Anna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Anna Baluch ContributorAnna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Written By Anna Baluch ContributorAnna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Anna Baluch ContributorAnna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Contributor Rob Watts Managing Editor, SMBWith over a decade of editorial experience, Rob Watts breaks down complex topics for small businesses that want to grow and succeed. His work has been featured in outlets such as Keypoint Intelligence, FitSmallBusiness and PCMag.
Rob Watts Managing Editor, SMBWith over a decade of editorial experience, Rob Watts breaks down complex topics for small businesses that want to grow and succeed. His work has been featured in outlets such as Keypoint Intelligence, FitSmallBusiness and PCMag.
Rob Watts Managing Editor, SMBWith over a decade of editorial experience, Rob Watts breaks down complex topics for small businesses that want to grow and succeed. His work has been featured in outlets such as Keypoint Intelligence, FitSmallBusiness and PCMag.
Rob Watts Managing Editor, SMBWith over a decade of editorial experience, Rob Watts breaks down complex topics for small businesses that want to grow and succeed. His work has been featured in outlets such as Keypoint Intelligence, FitSmallBusiness and PCMag.
| Managing Editor, SMB
Updated: Jul 19, 2024, 3:33pm
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Even if you have the best product or service, there’s no guarantee your e-commerce store will succeed. That’s where e-commerce strategy comes in. With a solid e-commerce strategy, you can build brand awareness, drive traffic and increase sales. It can mean the difference between a thriving online store and one that struggles. Whether you’re new to e-commerce or consider yourself a seasoned vet, this handy guide to e-commerce strategy is sure to steer you in the right direction.
An e-commerce strategy is an organized set of plans or tactics that help your business sell products or services online. It takes a strategic approach to marketing your offerings so you can drive traffic, convert visitors into customers and retain them once they’ve made a purchase. The right e-commerce strategy depends on a number of factors, such as your particular target audience, branding and customer experience standards. That’s why it’s important to tailor your strategy to meet your unique goals.
There are a variety of reasons why an e-commerce strategy is not an option but a necessity in today’s increasingly competitive digital marketplace. A strong e-commerce strategy can do the following:
As you ideate your business concept, your brand is crucial as it gives you an identity and allows you to build relationships with your audience and eventually land new customers while retaining current ones. An e-commerce strategy that aligns with your brand can improve the way visitors perceive your business and position you as a leader in your industry.
With an e-commerce strategy, you can gain new customers and in turn, increase revenue. There are several tactics that will enable you to ensure the ideal prospective buyers not only land on your online store but take action and make a purchase.
Research shows that it’s more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. An e-commerce strategy is a great way to transform one-time buyers into repeat buyers who choose you over your competitors.
It can be difficult to improve your online store if you don’t know what’s working and what’s not. With an e-commerce strategy, you’ll be able to view data related to your target audience and their actions. You can use this information to make changes and improvements as needed.
At the end of the day, you’re in business to make money. As long as it’s well thought out and implemented, an e-commerce strategy can help you identify inefficiencies and create an exceptional online shopping experience that increases your revenue and improves your bottom line.
An effective e-commerce strategy doesn’t rely on one tactic or activity. Instead, it involves a series of them. Here’s an overview of the types of e-commerce marketing you may want to consider.
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SEO improves the visibility of your online store in Google and other search engines. It’s important if you’d like your customers to find you organically. While on-page SEO focuses on adding keywords into your headers, meta descriptions and URL, off-page SEO is all about backlinks from reputable sites in your industry.
Original, high-quality content educates and interests your audience so that they trust your brand and eventually become loyal to it. It can also improve your SEO rankings. The most common forms of content marketing include blogs, newsletters, videos, social media posts, white papers and videos.
Pay-per-click advertising, or PPC, is an advertising model where you pay a fee each time a user clicks one of your relevant online ads. You’ll create campaigns that cater to the demographics, interests and locations of your audience. Then, you’ll set a maximum bid for the keywords you wish to target.
Also known as SMM, social media marketing uses various social media outlets to connect to new and existing customers. It can drive traffic to your website, promote your products and services, and educate your audience about your business or trends in your industry. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube are several examples of the most popular social media outlets you might want to incorporate into your strategy.
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Influencer marketing involves an influencer who promotes your brand to their social media followers. It’s a partnership in which you compensate the influencer through cash, free products or discounts. With influencer marketing, you can increase your reach and social engagement.
Affiliate marketing is when a third party, such as an influencer, blogger or website owner, creates content to promote your products and services. In exchange for their efforts and the clicks, leads or customers they bring to you, you’ll pay them a commission. Ideally, you’d partner with a number of affiliates who can reach your audience.
Email marketing uses email to send target messages and promotional content to new or prospective customers. It’s an affordable strategy that involves an email list of individuals or businesses who are or may be interested in your brand.
Short message service, or SMS, marketing is similar to email marketing but uses text messages to send promotions to customers. Along with email marketing, it requires customers to opt in or sign up for your texts. Texts should be short, sweet and to the point.
Now that we’ve gone over what e-commerce strategy is, why it’s important and the types of tactics it may include, let’s take a closer look at the top strategies that can lead to a successful online store.
First and foremost, do your research and learn about the different e-commerce platforms at your disposal. To help you zero in on the right one, consider your budget, how many products and services you’re trying to sell and which features are most important to you. Free demos and free trials can give you a better idea of how these platforms work and which one is a good fit for your business.
Make sure your website is in a good place. If possible, work with a professional web designer and developer to ensure your design is easy to navigate, SEO-friendly and compatible on all devices. Don’t forget extra features your customers may find useful, such as a shipping calculator, chatbot and appointment or meeting scheduler.
When you upsell, you recommend add-ons or a more expensive product or service after a visitor shows interest in an offering. Cross-selling is a similar strategy where you suggest similar or related products or services. Both of these techniques can encourage customers to add more items to their cart and spend more money at your online store.
It’s not uncommon for users to add a product to their cart without purchasing it. The good news is you can set up cart recovery campaigns to remind or encourage these users to go ahead and make a purchase. A few examples of cart recovery tactics that may allow them to reconsider their decision to abandon their cart are abandoned cart emails and exit-intent pop-up messages.
A strong email list can give you many opportunities to connect with leads and customers through emails and newsletters. To acquire email addresses, you may use landing pages, lead magnets such as e-books or white papers, pop-ups, sign-up forms and discounts.
Once you have a list of subscribers, send engaging and targeted emails to encourage opens, clicks and, ultimately, conversions. Make sure your emails are highly personalized, visually appealing and include compelling subject lines and clear calls to action.
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A robust strategy made up of different types of original content, such as blogs, videos, infographics and podcasts, can help you stand out from your competitors. It’s a good idea to create a content calendar that outlines the type of content you’ll share with your audience and when you’ll share it. Remember that content creation should be ongoing and unique.
A fast and easy checkout experience can increase conversions and revenue. To improve it, be sure to accept multiple payment methods, including digital payment systems, accept guest checkout, remove any hidden or surprise charges, and only ask for the information you need to process payments and orders. Free shipping, one-click checkout, progress bars and auto-complete can also be worthwhile.
Sometimes, all it takes to motivate users to take the plunge and make a purchase is a good sale or discount. If you decide to offer sales and discounts, make sure your audience is aware of what they are and when they’ll take place through content on your website, email marketing, SMS marketing and social media marketing. Your discounts should be catchy and have an emotional appeal that makes your users feel good about purchasing.
Free shipping is a huge selling point for many customers, especially those who have limited to no experience with your brand and are skeptical about making a purchase. If you’re unsure of whether free shipping would be worth it for your online store, you can always offer it for a limited time and implement permanently if you’re pleased with the results.
Loyalty programs can allow you to retain customers and keep them coming back. They also show that you care about those who are loyal to you. Customer loyalty programs can involve exclusive coupons, vouchers and rewards. If you go this route, set up manual or automated triggers that ensure an easy redemption process.
You can say that you offer the best products and services but unbiased, positive reviews from your customers are far more impactful. Display positive reviews about your offerings and customer experiences directly on your website, social media outlets and emails. Social proof can build trust and lead to more purchases.
Also known as an A/B test, a split test gives you the chance to evaluate different variations of a web page, email or ad to see which one performs best. You can use it to optimize the customer experience, lower cart abandonment rates and increase return on investment (ROI). To create a split test, you’ll need an original or control version and a modified version of the control with tweaks to content, design, colors and/or buttons.
It’s in your best interest to help your customers any time they have questions or issues. Otherwise, they may get frustrated and turn to your competitors. Remember that your customers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get the support they need. To make things easy and convenient for them, offer a self-help knowledge base, live chat, phone and email support.
Once you understand what types of products and services are selling well, you can get a better idea of what to add to your lineup. New offerings position you as an innovative brand that constantly strives to satisfy your customers and meet their ever-evolving needs. They also keep your online store fresh and exciting.
There’s no denying that a powerful e-commerce strategy takes a great deal of time and effort. But it may be the key to more leads and conversions. No matter your industry, it can give you the opportunity to effectively sell your products or services to customers in different states and countries and thrive online.
The four Cs of e-commerce are convenience, choice, customization and communication. These factors can help you create a profitable online store.
A successful e-commerce strategy involves a number of tactics or activities that promote your offerings to new and current customers. It doesn’t happen overnight and usually takes trial and error.
E-commerce strategies are not created equal. That’s why the best one depends on your specific business model, target audience and goals.
There are a few different ways you can build an e-commerce website. You can use an e-commerce platform, such as Shopify or BigCommerce, which provide everything you need to get started. Alternatively, you can use WordPress with a WooCommerce plugin or Ecwid plugin. Finally, you can use a DIY website builder, such as Squarespace.
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ContributorAnna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family. Connect to her on LinkedIn.
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