Marketing is an important part of any business plan and strategy. Its primary purpose is to reach people and turn them into potential customers. To do so, marketers use various tactics and techniques to bridge the gap between the business and its target market and audience.
When the internet and online shopping came to life, a new form of marketing also emerged. Using old-school billboards, posters, newspaper ads, radio shoutouts, and tv commercials isn’t as effective in today’s web-dependent society. And since people spend a significant amount of their time on the web and even conduct transactions online, retailers need to find a way to break into the digital world.
Digital Marketing and Ecommerce
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The concept of ecommerce is simple. The industry refers to the sale of goods and services through an online or digital platform. It’s just like buying from the shop of your favorite clothing store. However, everything from browsing their collection, adding items to your cart, and paying for the said products occur online.
How does this work? The pillars of creating a traditional business and an online business are practically the same.
First, you need a place to sell your products. Instead of finding a prime location in the middle of the city or shopping hub, online stores create and secure a business website. This website will serve as the front of their online store where customers can visit to check their products and everything else they have to offer. On the other hand, the back end deals with inventory, stock management, shipping options, and other logistic business processes.
But what is the role of digital marketing in the ecommerce industry?
Marketing is the first step businesses take to reach an audience, find customers, and produce sales. So when the ecommerce industry changed the platforms and tools that marketers commonly use, digital marketing came into life. Digital marketing uses tactics, techniques, and strategies that are specifically effective in drawing the attention of an online audience. Much like any other marketing strategy, its purpose is to reach a target market and pique its interest. Digital marketing is also crucial for online businesses to boost brand awareness, increase online presence, and create a solid community in order to establish a loyal customer base. But instead of newspaper ads and tv commercials, digital marketing uses an array of online platforms and digital channels. This includes the likes of social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, and more.
Tips On Marketing As An Ecommerce Startup
One of the benefits of digital marketing for ecommerce businesses is that it encourages two-way communication which helps create a longer-lasting relationship with customers. Taking this into consideration, digital marketing is more than just selling digital products. Instead, it also involves nurturing customer relationships.
Creating an effective marketing strategy is essential to its success. However, startups may find it difficult to establish their footing in the beginning. With that, here are some helpful marketing tips for anyone thinking about starting a business online:
Choose the right digital marketing tools
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When you’re starting an ecommerce business, one of the most important things you need to figure out is how are you going to get people to notice you. What are the tools and steps needed for them to come to your website and hopefully buy something from your catalog?
It’s important for new business owners to understand that competition is tight in the ecommerce industry. A rough estimate puts the number of ecommerce businesses worldwide at around 12 to 24 million and this continues to grow each day. Therefore, new online entrepreneurs need to prioritize marketing to edge out the competition. To do this, it’s important to find and invest in the right tools to achieve their marketing goals. Some of the most popular digital marketing tools include:
- Hubspot – customer relationship management, email tracking, prospect tracking
- Canva – graphic design, content creation
- Semrush – search engine optimization, keyword research
Learn how web traffic works
Web traffic refers to the number of users that comes to and visits your website. It is often used as a metric for how your online marketing campaign is going and how effective your marketing tactics are so far.
For traditional businesses, it’s possible for a simple passerby to spot your store and enter with little to no probing. However, the chances of this happening for online stores and ecommerce websites are slim to none. Effective marketing techniques are needed to drive traffic to your website. And boosting website traffic also increases the possibility of a successful sale.
When the ecommerce industry was just starting, the sheer volume of visitors was used to determine the success and popularity of a website. However, web traffic means so much more than just visits to digital marketers nowadays.
In order to better gauge the success of a marketing campaign, marketers look at the quality of each website visit. While it’s possible for an ecommerce website to get millions of visitors, this doesn’t mean much when only a small percentage were turned into actual sales.
Instead of looking at the sheer number of website visits, it is better to look into the following qualities:
- Duration of website visits
- Nature of website interaction
- Website visit to sale conversion rate
Use the right type of digital content and platform
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Content plays a huge role in digital marketing. It is typically used to provide valuable information in order to create a connection with your target audience. However, it’s important to understand that different types of content work for different platforms, channels, and even markets.
In order to come up with an effective marketing campaign, it’s crucial to use the right type of digital content that would work for your target audience. In addition to this, it is also important to publish or post this content on the right online platform or digital channel. Choosing the right type of digital content will allow you to provide information that is easier to digest, relate to, and understand depending on your target demographic. Some of the most popular types of digital content include the following:
- Infographics
- Vlogs
- Short-form videos
- Interviews
- Blogs
- How-to guides
- Product reviews
- Listicles
- Livestream videos
- Photojournalism
- Email newsletters
- Memes
- Podcasts
- Webinars
Aside from the type of digital content, it is also important to choose a suitable platform or channel to publish your content. To do this, marketers need to know the demographics of particular platforms and online channels.
One of the easiest ways to look at this is by identifying the differences in users among different social media platforms. Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites nowadays however, it is safe to say that it doesn’t share the same demographic as avid TikTok or Twitter users.
A recent report shows that a large percentage of Facebook users are between the ages of 25 to 34 years old. On the other hand, most TikTok and Twitter users are teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 to 29. Knowing this can help you build a more suitable marketing strategy that would work on specific target markets and audiences.
Want to know more about effective marketing strategies? Sidekicks is an on-demand virtual company and we’re eager to help visionaries and entrepreneurs like you. Get a free ebook and learn more about how we can help you by signing up for our newsletter. We also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you prefer something more personal.
