Crafting an effective digital marketing strategy for ecommerce businesses is crucial.

Not only does it help you stay ahead of the competition, but it also helps build sustainable growth for your business. 

Why is digital Ecommerce marketing so important?

You might be asking yourself if investing in a digital marketing strategy for your Ecommerce business is really worth it. But it comes with a myriad of benefits for your business. Including:

• Helping you reach a broader audience,
• Engage your customers more effectively,
• Build better long-term loyalty,
• And ultimately to more sustainable growth and revenue.

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Our top tips for creating effective digital marketing strategies for Ecommerce

We’ve put together seven ways you can market your ecommerce business. And don’t worry - there’ll be tips and tricks you can pick up regardless of your business size. Including both short-term and long-term strategies and options for both larger and smaller budgets. 

1. Use search engine optimisation to improve your website

Using SEO will help make your website more discoverable, so that people who are looking for the products you sell are more likely to find you. 

Here’s how to do it:

• Research

Do some research on relevant keywords that you think potential customers might use to search for your products. Tools like Google’s KeywordPlanner is a great free option to help discover some hidden gems. Once you know what keywords to use, make sure you use them across your website. But don’t spam! You’ll get marks against you if search engines think your website is just spamming the end audience.
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• Optimise content

Think about the different types of content on your website for example product descriptions, category pages and even blog content. Each type of content will work great for certain keywords. For example, a blog is a great place to get people who aren’t quite ready to buy e.g. “10 shoe styles to wear to a wedding”. Now, you could then utilise the blog to advertise your shoe selection. 

Alternatively, your commercial pages will focus much more on keywords where people are more ready to buy. Think of things like “cheap red shoes” or “affordable work shoes”. Each individual content should be optimised for the right types of keywords. 

Top tip: Don’t try to target too many keywords per content article. It’s much better to focus on a handful of keywords you want to rank for than trying to somehow rank for 20+ keywords. 

• Make sure your website is technically SEO sound

It doesn’t matter how well your website targets keywords or how great your content is if your site sucks technically. Things to watch out for include making sure your website loads quickly, that it is mobile-friendly and has a user-friendly site structure. Basically, the more usable your site is, the better you’ll rank overall.

• Put effort into building backlinks

A backlink is a link from an external site that links back to yours. Now, not all backlinks are created equally. For example, a link from the BBC news site is hugely valuable and would boost your website hugely, whereas a link from a small blogger will carry less value. 

Now, you’re probably thinking that backlinks sound great but how on earth do you get them?! Well, there are multiple ways you can achieve it. For example, guest posting is a good way to get compatible businesses to link to one another. Other ways include making sure you’re linked in relevant online directories. But the best long-term way of doing it is by creating high-quality content that people will want to share and talk about. 

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2. Have an Ecommerce PPC strategy

Using paid advertising (or pay per click) is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your ecommerce website. 

What is paid ads (PPC)?

Paid ads, or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, involves a business paying a fee each time their ad is clicked.

Now Ecommerce business typically use several types of PPC ads, including:

• Search Ads: These appear at the top of the search engine results for relevant keywords, targeting users actively searching for specific products.
• Product Listing Ads (PLAS): Also called shopping ads, these display product images, prices and descriptions directly in the search results. These are a popular ecommerce PPC strategy because they attract buyers using visual appeal.
• Display Ads: Often used in remarketing campaigns, these ads target users who have already visited a site but not purchased. By displaying ads on various websites and social media platforms, you can capture their attention and drive them back to the site, increasing the chances of conversion.

3. Content is king

We’ve already discussed content marketing under optimising your site for SEO, but content does more than just 1 job. Yes, it will definitely attract more visitors to your website but it can play an even more important role. 

When done right, content can be used to educate your audience (and convince them of your expertise) and ultimately convince them to buy from you.

Types of content used in effective marketing strategies:

• Blogs or articles
• Product guides
• Tutorials
• And if you can, use user-generated content.
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4. Social media strategy for Ecommerce

Social media platforms are powerful tools for ecommerce businesses to use. They allow you to connect with customers, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales. 

Here are 3 social media strategies to think about:

• Choose the right platform for your brand. For example, Instagram and Pinterest are ideal for visually appealing products. However, LinkedIn is better for B2B Ecommerce. Don’t waste your efforts on the wrong channel. 
• Post with a reason to. Make sure you have a content calendar with a mix of promotional, educational and engaging content. Nobody wants to be sold to 24/7, so capture attention through a variety of content types.
• Actively engage with your audience by replying to comments, messages and reviews. And if your channel isn’t getting any love, look for appropriate influencers to interact with. Search for any questions being asked by users where you know the answer. Doing this actively can help your brand foster loyalty and even boost customer retention.
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5. Don’t overlook email marketing 

With SEO, PPC and social media, you’re heavily reliant on 3rd parties. You could be posting amazing content, but you’re subject to the whims of the algorithms. Whereas with email marketing, you have control over who you send your content to (as long as you have explicit permission). It allows you to directly communicate with customers using personalised marketing messages designed to convince them to visit your site and buy your products.

‍What email marketing strategies should an Ecommerce business use?

‍There are 3 key strategies that you need to include in your email plan. Segmentation is going to be your best marketing friend. Divide your list into segments based on customer behaviour, preferences and even demographics. This way you’ll be able to implement the 2nd strategy, personalisation. 

Using a personalised marketing approach means you’re far more likely to actually get a bite. After all, you don’t want to be sending a 45 year old single man offers about children’s clothes. They’ll never buy if you’re giving them the wrong offers. 

And the last one is automation. You’re busy enough running your ecommerce empire, you don’t need to be manually emailing potentially hundreds of customers who have signed up to join your newsletter. It’s better to invest some time initially to set up an automation ‘Welcome’ campaign series. That way it can run in the background, generating website traffic, driving targeted offers and sales… all without your intervention!
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6. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing can be huge for product based businesses. Some companies find they’ll sell out practically instantly after an influencer collaborates with them. 

‍Three tips for working with an influencer:

• Make sure they’re relevant to your business or audience. There’s no point picking an influencer whose target audience is young 20 somethings without kids if you’re selling family based products. Yes, you’ll get a lot of attention, but probably very little from people who will actually buy from you. 
• Most brands when looking for influencers will insist on only working with people who have at least 200,000 followers. But in doing so you could miss out on a gold opportunity. Micro-influencers (people who have between 10,000 and 99,999 followers) are actually very profitable collabs. Not only will they tend to be a lot cheaper, but micro influencers often have a lot more engagement than larger followings too. 
• Don’t get starstruck by ‘vanity metrics’. Yes, getting eyes on your business is great. But make sure you’re actually looking at what it drives. It’s better to look at things like engagement, website traffic and actual sales. This can help you properly assess the effectiveness of a partnership.

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7. Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)

This is where you focus on improving the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, such as purchasing.

‍Key CRO strategies for Ecommerce businesses:

• A/B test different versions of headings, call-to-actions and product images to see which resonates best with your audience. 
• Add trust signals such as customer reviews, secure payment badges and money-back guarantees can go a long way to instilling trust in potential buyers. 
• Improving simple things like shortened checkout processes and faster load times can actually have a dramatic impact on your overall conversion rate.

Want more advice on how to sell items online? Check out our article that will get you selling items like a pro in 2024. 
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‍Partnering for success: Explore Crunch for your accounting needs

‍As you implement your digital marketing strategy and scale your ecommerce business, managing your finances efficiently is crucial. Crunch provides specialised online accounting services designed to support ecommerce businesses of all sizes. 

Crunch offers tools and expertise to help you stay on top of your finances. Explore how Crunch can simplify your accounting processes and empower your ecommerce growth.