10 Effective e-Commerce Marketing Techniques For Your Business
10 Effective e-Commerce Marketing Techniques For Your Business
Are you anxious about your low sales recently? Whether you are a new or experienced business owner, it is understandable that you would feel worried about your recent sales performance, especially if they are declining. After all, you want your investments to prosper and reach your business goals.
Fortunately, there are several ways to boost your sales through various online marketing techniques proven to help other businesses. However, no matter how powerful available online tools are, if you do not utilize them appropriately, they will not help your business reach more customers. So, familiarize yourself with useful tools and strategies first.
Here are ten effective e-commerce marketing techniques you need to scale your business:
1. Make your website user-friendly on all devices
Nowadays, customers do not only use their laptops or personal computers to shop online but also their smartphones and tablets. 54.8% of global website traffic in the first quarter of 2021 is generated from mobile devices. So based on this data, you must ensure that your website is user-friendly and accessible across all devices to guarantee a more convenient shopping experience for your customers.
To achieve this, you can browse the templates readily available on the web publishing platform you use and choose the one that fits your brand image the most. Platforms like WordPress already have templates that work well with various mobile devices, so using them will benefit you.
You can also work with professional web designers to ensure that your customers enjoy browsing through your catalog and have a smooth checkout process. Their experience and expertise in the field will save you time and allow you to increase your sales.
2. Optimize your website for search engines
Besides making your website accessible to all potential customers, you must also optimize it to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs). In search engine optimization (SEO), the higher your ranking is, the more visible you are to the users. Therefore, it is important to follow the criteria and algorithm set by the search engine.
Currently, Google is the most popular search engine in the world, which should be the basis for optimizing your website. However, it uses its own set of algorithms to determine the ranking of the web pages and websites, which can affect your web traffic and sales. Some factors that are taken into consideration are keywords, meta descriptions, images, content relevance, and backlinks.
However, there are other search engines, like Baidu, Yandex, and Naver, that are commonly used by people in China, Russia, and Korea. So if your target market is not using Google, you must also learn the strategies that will make your website rank high on their search engines.
If you’re not sure how to optimize your website accordingly, consider reading articles and watching videos related to it. However, it would be best to consult SEO experts if you want to fuel your online searches and achieve the best results.
3. Localize your content to reach more audiences globally
Not all business owners invest in content localization because they might not be targeting people from other countries. But if you intend to widen your audience, consider localizing your content, from blog posts to product catalogs.
Content localization is the process of transforming your content, whether audio-visual or written, into your target audience’s language. You are not only translating the content to their language but you are also ensuring that it is relevant to your target audience.
For example, you have content that includes a famous tourist destination. You can use another tourist spot found in your target audience’s country or region to localize this content. In this way, they can relate to your content and even recommend your product to their friends and family.
Through this process, you can attract potential customers from other countries to purchase your products, especially if you can ship globally. Moreover, this allows you to increase your brand awareness worldwide.
4. Write compelling product descriptions
If you are also an FBA Amazon seller, you already understand that product descriptions and bulleted features are crucial to attracting your potential customers and avoiding product returns. These contents inform them of your product features, dimensions, inclusions, and benefits, which help them visualize the item before purchasing.
Because product descriptions can be one of a consumer’s deciding factors while browsing your website, you must also write them persuasively and impressively. But, again, keep your target audience’s needs in mind and create descriptions that are complete and easy to understand. Also, ensure they do not have grammatical errors because these small details might turn them off.
Moreover, you must provide complete details and information about the product that they must know before buying. This way, they do not have to ask customer support should they want the basic details of your products.
Lastly, ensure that your copies reflect your brand’s overall image and story. For example, your brand offers organic apparel. In this case, it would be best for your product descriptions to reflect your brand’s goal of eco-friendly shopping and promote a sustainable lifestyle.
Writing copies or product descriptions can be tedious if you think you are not a skilled writer. So, it would be best for you to work with experienced copywriters and allow them to develop copies for your entire product catalog that align with your brand story and mission.
5. Create interesting and relevant content for your website regularly
You should not only use your website as an avenue to display your products and gather orders. Instead, you should also utilize this platform to share engaging content that encourages casual visitors to purchase your products.
Nowadays, business owners maximize the features of their websites to highlight their products, customer reviews, and blogs that inform their readers and promote their items. Depending on their brand’s nature, some blogs tackle Amazon suspension reasons, along with recent findings related to skincare products, helpful information about parenting styles, and many more.
Like writing product descriptions, you must also adjust your tone and writing style based on your target audience. Furthermore, it is essential to use jargon used by people in the industry when creating blogs. For example, your target audience is people from Gen Z. Then, it would help if you incorporate some terms they are familiar with, like “lit,” “glow up,” or “extra.”
Additionally, your content must be relevant to your target audience’s needs and current trends. For example, if you sell office supplies, you must create content related to students, young adults, or professionals working from home. Then you can introduce or include your products within the article and provide links to your shop. This way, they can easily shop and check out items after reading your blog.
6. Incorporate engaging visual elements on your website and social media profiles
According to a survey conducted by Top Design Firms in 2021, 40% of the consumers said that the visual element they value most on a company website is photos or images, 39% answered color, and 21% chose videos. This data reveals that shoppers consider the visual elements used on the website before availing themselves of the products or services offered by the brand.
Suppose they do not like your website’s overall appearance including photos and videos. In that case, they are most likely to look for another shop offering the same products but with better visual elements than yours. So, you can lose many potential customers and sales because of poor web design and low-quality visuals.
After all, humans are highly visual beings, which makes them more attracted to aesthetic objects or sights. Therefore, you must ensure that each photo or video you upload on your website or social media accounts is crafted well and suits current trends. This way, you make your customers and followers engaged and excited.
But to succeed in this, you would need the right equipment and tools. If you do not own professional cameras, consider hiring a skilled photographer or videographer for your content. Also, it would help for you to work with graphic designers and video editors if you want superb photos and videos for your website and social media profiles.
7. Maximize available social media to reach new customers and interact with customers
The rise of the internet in society has prompted the emergence of various types of social media sites that people enjoy nowadays. Despite being originally made for communication, social media now has a bigger purpose in the business world.
These days, if your business is not on any social media platform, you miss out on several opportunities for growth in sales and brand awareness. Therefore, you should also maximize available social media sites, like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, to reach new audiences and build relationships with your customers.
However, it would be best not to use all available platforms because it would be time-consuming and counterproductive. To avoid this, determine which social media sites your target audience often uses and post appropriate content.
For example, if your products are meant for mothers, using Facebook would be best because most of them are on Facebook during their free time. But if you target the younger audience and millennials, being active on Instagram and TikTok would benefit you. You can try maximizing their features, like stories and reels on Instagram and short videos with templates and filters on TikTok.
Finally, try to use these platforms not only to share content but also to interact with your customers and followers. You can like or respond to their comments, post product polls and surveys, and answer their commonly asked questions. The more engagements you get on your posts, the more visible you will be to your customers.
8. Collaborate with influencers and content creators
Sometimes, you need to work with other people who have more followers to reach more potential customers. It is because you might not be visible enough to people who would benefit from your products.
Fortunately, you can reach out to influencers and content creators with huge follower bases and collaborate with them to promote your brand and products. Often, business owners sponsor a content creator’s video as long as they can integrate the brand’s product into it. Meanwhile, some businesses select influencers to be their brand ambassadors to entice more customers, especially their current followers.
At this point, you might think that the bigger the number of followers, the better. However, it would be best to choose someone with a decent number of followers and create content related to your products and brand image.
It is because their followers are following them for their content, not their fame. Because of this, they are more likely to purchase your goods and services if they see them suitable for their lifestyles.
9. Launch paid advertising campaigns
It is challenging for businesses to be visible on search engines and social media, especially if they are new. Because not many people know them yet, they have to introduce themselves through other means that do not require huge followings or multiple product reviews.
In this situation, you should look into launching paid advertising campaigns. For example, if you are selling on online marketplaces, like Amazon or Walmart, take advantage of their Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads programs. In addition, the search engine giant Google and other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have PPC ads programs that allow sellers like you to advertise on their platforms.
If you are unfamiliar with how PPC ads work, it would be best to look for PPC ads specialists. They can be your guide to increasing sales using PPC advertising because of their skills and experiences in this field.
10. Make use of email marketing
Email marketing is now one of the most commonly used marketing strategies, not only in ecommerce but also in brick and mortar businesses. It functions similarly to a magazine subscription, wherein the customers give the company their home addresses, and they will receive something in return. The difference is that people who willingly subscribe to your email list or newsletter do not have to pay to get your emails.
So as a business owner, you can use email marketing to share valuable content, discount coupons, or exclusive deals to your subscribers and loyal customers. But, on the other hand, you can increase conversions if they like your offers. As a result, you mutually benefit from email marketing—they get information and good deals while you get sales.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you have several options to market your business online. Some effective ecommerce marketing techniques include making your website accessible to all devices, optimizing your website for search engines, localizing your content, writing compelling product descriptions, and creating engaging content on your website and social media accounts.
Furthermore, it would be best to use eye-catching visual elements on your website, maximize social media features to widen your audience, build connections with customers, and collaborate with influencers and content creators. Finally, consider launching PPC campaigns and using email marketing.
By doing these techniques, you can boost your sales, reach more potential customers, and scale your business.
AUTHOR’S BIO:
Jayce is the managing director of Seller Interactive, a top agency in helping brands grow on Amazon. His content marketing expertise has led him to work with brands such as Toyota and GoDaddy. He will use his vast skills to help D2C brands succeed through Amazon SEO services.