Having an eCommerce website is one thing, but utilizing it to increase brand awareness, traffic and sales is an entirely different beast. To achieve this, you will need to create a full-fledged, comprehensive eCommerce marketing strategy that meets your goals for customer acquisition and repeat purchases.
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy, but these ideas will help any eCommerce site build brand loyalty, boost sales, and create a seamless user experience for visitors.
Create a Personalized Shopping Experience
With so many eCommerce websites out there, only offering your products online isn’t enough to stand out. Your customers are expecting more. Meet their expectations and encourage them to come back by creating a personalized shopping experience, including unique deals and recommendations based on past purchases.
You can begin creating this experience by using Analytics to see which products they view the most, what kind of content they crave, the device they use to shop, and more. Once you have a general idea of how they use your website, you can start tailoring the user experience for them.
Start Loyalty Programs for Repeat Customers
Repeat customers should be one of your main goals, as most of the business that comes from an eCommerce website is from this group. Reward these customers through a loyalty program.
Loyalty programs are a fantastic retention strategy for your marketing strategy to keep customers coming back to your website. There are a few different kinds of loyalty programs that you can try out:.
- Reward points programs: The more someone spends, the more they can save on their next purchase. Keep the point system simple, so customers don’t need to calculate their point conversion. An easy start would be for every 100 points, the customer can receive $1 off their purchase. Customers can earn points either through the amount spent on an order or activities including registration, signing up for a newsletter, and more.
- VIP memberships: Amazon Prime is the perfect example of how VIP memberships work. By charging a small subscription fee annually, your customers can experience discounts and exclusive benefits. In Amazon’s case, members receive free shipping, video streaming, and fast delivery on thousands of products.
- Gamification: Everyone loves games! Keep your visitors hooked by implementing a fun game for customers to win limited-time discounts.
Make Sure Your Customer Service is Top Notch
Customer service is critical to building and maintaining a loyal customer base, and eCommerce businesses need to make sure their approach is seamless. Here are ways to improve your efforts:
- Watch your social media accounts: Many unsatisfied customers will take their frustrations out on your brand’s social media page, so make sure to keep an eye on them. There are a lot of social media monitoring tools out there that will help you see what people are asking/complaining about and answer them accordingly.
- Offer an online chat support option: Sometimes, we have questions about products or services we read about online, and, in today’s time-sensitive fashion, we want help right away. Online support is one of the most important things any brand can offer nowadays, and like social media monitoring, there are plenty of tools to assist with this.
- Long wait times are unacceptable: Everyone wants everything fast, and with so many businesses like Amazon setting the standard with speed in just about everything eCommerce, time is of the essence. All shipments, questions, complaints, comments or issues need to be responded to as soon as possible, so set a goal for your business to be prompt and make sure your customers are aware of it. Remember, quick responses build customer trust, which will improve your retention of loyal customers.
Surprise and Delight Never Fails
Go the extra mile for your customers by surprising and delighting them in ways they would never expect. Personalized offers, handwritten notes and giveaways are some examples of this, but get creative!
Take a Story-Like Approach to Email Marketing
Email marketing is still a powerful tool for businesses, especially eCommerce. However, your efforts can go from effective to spammy quickly, so be strategic about each email. One approach is to introduce your brand to subscribers by sharing your story and why your products/services exist.
By educating your subscribers with this memorable background information, you’re suddenly not just an eCommerce business; you’re a brand connecting with them on a human level.
Your eCommerce marketing strategy needs to be tailored in a way that keeps your brand top of mind, which will turn result in strong numbers. By implementing these strategies into your marketing efforts, you, too, can see numbers in your favor.
To learn more about eCommerce marketing, let’s grab a cup of coffee.
