Types of E-commerce Marketing to Grow an Online Store

E-commerce sales are projected to reach $6.3 trillion by 2024, highlighting the immense growth and potential within the digital marketplace. For marketing executives aiming to secure a piece of this lucrative pie, understanding and implementing diverse e-commerce marketing strategies is essential. 

This guide introduces seven pivotal marketing tactics that can propel your online store to the forefront of this e-commerce expansion. From SEO to influencer marketing, each strategy is a crucial component in capturing consumers’ attention and driving your business’s growth. 

What is E-commerce Marketing?

E-commerce marketing involves using various strategies to attract visitors to your online store, convert them into customers, and keep them coming back. So in the simplest terms, the aim is to increase visibility, sales, and customer loyalty in the competitive digital market.

7 Types of E-commerce Marketing for Your Online Store

To boost your online store’s success, it’s crucial to use a mix of marketing methods. Here are seven key e-commerce marketing strategies to help you draw in and keep customers. 

1. SEO for E-commerce Marketing

Organic SEO and paid SEO are two pillars of search engine marketing that can significantly boost your online store’s visibility. Each serves unique purposes in your e-commerce marketing strategy.

Organic SEO 

Organic SEO is about making your online store more visible in search engine results using blog content. 

To use organic SEO in your marketing:

• Create useful and relevant content that answers your customers’ questions.
• Find out what words or phrases people use when they search for products like yours and use those terms on your site.
• Organize your website so it’s easy for search engines to find and understand your pages.
• Make sure each product page and article on your site is set up to be as search-friendly as possible.
• Address technical SEO aspects, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and security, to meet search engine criteria.

The main perk of using organic SEO in your marketing strategy is that it builds trust with your audience over time and keeps them coming to your site regularly.

Paid SEO

Paid SEO, often referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, complements organic efforts by allowing you to purchase ads that appear above organic search results.

Here’s a quick guide to get started:

• Pick keywords related to your products so your ads appear in the right searches.
• Make straightforward ads with clear images and direct calls to action, like “Buy Now.”
• Decide on a daily or monthly budget to keep spending under control.
• Use Google Ads for search results.
• Set your ads to show to specific groups based on location, age, or interests.
• Regularly review how your ads perform. Adjust if needed to improve results.

Paid SEO can be a powerful tool for getting more people to visit your online store and buy your product. In fact, people who click on your ads are 50% more likely to buy your product than organic visitors to your ecommerce site. 

Balance Organic and Paid SEO: Do not just rely on one method to attract customers. Organic SEO helps lay the groundwork for a solid online presence that brings in traffic over time. On the other hand, paid SEO helps drive traffic faster and can be adjusted as needed for specific goals. By keeping an eye on how both strategies are doing and making adjustments, you can get the best of both worlds: a site that people find naturally and campaigns that put you right in the middle of your customer’s buying journey.

2. Content Marketing for Your Online Store

Content marketing is a strategic approach focused on creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content that helps attract customers. 

In the context of an e-commerce business, it’s about offering your customers more than just products; it’s about offering them information, entertainment, and inspiration related to your products.

Here are some ways to use content marketing in your e-commerce business:

• Blogs and articles: Write posts that help, inform, or entertain your customers. For example, if you sell outdoor gear, share camping tips or gear reviews.
• Create guest posts for external websites: Write guest posts for other websites to increase your visibility and domain authority. This not only puts your products in front of a new audience but also signals to search engines that your site is reputable.
• Put product-related videos on video platforms: Utilize the massive audience to showcase your products. Create how-to videos, product demonstrations, or customer testimonials. Using popular keywords for your video topics can help attract your target audience, and tutorial videos improve customer satisfaction by demonstrating product value and usage.
• Infographics: Create easy-to-understand visuals on topics related to your business. They’re great for social media and can help get your brand noticed by more people.
• Customer stories and reviews: Build trust with potential buyers by showcasing real customer experiences and the value your products bring to their lives.
• Include a keyword-driven FAQ section: Answer common customer queries on your website with a FAQ section aimed at high-volume, long-tail keyword searches. This not only helps your customers but also helps bring more traffic to your site

The benefits of using content marketing in your marketing strategy include:

To start with content marketing, figure out what your customers are interested in or need help with and plan your content around that. Use different types of content to keep things interesting. Lastly, keep an eye on which types of content and topics get the most attention so you can focus on what works best.

Done right, content marketing can help your store not just be another shop, but a trusted source of information with a growing community of loyal customers.

3. Email Marketing for Your Online Store

Email marketing involves sending emails to subscribers, with the aim of promoting your online store and products to potential and existing customers. It’s a direct and personalized way to communicate with your audience, and 82% of companies already use it. 

Here’s how you can effectively use email marketing for your e-commerce business:

1. Define email marketing objectives: Start by clarifying what you want to achieve with your email campaigns. Whether it’s driving sales, nurturing customer relationships, or promoting new products, having clear goals helps tailor your strategy.
2. Build and segment your email list: Collect email addresses through your website with sign-up forms. Offer incentives like discounts or valuable insights in exchange for signing up. Once you have a list, segment it based on criteria like purchase history, interests, or behavior. This allows for more targeted and relevant email campaigns.
3. Craft personalized content: Personalization is key in email marketing. Use the data from your segments to personalize content, addressing recipients by name and tailoring the email content to match their preferences and behaviors.
4. Design compelling emails: Your emails should be visually appealing and easy to navigate. Use a responsive design that works on both desktop and mobile devices. Include clear, engaging calls to action (CTAs) that encourage readers to take the next step, whether it’s visiting your site, making a purchase, or learning more about a product.
5. Automate your email campaigns: Set up automated emails for various customer actions. Welcome emails for new subscribers, follow-up emails for abandoned carts, and thank-you emails post-purchase are essential for engaging customers at different stages of their journey.
6. Test and optimize: Use A/B testing to try different email elements (like subject lines, content, and CTAs) to see what performs best. Regularly review your email campaign metrics—open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates—to identify what’s working and areas for improvement.
7. Stay compliant with email regulations: Ensure your email practices comply with laws like GDPR or CAN-SPAM. Always get consent before adding someone to your email list and provide an easy option to unsubscribe in every email.

By following these steps, you can create an email marketing strategy that reaches and engages your target audience. This approach will help turn them into customers, boosting the growth and success of your online store.

4. Social Media Marketing for Your Online Store

Social media has an enormous audience of over 5.1 billion people, with 43% of internet users browsing social media for product research. By these statistics alone, it becomes clear that the impact of social media marketing (SMM) for e-commerce can’t be overstated. 

Leveraging platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest allows businesses to connect with a vast audience, promote their products, and significantly enhance customer engagement. 

Here’s how to make it work for your shop:

• Pick the best platforms: Not every social media site is going to be right for you. Think about where your customers like to hang out. Instagram and Pinterest are awesome for showing off products with cool pictures, while Twitter is good for chatting and customer service.
• Make content that stands out: Your posts need to grab attention. Use great pictures and videos that show off your products, write catchy captions, and use hashtags to get seen by more people. Encouraging your customers to share their own photos and stories can also help spread the word.
• Use ads to reach more people: Social media sites let you target your ads really specifically, so you can make sure they get seen by the right people. This can help get more eyes on your products and bring in more sales.
• Talk to your followers: Social media is all about talking and listening. Answer questions, reply to comments, and thank people when they share your stuff. This helps turn casual followers into loyal customers.
• Check what’s working: Use social media analytics tools to see which of your posts are hitting the mark and which ones aren’t. This can tell you what your customers like, so you can do more of it.
• Keep it up: Being consistent keeps people interested. Plan out your posts so you have something new to share regularly without going silent.

Using social media smartly can help you build a big following, get your products out there, and grow your business. It’s not just about selling; it’s about building a community around what you sell and connecting with your customers.

5. Influencer Marketing for Your Online Store

68% of marketers consider influencer marketing to be effective or very effective, so it is clear this strategy holds significant power in the e-commerce world. By partnering with well-known social media personalities, you can leverage their followings to boost your brand’s visibility and credibility. Here’s how to implement influencer marketing for your online store effectively:

Here’s how to make influencer marketing work for your ecommerce business:

1. Find the right influencers: Look for influencers who share your brand’s values and have an audience that matches your target customers. It’s not just about how many followers they have, but how engaged their audience is with the content they post.
2. Reach out and build relationships: Contact influencers you’re interested in working with and propose a partnership. Be clear about what you’re offering and what you expect from them. Good relationships with influencers are based on mutual respect and common goals.
3. Decide on the campaign: Work with the influencer to decide what kind of content will best promote your products. This could be anything from a review or unboxing video to a series of posts or stories showcasing your products in action.
4. Be Clear on terms and compensation: Agree upfront about how the influencer will be compensated. This might be with free products, payment, or a combination of both. Make sure both parties are clear on the terms of the partnership.
5. Track the results: Use tools to track how well the influencer marketing campaign is doing. Look at metrics like engagement rate, traffic to your site from the campaign, and any increase in sales. This will help you understand the ROI and plan future campaigns.
6. Stay compliant with regulations: Ensure that any content created discloses the partnership clearly. This is not just good practice; in many places, it’s required by law. Transparency builds trust with both the influencer’s audience and your customers.

Influencer marketing can significantly boost your brand’s visibility and credibility. By partnering with the right influencers, you can tap into new audiences, build trust in your brand, and drive sales. 

Remember, the key to a successful influencer campaign is a genuine partnership that benefits both your brand and the influencer’s audience.

6. Affiliate Marketing for Your Online Store

81% of brands are now using affiliate marketing, highlighting its importance as a strategy to increase sales and reach for e-commerce businesses. This approach involves collaborating with affiliates—individuals or companies who promote your products to their audience for a commission on the sales they generate. 

Here’s how to develop an effective affiliate marketing program for your store:

1. Identify potential affiliates: Seek out affiliates who have audiences that match your target customer profile. These can be bloggers, review websites, influencers, or complementary businesses that don’t compete with yours directly.
2. Set clear program guidelines: Outline how your affiliate program works, including commission structures, promotion expectations, and rules. Clear guidelines help ensure alignment and attract serious affiliates.
3. Leverage affiliate marketing platforms: Tools like ShareASale or Commission Junction can help you manage your program, from tracking sales to paying commissions. These platforms simplify running your program and maintain transparency with your affiliates.
4. Offer competitive commissions: Attract and keep top-performing affiliates by offering commissions that are competitive within your industry, taking into account your profit margins.
5. Supply marketing materials: Help your affiliates succeed by providing them with high-quality marketing materials, such as product images, banners, and detailed product information, to create effective content.
6. Maintain open communication: Regular updates about new products, promotions, and any program changes can keep your brand at the forefront of your affiliates’ minds and encourage more active promotion.
7. Track and optimize performance: Monitor how your affiliate program is performing and identify which affiliates drive sales. Use this insight to optimize your program, perhaps by rewarding top performers with higher commissions or running special promotional events.

Affiliate marketing expands your online store’s reach and boosts sales by leveraging the networks of your affiliates. By establishing a well-organized program, providing competitive incentives, and supporting your affiliates with the tools they need, you can foster productive partnerships that propel your e-commerce business forward.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, mastering these ecommerce marketing strategies can significantly impact your online store’s growth. Whether it’s through engaging content, strategic emails, or social media interactions, the right approach can help you connect with more customers and boost your sales. Focus on what works best for your business, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving success in the competitive ecommerce landscape.