Commerce over the internet is a growing field with plentiful opportunities for new entrepreneurs, and effective marketing is the key to success in e-commerce because it drives business to the company website. So, in this article, we have put together an easy to learn marketing techniques for e-commerce that will drive success.
Content Marketing
Content is king. That is the marketing mantra. Good content marketing drives customers to websites and keeps them engaged until they are ready to make a purchase. Everything on an e-commerce site needs to be precise, reliable and focused on the buyer’s journey. Informative, well-written descriptions of a company’s products and services let the customer guide herself through the purchasing process. Every word on an e-commerce site matters – even the tag titles that appear over pictures when a customer rolls across with his mouse. Good content doesn’t need to be literature, but it needs to be spelled correctly, free of grammatical errors, and user-friendly.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works closely with good web content. Well-written content writing will contain the keywords that customers use when searching for a product or service on Google or Bing. Keywords are just the beginning of SEO, however. The algorithms that rank search results (where a website appears in the list Google generates) is complicated, but two things are consistent: content needs to be fresh and original.
Ten years ago, it was enough to repeat a keyword multiple times on a web page. It didn't even have to make sense, and you could leave it there forever. Now the Google robot looks for content that is original and continuously refreshing. This is the main reason many websites have blogs. A product line may change only occasionally, but any company can post several blog articles a month.
Email Marketing
Almost everyone in the US has an email account. This is a great opportunity for any small business owner, but especially e-commerce companies. Email marketing allows entrepreneurs to reach thousands of customers with minimal cost. Emails can be personalized to fit each customer. One recent study found companies made $38 for every dollar spent on email marketing. Email marketing is clearly a skill that can drive e-commerce success.
Marketing Automation
The next step after starting an email marketing campaign is to take advantage of automation. Many parts of marketing can be automated, but email is the one of the easiest. Companies like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp provide simple forms that can be included on web pages to capture visitor information. Then emails are generated automatically according to the entrepreneur's preferences. A new business owner can use templates to create emails for everything from thank you notes to sale announcements.
Several social media posts can also be automated. The easiest way to automate social media is by using automation software and apps. There are hundreds of services that do this including Hootsuite, Hubspot, and Social Oomph. Each tool is different and takes time to set up, but once the setups are complete marketers can write posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in advance and schedule posts for a later time.
Data Analysis
Data analysis sounds intimidating, but getting started is actually relatively simple. Most e-commerce business owners use Google Analytics because it is free and the basics simple to learn. Google walks entrepreneurs through the set-up and analysis step-by-step. There are hundreds of videos available on YouTube to help beginners figure out anything they want to learn. Although Google Analytics offers plenty for beginners, it is an extremely powerful tool at the intermediate and advanced levels. Most Fortune 500 companies use GA as one part of their data analysis strategy.
Why is Google Analytics (GA) so popular? Google built GA to help users understand the ABC’s of customer information.
Many marketers see Google Analytics as a tool for guiding website design, but the data offers much more. Metrics from GA give entrepreneurs the information they need to make data-driven decisions about their entire marketing strategy. Start with understanding the customer, data guides marketers to successful email, advertising, and social media campaigns.
Conclusion
This is a great time to start an e-commerce business. More people shop online every day, and this trend will continue. Entrepreneurs who employ effective marketing strategies will connect with this growing customer base to ensure long-term profitability.
Misty Jhones