Crafting a robust eCommerce marketing strategy is crucial for online retailers to thrive. With countless businesses competing for audience attention, it's essential to adopt effective eCommerce marketing solutions to stand out. This article will explore popular marketing channels as a starting point for tailoring your eCommerce strategy to your particular industry. We’ll also highlight how our agency, Develo, can align seamlessly with your internal marketing team, to support your online activity.
Understanding eCommerce Marketing Strategies
eCommerce marketing involves using various channels to drive traffic to your online store. You can then implement further strategies to convert these into paying customers and nurture them to encourage repeat business. A well-rounded eCommerce marketing strategy integrates suitable tactics to reach and engage your target audience effectively. It’s important to remember that not all tactics are suitable for every niche and audience.
Key eCommerce Marketing Channels and Their Benefits
There are many different marketing channels used in eCommerce. Below are some of the most popular and effective digital marketing channels but you should also explore traditional marketing such as print and PR, event marketing, catalogues, TV & radio.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO builds credibility and increases organic traffic by improving visibility on search engines. There are several ways to implement SEO as part of your strategy, read our SEO 101 guide here.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
PPC is where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad via platforms like Google and Facebook. It can be ideal for driving traffic quickly, increasing visibility and achieving measurable ROI. The biggest benefit of PPC is that you only pay for actual clicks.
eCommerce Content Marketing
This includes writing blog posts, developing video content, and creating infographics and social posts to attract and engage potential customers. This type of marketing builds brand authority and helps you connect with audiences who may not be that receptive to traditional advertising methods.
Email Marketing
Reach your audience directly through regular email newsletters. Platforms like Klaviyo can seamlessly integrate with your website to make your email campaigns work harder. You can segment your database, create personalised campaigns and set up ‘flows’ to nurture leads and encourage repeat business.
Social Media Marketing
Engage with your audience across platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest. With social media marketing, it’s important to research your audience and where they spend their time. There’s no point putting content out there if your audience won’t see it.
Social media is ideal for building brand awareness, building a community and driving traffic to your website. It can take time to get your strategy right on social media but there are several resources like The Marketing Club and Semrush that often post free tips and advice.
Influencer Marketing
Identify key individuals and brands to collaborate with. Influencers usually have an engaged audience with whom they have developed trust. Brands can leverage this credibility to increase reach and improve brand awareness. This is usually in the form of sponsored content or gifted products and services which the influencer will then review.
Influencer marketing can help you tap into your niche and improve authenticity, however, it’s important to take time to identify relevant individuals and analyse their audience and values to ensure your business aligns.
Tailoring Strategies of eCommerce Marketing to Your Business
The best eCommerce marketing strategies are those that have been carefully crafted for your business, not just a one-size-fits-all approach! Consider your business type, target audience, values and goals. Here are some examples of the types of eCommerce strategies you can build:
Luxury Fashion Brand
For a luxury fashion brand, the focus may be on creating an aspirational image and offering an outstanding shopping experience for the customer.
Channels: Social media, influencer marketing, and content marketing.
Strategy: Invest in high-quality photography to share across social, collaborate with high-profile influencers, and produce content that highlights the exclusivity and quality of your products.
Increase demand by setting up exclusive groups and communities via your website and social channels and foster a seamless experience between the two. Consider hosting influencer events to generate a buzz around your products across social media.
Technical Products Brand
Technical products often require detailed information and education to drive conversions.
Channels: SEO, content marketing, and email marketing.
Strategy: Focus efforts on creating detailed product descriptions and enhance your product listings with video tutorials, specifications and comparison guides. Use SEO to ensure your pages rank well on search engines and nurture your leads with an effective email marketing strategy.
Sports Footwear Brand
For a sports footwear brand, the focus should be on performance, quality, style, and community.
Channels: Social media, PPC, SEO and influencer marketing.
Strategy: Use social media to encourage user-generated content, and showcase athletes and real customers using/reviewing your products. Sponsor events and use hashtags and competitions to drive engagement and awareness. Run PPC campaigns targeting your niche and collaborate with sports influencers to improve brand authority.
Crafting a Seamless User Journey
It’s important to consider your customers’ journey across all touchpoints from their first interaction with your business during the awareness phase, all the way through to purchasing or repurchasing. As well as the channels we’ve mentioned above, you should ensure continuity with your brand messaging and campaigns when your audience reaches your site and throughout their journey.
The design of your website and how you showcase your products, services and promotions should be carefully considered to ensure your hard work of generating traffic ultimately converts into sales! Many eCommerce platforms like Magento also provide lots of opportunities for integrating your marketing channels to provide seamless user journeys and record useful analytics.
How Develo Can Complement Your Marketing Efforts
Although we are a Magento development agency at heart, we complement our core offerings with digital eCommerce marketing services from our expert team, including building websites with UX/UI design, Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and SEO baked in from the beginning, and email marketing to help our clients improve their online presence. By working with Develo, you can leverage our expertise to support your team and enhance your current eCommerce marketing strategy.
A fine-tuned eCommerce marketing strategy is pivotal for online success. By understanding your business and customer needs, and carefully choosing the correct channels, you can effectively reach and engage your niche, drive sales and nurture customer loyalty.
Ready to take your eCommerce marketing to the next level? Get in touch to see how we can enhance your efforts with CRO, SEO & email automation.
Rebecca Ebdon-Taylor
eCommerce & Project Management Specialist
Rebecca is a Project Manager and Marketing Specialist who has been working in eCommerce since 2012 and has been with Develo since 2022. She became certified in Digital Marketing in 2015. Rebecca enjoys the diversity of digital marketing, no two days are the same and the evolving nature of marketing means she is always learning something new! Outside of work she can be found walking her cocker spaniel or playing netball!
Develo is a leading Magento agency and eCommerce web development company based in Birmingham, in the UK, serving clients globally since 2010. Our Blog covers topics around the array of services our certified Magento Developers offer, including Hyvä themes development, Adobe Commerce, PunchOut catalogues, ERP integrations and much more. To speak to a friendly member of the team about your next project, contact us here.
