This is an article “The Real Skinny on E-Commerce” by Marc Primo
Don’t look now but the power of E-commerce is getting stronger despite COVID-19 wreaking havoc on world economies. You thought right if you sensed how the limitations on physical shopping is one of the main factors of how the future looks very promising for this new marketing technology. As nearly 100% of global businesses are now shifting to digital, more products being sold online are further populating the online marketplace, with even smaller businesses now in the running to make huge profits.
However, establishing a startup with E-commerce features can be rather challenging at the moment. Making every element efficient requires extensive market and tech research before startup leads can even decide on the perfect strategy. Knowing how E-commerce has evolved throughout its still short inception into the mainstream can give starting businesses an idea of how the technology can work for their products. For example, focusing on mobile marketing more than other gadgets can help you tap the right audiences while polishing your digital marketing tools such as search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing can boost your online visibility and sales by large margins in no time.
While more businesses are establishing their mark online through E-commerce, there are still many things to discover and apply to get the technology’s full advantage. So far, we know that it benefits both sellers and buyers in the digital space in how it offers greater convenience, more security, and quicker transactions for consumers, while also giving companies lower costs than maintaining physical stores, more possibilities for online engagement, brand building, and control in the tracking process.
If you want to find out the real skinny on E-commerce and what promise it holds in the near future, then read on:
Creating a user-friendly platform
Online buyers are very keen on selecting the right E-commerce platforms that suit their needs and address their pain points. Integrating such factors as themes and customization into your platform will help your customers through the whole E-commerce process and create a curated page for their wish lists and previous purchases. Plus, it will help you track your inventory and address any concerns your customers might have so you can respond much quicker.
More so for startups who are still looking to make a name for themselves, securing a custom domain name and URL is essential to build your brand in the E-commerce space. This would usually require expert support from third-party digital marketing vendors who can give your platform what it needs to be proactive online from extending customer support to creating content that is consistent with your brand.
You can also consult your vendor for the preferred payment options based on your customer demographic or provide multiple ways to settle payments within your platform to give it more versatility. Customers will always be looking for convenience in their E-commerce shopping experience so help them complete their transactions through easy step-by-step guides and flexible payment alternatives.
Optimizing your landing pages
Making your digital marketing strategy more efficient for your E-commerce platform means that you have to optimize every element within your landing pages and make sure they are compliant with most social media sites’ community guidelines or advertising policies.
Make your websites experiential in a way that they are easily accessed via whatever gadget users might be using. These days, the majority of consumers prefer to shop on their smartphones with an estimated 54% comprising the total E-commerce sales worldwide, and things are still looking up. Optimize your landing pages and make them more mobile-friendly with the right links within the page such as product descriptions, beauty shots, FAQs, subscriptions, and the like.
Increasing your sales
E-commerce and cater to a variety of niche industries out there and being specific in honing your platform for the right audiences can help increase your sales. Draft a strategy that would include A/B testing on both your website and social media ads in various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, or Tiktok and pick the best ones to place both your organic and paid ads. Determining your target audience makes it easier for you and your team to adjust both your content management and E-commerce features on your website to suit your audience’s needs.
More than identifying the right social media platforms and audience for your products, you can target specific buyer personas within your marketing funnel for email marketing. Today, over four billion people all over the world check on their emails for E-commerce which translates to an average return of $42 for every dollar ad spend.
The strength of email marketing is one that most E-commerce merchants overlook. They can be a good avenue to promote your future products and establish a more personal connection with your customers, giving them more reasons to come back and visit your website. Try out Mailchimp or Privy for your email marketing strategies and see the difference in your customer engagement figures.
Analyzing data and analytics
Lastly, optimize your pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine marketing (SEM) strategies the way you do your SEO. SEM has always been a proven approach in increasing E-commerce profits through busier website traffic from Google and other search engines. Again, this usually requires third-party assistance as establishing SEM and PPC campaigns requires meticulous analytics and research which can be culled and interpreted from such tools as Google Analytics. Unfortunately, Facebook Analytics is bidding marketers farewell this June leaving Facebook Business Suite, Ads Manager, and Events Manager the only available insight-giving tools via the platform.
However, another effective way to get great customer data and insights is through online surveys which you can integrate on your social media pages or websites. Well-drafted surveys can give you a peek at your customers’ preferences, purchasing habits, and on which platform they found out about your brand. Knowing these details can help you focus on what strategies and channels are working so you can boost more traffic to your E-commerce platform and improve customer experience.
The concept of E-commerce can be a bit daunting at first since marketers are only on the brink of scratching its full potential. But still, many possibilities abound and learning how it could work for your business can easily give you the epiphany that will increase your profits. Now is the right time to dip both your feet in the water!