The advent of the internet has changed the perspective of people about minor things like shopping. People are attracted to ecommerce because it gives them ease of access, a plethora of options, variety, and infinite benefits over traditional shopping. The process of evolution in business does not end at ecommerce. New and innovative technologies have been introduced in the ecommerce industry making the shopping experience more and more smooth for customers.
The number of online shoppers has gone beyond 2 billion and these numbers are expected to grow faster than ever. These benefits attract more and more vendors and entrepreneurs toward ecommerce. The competition makes sales even harder to come. They require a very strong, aggressive, and continuous marketing strategy. Marketing is not the same anymore it has grown from simple posters to social media marketing. Internet is behind all of these inventions and alterations. The pace of change as far as marketing is concerned is very fast and you have no other choice but to fall in line.
There are many forms of ecommerce available but one thing that is common in all of them is that if they want to grow they need an effective ecommerce marketing strategy. Platforms like Shopify offer a built-in feature to help in marketing. Shopify services include integration that is made to assist the ecommerce vendor to develop a better marketing strategy. As the new year is underway let’s see what are the new ways to help you in your marketing efforts.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the basic and most important form of marketing as it provides the launch-pad for other marketing strategies and channels. It requires important information about the business like the company goal, mission, target market, and then on these bases how to access them. These pointers are very helpful in launching a strong marketing campaign.
The first step toward successful ecommerce marketing is knowing what you want from your business. What are you looking to achieve from your business? A clear vision and mission statement is very helpful in this matter. After you get the goal of your company aside, now is the time to determine who are your customers. This is very crucial as it will decide what channel and message you are going to implement in the marketing. For example, you cannot use a strategy you used in a western country in a Muslim country and vice versa.
There are tools powered by AI that are very helpful in the processes mentioned. These tools are being used widely today to provide a more accurate and precise analysis of the market. Another importance of content marketing is that it is a very vital part of SEO and I don’t need to tell any ecommerce vendor about the importance of SEO. Unique and targeted content is the lifeline of every successful SEO. Effective and constant SEO means high conversions and even higher revenue. We can see that almost all the websites in 2021 have a landing page just for blogs and infographics. This is very helpful in ranking your website and making you visible to online shoppers. But your content must be fresh and intriguing otherwise it would backfire pretty badly.
One of the most important elements of content marketing is user-generated content. UGC is a very strong driver of conversion and sales. Most of the Millenials and GenZ decide whether to buy a product or not based on the reviews about that product. These testimonials and reviews are certifications of quality and ambassadors of your brand.
Email Marketing
Email marketing can be considered a branch of content marketing. If we say that by far the most advancements have been made in email marketing it would not be wrong. People don’t like to be poked every time they log in to their social media accounts or while they are watching a video. These are the reasons why Google ads are losing their effectiveness because the majority of people skip these ads before even reading the message.
People prefer these promotions to be in their inbox rather than in their faces all the time. Email automation is one of the best things that ever happened to email marketing. The use of AI in ecommerce marketing is providing ecommerce vendors with information about the behavior of online customers according to their previous shopping history. When we combine these features with email marketing we get something incredible that will provide a personalized experience to the customer, something they long for and expect from every ecommerce vendor out there. Appropriate product recommendation helps in the return of customers that comprise the highest percentage of sales.
Social Media
Social media started as a platform for people to socialize with each other and share their thoughts and ideas with the word. Today social media is the most lethal weapon in a marketers arsenal. If used properly you can achieve something beyond imagination. But the other side of the coin is not very pretty. If a customer is not happy with you he will tell 6-7 people but on social media, these numbers will become a serious trouble for you. So you must decide which channel and what content will suit your brand better.
Instagram is the fastest-growing social media channel platform for ecommerce with over 1 billion users out which 500 million are online every day. The app has changed from just a platform to share pictures to a vital ecommerce platform as it launched its own checkout. Pinterest is another channel people favor when they are researching to buy something online or just to see what is new in the market. Facebook is no doubt the king as far as ecommerce marketing is concerned even after its privacy blunders that are causing some serious damage to the popularity of the brand. Maybe its time of decline has started but at the moment it is the biggest social media channel in the world. Twitter is also very effective for product launch and news about the new offers and merchandise.
The effect of social media has given life to another marketing category i.e. influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is very helpful for ecommerce vendors who cannot afford celebrities. New facts and figures show that when buying people prefer the recommendation of an internet influencer over the word of a celebrity.
A word of advice
The process of devising an effective marketing strategy for your ecommerce business might look like Mount Everest at the beginning but I am here to tell you that once you see the outcomes you will see that it is worth every drop of sweat. The tips and trends mentioned above are not the end, you have to see what is best for your business
