The good news: Your eCommerce business is part of a massive industry that continues to prosper as consumers trends shift online. The bad news: You are but one fish among many in the same pond, competing for fickle customers with short attention spans… just a click from being snatched away.

These days, many retail brands have no option but to take their store online at the same time as new ecommerce brands join the fray. And it’s easy to see why: Canadian retail e-commerce sales increased by 70.5% in 2020.

To become successful in this highly competitive environment, your eCommerce business needs to focus on the right digital marketing strategies. You need to capture the attention of customers looking for the type of products you sell. You need the proper strategies to get them to find you, and you need these from the get-go. 

To boost your eCommerce business, make sure you’re following these basic digital marketing strategies.

Checklist For Success

Today’s consumers are extremely savvy when it comes to ecommerce. They have developed a full set of standards that they expect to see when they do their online shopping. It’s a language that has been refined by successive generations of online retailers. And now, you must speak it too.

Essential elements of any successful ecommerce website will include:

• A shopping cart system to allow customers to select items as they browse.
• A search box that allows for direct manual searches.
• A login box where for your registered users.
• Voice chat/phone number to allow for direct customer service.
• A range of payment options clearly displayed as icons.
• Social media links where you can engage with your customers.

This may seem like a tall order for a new business, but customers have come to expect this as the industry standard. And, if you won’t comply, your competitors will. 

A Brand to Believe In

Some people think that a brand is just a logo, but there’s much more to it than that. A logo serves as the symbol of your brand, but without the meaning and value behind it, a logo is an empty gesture.

As an ecommerce entity, your clients will largely experience your business through your website. That’s why an important digital marketing strategy is to establish your brand early. In addition to a logo, you need to provide your customers with a comprehensive experience that inspires their loyalty.

Make your website easy to recognize by establishing guidelines for brand colours, fonts as well as language and tone. Use on-brand messaging and formatting for a consistent experience. Provide an ongoing level of customer service that your customers will come to rely upon and trust.

As its most basic, a brand is the promise that a business makes to its customers. For this reason, it’s something that every ecommerce business needs to establish right from the start. To distinguish yourself from your competitors and build your own customer base, make your branding known in every part of your website.

The Buyer’s Journey

To get customers, you must think like a customer. You need to understand their wants if you’re going to fulfill their needs. That’s why it’s important for your website to cater to all parts of the buyer’s journey.

The buyer’s journey is a marketing concept that looks at the various stages a customer goes through during the entire process of making a purchase. These stages are individually known as Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion:

• Awareness: The customer becomes aware of a problem that needs to be fixed.
• Consideration: The customer looks for ways to solve their problem.
• Conversion: The customer finally acts on a solution, thereby ending their problem.

If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, the important part to remember is that your customers are unique; not only do they have different problems, but they are at different stages of their respective journeys. As an online retailer, you can’t treat them the same way. 

To be an effective ecommerce retailer, you need digital marketing that caters to different stages of the buyer’s journey. You need a strategy that takes these matters into account:

• Are they ready to buy? You need to present yourself as a great solution that is easy to find and simple to do. 
  • Try offering a website with responsive design that is powered with great search engine optimization (SEO).
• Are they looking around and comparing you to the competition? You need to present products and services that are high in value and competitively priced. 
  • Try lead generation, email newsletters, and offering promotions.
• Are they searching for answers about something that has come up in their life? You need to provide answers and info that provides value and builds trust. 
  • Try content marketing by writing blogs and engagement on social media.

Remember: Your customers require a nuanced approach. Through the buyer’s journey, you can gain a proper understanding of your clients and give them the customer experience they are looking for.

Validation 

Shopping over the internet certainly is more convenient, and yet the experience has become less personal than the in-store experience of old. 

Gone are the days when customers preferred to walk into a brick-and-mortar store to inquire about products. Now, with the focus shifting online, ecommerce businesses need to provide sources of validation that can assure customers.

Boost customer confidence with these important strategies:

• Online reviews: Customers put a tremendous amount of trust in online reviews. Be sure to encourage your customers to leave a review, and don’t forget to respond when they do. 
• Customer testimonials: Do you have loyal customers that love your business? Feature their words as a customer testimonial on your website. 
• Industry certifications: Demonstrate that your ecommerce site is safe to use by displaying industry certifications. These “trustmarks” icons can feature third parties such as Network solutions, McAfee, Verisign, BBB, TRUSTe, and GeoTrust.

Digital marketing is an ongoing strategy for all ecommerce businesses, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Once you’ve got these essentials down, your website is well on its way to getting the business you deserve!

Are you an eCommerce company looking for ways to expand your business? Are you looking for an agency to meet your digital marketing needs? Operatio Marketing is here to help! Contact us now to set up a discovery session!