Ecommerce is the fastest growing form of sales in the world today. While marketing for e-commerce can differ quite a bit from more traditional methods, learning the right marketing moves can give a significant boost to your bottom line.
Let’s review the four essentials of e-commerce marketing that you should consider in your next campaign strategy!
Visuals
From product photos to reaction GIFs to video clips that show your product in motion, e-commerce marketing must be visually strong to drive traffic. When you fail to present your merchandise in an impactful and professional way, your customers are far more likely to abandon their shopping carts, or not even bother to click through to learn more.
That said, it’s about more than just taking pretty photos of your products; how can your visuals be used strategically so your brand stands out from other competitors in the market? A great example to emulate is the product listings for jewelry e-commerce company Boho Magic, who use the same wood background for all products to create consistency while emphasizing the unique features of their turquoise and silver wares.
Social Media
No matter your personal feelings on the platforms, social media has a big impact on sales, especially for ecommerce! Platforms like Instagram and Facebook now make shopping and product discoverability a seamless experience. Instagram is an ideal platform for ecommerce businesses to expand your product’s reach beyond its purchase page, and take full advantage of those strong visuals you’ve invested in.
Again, ecommerce jewelry business Boho Magic has a strong Instagram feed that’s full of shopping options, reviews, and details, while still showing a cohesive visual brand in both posts and highlights.
Content Marketing
If you’re selling a product online, do you really need articles and videos to generate transactions? You sure do! Many businesses, especially smaller ones, believe that the heyday of blogging and link building is long past, or that other forms of marketing are more likely to produce results. The truth is that content marketing remains a fantastic strategy to draw attention (and customers) to your online store by improving your search engine rankings.
When you consistently publish new content, especially posts that are search engine optimized, Google notices, and makes it easier for your online store to rank naturally. You can find a great example of content marketing at ecommerce store Lash Professionals, who post keyword-heavy blogs on their products and related topics to boost their search rankings.
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing just means sending text messages for promotional purposes, and it’s incredibly effective for e-commerce brands! If you run time-limited offers or regular updates that need to be read immediately, SMS marketing is for you; it’s become the preferred way to increase brand visibility, customer satisfaction, boost loyalty, and increase revenue. Fun fact: if you are already using email software for your eCommerce store, that software might already have SMS features built in!
Here’s a couple of real world example of smart SMS marketing: Lily and Llama, an e-commerce store that offers pre-packed hospital bags for expecting mothers, offers a SMS opt-time program on their front page, where a customer can receive 15% off when they text LLAMA to a specific number.
And Lash Professional offers inclusion into their VIP list with a pop-up on their website asking for mobile numbers!
Email Marketing
Leverage the surprising power of email marketing solutions to generate sales for your store! Email marketing is not just about sending out newsletters; it’s a sophisticated array of strategies that can significantly elevate your e-commerce business’s presence in the digital space. Your email strategy can be as simple as sending a reminder email to people who abandon their shopping carts. It can also be detailed, numerous campaigns that work together to multiply sales. Whether you choose promotions, coupons, store updates or lead nurturing, email marketing for e-commerce is how to build relationships with your ideal customer.
Lash Professional has a cute call-to-action to ask customers into signing up for their emails.
While Lily and Llama entice their newest sign-ups with an immediate discount!
There are so many options when it comes to marketing for e-commerce, but if you aren’t working with at least one of these strategies, you could be leaving money on the table. Apply what you’ve learned to your own e-commerce company today!
