This article has been written by Gaurav Kant Lohiya.

Introduction

In this article, we are going to talk about effective digital marketing strategies for online retailers.  So that you can truly understand what online marketing is and use the strategies which other giants used to effectively grow your business.

According to Statista, global e-commerce sales are estimated to reach $6.33 trillion in 2024 and are expected to exceed $7.96 trillion by 2027.

If you are planning to start an online store, then this is good news for you. This means that the e-commerce pie is going to get bigger and bigger, and you can get a bigger share of it.

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After the pandemic, we are seeing a big change in people’s behaviour. People have shifted to online mode for shopping instead of going to stores. Online stores also offer a wide variety of choices in your hands and also have good discount deals.

Thanks to the global logistic providers who have created a global system where consumers  now have access to products that were previously unavailable in their local markets, and that too at a much cheaper price.

Consumers worldwide now spend more time shopping online than offline. Even if they are buying from a brick-and-mortar store, their buying decisions are heavily influenced by online factors. Like comparing prices online and looking for product reviews before buying the product either online or offline.

So today, it is very important for any e-commerce owner to create and implement effective marketing strategies that are directed towards their target audience to grow their business online.

Digital marketing strategies for retailers

Here are some digital marketing strategies that should be implemented by online retailers to grow and sustain their business online in 2024.

Create content that attracts 

The internet has significantly changed global consumer behaviour.  And so do the marketing strategies with it. Unlike offline marketing, we have to attract customers instead of forcing our marketing onto them. You can’t just show your products all the time and say, “Hey, this is us, and you should buy from us.” No, it doesn’t work like that anymore. 

So how can new business owners implement digital marketing strategies to create awareness about their brand and attract more and more customers? Help your customers by creating educational and helpful content for them, which solves their problems, and if they appreciate your help, then they might choose to explore your products and services and eventually end up buying them.

This strategy of attracting your customers towards your business by creating helpful content tailored to your customers is called inbound marketing.

A business can create a variety of content like blog posts, social media posts, infographics, videos, etc., helping the customers throughout the different stages of their buyer journey.

By helping its customers with valuable content, a business can create meaningful relationships with them; this can create a positive brand image,  resulting in more traffic, conversions and loyal customers. 

For example, if you sell herbal products, you can create content on health tips, nutrition, diet, and weight loss.

Optimise for search engines 

Creating content is just the first step; you have to make sure that the content reaches the right audience as well. If you can not reach  your target audience effectively, then there is no use, even if the content is written by Shakespeare himself. And to make that happen, we need to implement SEO strategies for our website. 

Search engine optimisation means optimising your website so that it can be easily crawled and indexed by search engines, making it appear in the search results when your target audience searches for the keywords relevant to your products or services.

We can divide SEO into three main types, i.e : On-Page, Off-Page and technical SEO.
On-page SEO means optimising the local elements of a website, making it more readable and accessible for search engines to read and index it. Such as:

  • Create and optimise meta titles and descriptions.
  • Create internal links.
  • Using Alt text to media like images, videos, etc. 

Technical SEO is optimising the technical aspect of a website, which involves things like:

  • Solving indexing issues
  • Using redirects for the deleted pages
  • Improving website loading speed.

SEO is a very important factor that every online retailer should keep in mind when planning about online marketing. It not only increases a website’s visibility and search rankings, bringing more traffic, but also helps in building a strong brand reputation by building trust, authority and a delightful user experience.

Use email marketing 

Do you know that

Email is the most effective way to have personalised communication with your customers. You can create personalised email campaigns retargeting your website visitors or delighting your existing customers through personalised discounts and offers and product suggestions based on their purchase history.

If you don’t have an email list ready yet, start building one. Email is the most effective marketing channel when it comes to personalised communication with your customers.

Create a strong social media presence

It is impossible in today’s day and age for an online business to be absent from social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube are like business hubs; together, they boast the highest number of internet traffic worldwide. 

Therefore, it will be a grave mistake for any business to underestimate the power of social media platforms. These are the places where your ideal customers spend most of their time. They meet, get entertained and discuss various topics there. Where else will be a better place to attract and engage your target audience if not on social media?

The best thing about social media is that you can attract a large following without spending a single penny. All you need to do is create engaging posts that will attract and engage your target audience. By leveraging the power of social media platforms, you can create brand awareness, promote your products, attract traffic to your website and even sell directly on the platforms. You can even use social media as a social listening tool, getting information about what people are talking about your brand or industry or keeping an eye on your competitors.

Use affiliate marketing 

Affiliate marketing has gained traction in recent years; it’s a very affordable and effective way to drive traffic or sales on your online store. You can think of it as a referral program, where businesses partner with affiliates who promote businesses by creating content. And when someone buys using the link, they get commission for saleling. 

Instead of spending their time and energy on planning and creating content, business owners can focus on other operations of the business, and the promotion and marketing can be taken care of by the affiliate partners, who will create a variety of content to promote your products and in return will get paid in commissions.

But always make sure of the quality of the content being created and the brand voice that is being used. Because you are putting the reputation of your brand in other people’s hands, it is very important to regularly monitor and manage their activities. 

Paid advertisement 

Along with organic content marketing, every business should have paid marketing campaigns in its marketing strategy. Paid ads are a powerful tool for creating brand awareness, driving more traffic, and getting conversions for your business.  

Unlike the traditional advertisements, where businesses used to pay a hefty amount for their ad to be published, digital paid ads have enabled businesses to publish targeted ad campaigns tailored to their audience and marketing funnels, and more importantly, they have  empowered businesses with the precious audience data, which can be tracked and used to take more informed decisions.

Paid advertising campaigns can be run on both Google and Bing as well as all the major social media platforms. Making it far more easy for online retailers to reach their target audience effectively than ever before.

Collaborate with influencers 

Global influencer marketing is on fire right now; it has already reached a market size of $24 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.3%. Brands across various industries are investing heavily in influencer marketing and this trend is not going to stop soon.

The reason any business should start thinking about implementing influencer marketing in their marketing strategy is because today, social media has drastically changed consumer behaviour. There are higher chances of a product recommended by an influencer being purchased than by a celebrity.

Every social media platform has thousands of influencers who are creating content for a niche-specific audience. Their audience feels a bond with them, which is why they are highly trusted by their followers. And brands should leverage the popularity of such influencers to target a specific audience.

Even if you are a small business, you can still collaborate with influencers; there are many micro-influencers with followers less than 100,000 who are happy to promote your brand in exchange for gift hampers and product samples. Making them a very affordable option for brands to consider.

Create a smooth user experience (UX) 

You wouldn’t want your physical store to look untidy or unorganised, right? So why should your website look that way? The first thing any visitor notices when they visit your website is how it looks and feels. And if you fail to make a first impression, then they are not going to come again and purchase from you. 

Having a smooth user experience is important because your website is the place where customers come to research, explore and buy your products. Unplesing site navigation and UX can negatively effect both your brand image and conversions.

Some common elements every shopping website should have are:

  • Intuitive navigation: A clear website design with easily accessible menus, filters, and a search option to easily find products. A clear website design with easy navigation. It can be achieved by using accessible menus, using breadcrumbs on every page, filters and a search option for easily finding the products. 
  • Engaging product pages: Websites should have attractive pages and the description of the product should be proper; high-quality images and videos should be used.
  • Responsive design: Website must be fully responsive and should work smoothly on all the types of devices, such as phones, laptops, etc.

The goal of a website should be to provide a smooth shopping experience to the customers where they can easily buy the products. 

Bonus

Optimise for voice search 

Every year more and more users are adopting voice search technology, and it is expected to reach the $164 billion market by 2025. So online retailers need to take advantage of the trend and stay ahead of the game.

Optimise for AR/VR 

Augmented reality and virtual reality have huge potential when it comes to e-commerce marketing. Online shopping has already changed the way customers shop across the world, but AR/VR is going to completely transform the online marketing landscape because customers can easily see what a product might look like in their room with the help of AR/VR, thus helping them make informed decisions.

More exciting buyer journeys and memorable experiences are created using AR/VR. Now businesses can show their products and their use cases in a better way, like creating simulated situations where the product can be shown with its practical use. 

Conclusion

Every day more and more users are coming online to explore and buy products. Global consumer behaviour is changing rapidly and e-commerce holds a very bright future, offering many opportunities for growth and innovation. 

To stay ahead of the competition, businesses must recognise these changes early and start capitalising on this opportunity. And any online business today can only survive in this tough competition if they implement smart online marketing strategies.

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