The eCommerce industry is becoming a more lucrative playing field by the day, which means it’s becoming more competitive. Sure, you stand to gain a lot by opening your own online store, but you also run the risk of getting swallowed by the bigger fish in the eCommerce pond. If you want to compete with the best and the biggest players, you need to invest in the right marketing tactics and adhere to the winning marketing rules. After all, digital marketing is the main driving force behind eCommerce success nowadays.
However, before you go ahead and waste your entire marketing budget on every tactic in the book, understand that it pays to build a marketing strategy that works for your business and niche. To do that, you need to adhere to the most important marketing rules. Here are the essentials you need to know and implement into your marketing plan.
Deals and discounts are not forever.
The first rule of eCommerce marketing you need to keep in mind is that people don’t like missing out. One of the timeless marketing tactics for eCommerce brands is FOMO or the fear of missing out, and it serves to incentivize and inspire people to buy now or risk missing out on a limited-time offer. FOMO is a big part of digital marketing psychology, which aims to reshape the consumer mindset and influence consumers’ actions without pushing them away with sales-oriented content.
For the most part, it’s important to regularly drop special discounts, deals, and limited-offer items to engage your audience, build interest around your brand, and guide people to your store. But that doesn’t mean that these deals and discounts should stick around forever. Be sure to put a time limit on your promotions and deals, and tell people that time is running out. You can even allow them to pre-purchase the products before it hits your store to ensure sales right off the bat.
AdWords campaigns for more clicks and conversions
One of the most important elements of successful eCommerce marketing is, of course, paid advertising. Nowadays, you can’t hope to stand out from the crowd and improve your conversions if you’re not investing in online ads because the top results on Google are the ones that receive the most clicks. This means that you need to leverage Google AdWords to craft relevant, impactful campaigns that will bring more traffic and conversions to your store.
If you want your eCommerce business to thrive in such a competitive environment, then investing in professional AdWords management becomes an essential part of your growth plan. Keep in mind, though, that running paid ad campaigns is not just about maximizing profit and traffic – it’s also about minimizing your financial investment. If you’re not sure how to do all of this yourself, get a professional team to ensure financial stability and a high ROI.
People trust other people more than fancy marketing.
Tailoring ads and content to your audience’s preferences is important, but it’s also important to remember that modern customers trust other customers more than brands. In simple terms, you also need to leverage user-generated content and build social proof for your eCommerce brand to gain your target demographic’s trust.
You can do this by integrating a social proof tool on your site to display notifications to visitors every time someone buys a product. This will show them that your site is alive and well and that others are buying from you. Next, be sure to focus on user-generated content like photos, videos, reviews, and testimonials to show the potential customers you can be trusted.
No abandoned cart left behind.
The truth is, no matter how big your eCommerce brand is, only a small percentage of your potential customers will actually convert. Most of the time, people will abandon their carts, and while the reasons behind cart abandonment are important, ultimately, your goal is to get those customers back and inspire them to finish their purchase. So, the final rule is that you should leave no abandoned cart behind, or in other words, you need to establish contact with the customer right away.
You can automate this process and have personalized emails sent directly to their inboxes as soon as they opt out of the purchase, or you can wait 24 hours to see if they will come back all on their own. Typically, you will be able to bring them back without offering a special incentive, but you will need to tailor the offer to inspire them to finish the purchase on occasion. This also opens up numerous opportunities for upselling, so make sure to take cart abandonment seriously.
Wrapping up
The eCommerce industry is getting more competitive by the day. If you want to ensure long-term success, then you need to focus heavily on digital marketing. Be sure to use these timeless marketing rules to set your eCommerce brand apart from the competition and win over the hearts and minds of your target demographic.
