E-commerce Digital Marketing Made Easy
What is the perfect e-commerce marketing strategy? If you haven't already, you should start with our guide on why wordpress is the best e-commerce solution so you have a solid foundation. If you have your foundation set, then for marketing it is highly debated as to the best strategy. Even experts cannot answer this question because, as in other areas, here too, the game rules change from year to year, incorporating the newest and recycling the old-fashioned. Each store has to find its most suitable online marketing strategy. With our recommendations, you can optimize them, regardless of whether they focus on search engine positioning, on social networks or if display advertising is combined with large email Marketing campaigns.
1. Don't forget SEO
Search engines are the most important channel for a user to reach a store. In search engine optimization or SEO, several factors come into play: the technical implementation, the concept of the page, the content, the link profile, and the keyword strategy. SEO measures have a long-term effect on visibility and traffic.
2. Mobile Sales
The use of mobile devices to make online purchases grows unstoppably. So the central role of tablets and smartphones in the daily life of many users is clear, and with this, the importance of optimizing online stores also for mobile commerce.
3. Find What Sets You Apart
The competition in the field of e-commerce is enormous, so the first thing that should be done is an analysis to define what differentiates your company among all the others (USP or Unique Selling Point). In this way, you will lay the proper foundations for a marketing strategy for your online store. The lowest price is not always a definitive argument. Sometimes users prefer particularly fast or even free shipping, or impeccable customer service.
4. Take Advantage of Customer Valuations/ Recommendations
Once you have defined what sets your business apart from your competitors, it is time to let the customer communicate it: this is the so-called word of mouth marketing. By linking stores to social channels and valuation platforms, customers have the opportunity to value companies by acting as advocates or through testimonials. Actively requesting the customer's opinion through a CTA (call to action) in the confirmation of shipment or payment, transparency is transmitted and trust towards the company is strengthened. These valuations are not only a loyalty instrument but also adverts.
5. The Perfect Content Strategy
If relevant content is offered and specifically tuned to the audience, you can pick up the customer at the right time of the commercial life cycle (customer life cycle). This concept designates the path that the client follows from the first contact with the company, perhaps from an advertisement, until the end of the commercial relationship with the purchase.
Providing useful information to the customer not only arouses their interest but also attracts their attention to a specific product. Therefore, optimized content also serves as a form of communication with the target audience. Through the appropriate content strategy, it is possible to adopt a certain product or service to your expectations and make it palpable, establishing a personal level of communication that will later serve to build a relationship with the potential client.
From an SEO point of view, good content improves ranking, widens the range and increases the conversion rate.
6. From Potential Customers to Leads
There are online marketing measures for eCommerce that do not aspire to close a contract or sell a certain product. Often, it can be much more important to generate the so-called leads (contacts or requests), especially when the client is still at the beginning of the process and is only looking for information.
This is how users are contacted who have not yet made a purchase decision, but who are interested in the products or services offered by the company. These leads can be subscriptions to the newsletter or a download for an electronic book. Later, you can continue promoting contact through advertisements or individualized content.
7. Enhance Usability
All these strategies to attract customer attention are useless if the user leaves the store without buying. To prevent this from happening, it is advisable to check the usability of the pages and processes that make up an online store (product descriptions, shopping cart, box, etc.). The most frequent frustrating factors in eCommerce are excessive load times, complex and poorly structured pages and un-met expectations, especially if the user, due to poor optimization, has come to the store through keywords that do not correspond to the content of the page. The shopping cart and payment methods are another weak point.
8. Encourage Conversion
A further step is having elements that seek conversion. Along with the aforementioned customer evaluations, it is also possible to include the so-called trust seals that, strategically placed on the home page and in the purchasing process, transmit the quality and reliability of the store to the visitor. Another motivating element is HTPPS encryption, recognizable in the small green padlock in the browser window, next to the store address.
Before you set out to increase traffic or conversion rates, you have to lay the foundation for marketing measures to pay off. Along with solid software and flawless performance, attention should also be paid to the usability of the store. Investing the budget in complicated SEO, PR or social media strategies without optimizing the eComm store for both mobile and web platforms does not achieve remarkable results. With optimization, the quality of the contents and processes of the store is improved. The marketing strategy comes later.
