E-commerce marketing strategies are methods online-based businesses use to attract and maintain a customer base. To grow your brand, expand your customer base, and keep your existing customers engaged, you need to have an e-commerce marketing plan in place, specifically, one that caters to all three categories.
Here are some digital marketing strategies that you can apply to your e-commerce website that can further help strengthen your business and improve customer relationships.
Search engine optimization is the process by which keywords, links, and other components enhance a website's chances of appearing higher up in a list of search results. The higher up a website appears, the more the chance of a user finding the site and clicking on the link, thus attracting more site traffic than websites without SEO implementation.
Optimized sites get more traffic because of the way search engines function. Search engines are programmed to analyze web data in order to produce what they interpret as the best results for what the user searched for. They look for websites with the most relevant keywords and backlinks.
Keywords are words or phrases that you can incorporate into the content on your website to enhance your chances of appearing higher on a search results page. To find keywords that best match your brand or industry, use a keyword software program. You can install some for free as part of the internet browser you use, or pay for more advanced software. This allows you to see which keywords are used in searches the most and which to include on your website.
Backlinks are links you incorporate into your website's content via anchor text. They link to other internal web pages or articles on your website. Search engines use backlinks to establish a website's credibility. Therefore, the more backlinks you have on your website, the more credibility your site will receive, and the more likely a search engine will choose your website to appear in top search results.
Content marketing is when a business uses blog posts, guest articles, infographics, videos, white papers, eBooks, how-to guides, and other informational videos and articles to enhance the likelihood of attracting and keeping new customers. It also allows you to expand your audience while cultivating a strong business brand. Here are some examples of how you can use types of content marketing for e-commerce success.
Another way to better market your e-commerce store to customers is by providing them with an easy checkout experience. Include the following components in your checkout feature to potentially increase your sales:
These checkout elements help customers to review their order and make changes to their order within seconds. If they have to perform extensive work, such as deleting items and going back to your product page to re-select a different color or size, they may decide not to purchase from you after all.
Reviews are an excellent way to promote the credibility of your website while also elevating the worth of your products. Include customer reviews in the following areas:
To get written testimonials or statistics, email existing customers asking them to review their experience with you, provide a comment section on product pages, and provide a contact page where customers can ask questions and write about their experience with your products.
Advertise your e-commerce site by maintaining an active presence on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Post about new products, current sales, or customer testimonials and pictures with your products. Another great way to market your e-commerce site via social media is by retargeting potential customers. To do this, you first have to install cookies on your website. Then, when someone visits your website, those cookies remember what products they engaged with. Using that data, the cookies create ads on webpages and social media platforms that encourage potential customers to carry out the buying process.
Email marketing allows you to stay connected to your existing customer base. Create a monthly or weekly newsletter that potential and existing customers can sign up for. In the newsletter, you can announce new products, promote product sales, or even include your latest blog. To encourage your website's visitors to sign up for your newsletter, you can insert an electronic sign-up sheet on your home page, in the checkout process, or under product pages. You could also include a sign-up sheet on your about page to maximize customer engagement.
Personalize your customer's buying experience to amp up your marketing strategy. Do this by creating a membership option for new or existing customers. Each time members log in to your website, they will be greeted by a programmed phrase like "Welcome Back!" or, "Here's What's New!" followed by their name. This could help them feel valued and encourage them to engage with your business regularly.
By taking the time to implement one or more of these e-commerce marketing strategies into your business practices, you can cultivate a strong foundation from which you can achieve new growth. Measure the results of each effort to continue improving your marketing strategy.