull off organically. This is a rare opportunity to promote your brand message and strengthen your image. When used correctly, PPC ads can be used for so much more than just pushing traffic.
Think about how you can tell a unique story or provide value with your ads. It doesn’t matter which platform you are advertising on. Even Google ads offer a little room to get creative and share your personality with prospective customers. You don’t want to offer up the same old copy and graphics that users have seen a thousand times. Creativity and purpose will get you far here.
Be Your Own Influencer
Have you heard of influencer marketing? We have written quite a bit about it in the past, because it is one of the fastest-growing ways to promote your products and make connections in certain eCommerce niches.
However, you don’t always have to perform influencer outreach just to leverage the influencer “space.” Have you considered positioning yourself as an influencer in your own niche?
You are your own best influencer. Position yourself as an expert on your products and industry and promote yourself throughout your digital marketing to bring depth to your business.
As an eCommerce business owner, you have the rare opportunity to put yourself in the spotlight and become an authority in your industry. You can do this by routinely sharing your wisdom and personal story on social media, writing about your journey in blogs, offering workshops and live streams, and simply being an active participant in your own niche.
Over time, shoppers will become familiar with who you are and you will become your own marketing tool. Not only will users search for your products, but they will also search for you as well, because they know you are a trustworthy source of information.
Remember, people resonate with people more than they do businesses and brands. If you have a lot of great information to share, don’t do it “through” your business alone. Position yourself as an expert in your field and actually promote yourself by offering what you know to the world. People will attach themselves to your cause and become long-time customers.
Explore New Platforms to Gain an Edge
While there is certainly some wisdom in being where your competitors are, there’s also reason enough to explore where they aren’t, as well. This could mean venturing into the unknown, onto social media platforms that you have never used before.
If you are interested in staying ahead of the competition and also ensuring that your business is aligned with current trends, it might pay off to establish yourself on new channels. Platforms like Pinterest, TikTok, Telegram, and even Reddit all offer exciting ways to potentially reach new customers and build your brand.
While a new or obscure platform doesn’t necessarily guarantee more attention or more traffic to your website, you do want to be aware of current trends and make genuine efforts to connect with your customers. Knowing where your customers are and reaching out to them in places where they are comfortable is also an important part of eCommerce digital marketing. If you are only limiting your marketing efforts to Facebook and Twitter, for instance, you could be unknowingly limiting your reach where you could otherwise be making easy gains.
How to Create a Powerful eCommerce Digital Marketing Strategy
All of these different platforms and techniques might be somewhat beyond your bandwidth or capacity to explore, and that’s understandable. After all, digital marketing is a massive arena that is always shifting. It can be difficult to even know where to begin, which is why it might be worth your time to give us at Genius eCommerce® a call.
We are an expert eCommerce marketing agency that truly understands what customers are looking for. We drive results using comprehensive strategies that address all aspects of marketing. We cover everything from full-scale SEO campaigns to new and refreshing areas of promotion and sales such as Facebook and Pinterest marketing. If you want to get your name out there and strengthen your eCommerce brand, we’re the team to contact.
