The eCommerce industry is arguably the fastest-growing sector on the planet, with more and more businesses adopting an online strategy every year. In the UK alone, the eCommerce market is expected to reach £80,678 in 2021 and achieve an annual growth rate of 3.5%.
If you have yet to adopt an eCommerce marketing strategy, then it’s time to take the plunge and reap the rewards of increased revenue, better brand awareness and stronger customer relationships.
Here are six of our favourite tips to help you create a winning eCommerce marketing strategy for 2021 and beyond.
1. Embrace social commerce
Social commerce is the act of selling products directly in social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This is different from advertising products on social media because consumers can buy items without having to leave the platform they are searching on.
A great set of features to utilise for social commerce is Instagram Shopping, which lets you create customised storefronts for your audience so they can buy directly through your Instagram profile.
Instagram Shopping best practices include using strong calls-to-action (CTAs) for capturing attention, descriptive hashtags for better searchability and using videos to highlight your products in real time.
2. Reduce friction in the checkout process
Customers have become accustomed to a quick online shopping experience and if there are any barriers during the checkout process it may cause them to abandon their purchase and go elsewhere.
To avoid this, make sure you streamline checkout as much as possible. This means removing any irrelevant marketing messages, including an auto-fill option for customer details and featuring a wide range of payment options.
3. Launch an affiliate marketing programme
Affiliate marketing is an exceptional technique for eCommerce brands, particularly fashion companies, who dominate the affiliating marketing industry at 18.7%.
Setting up an affiliate programme helps you build connections with influencers in your sector, offering them commission in exchange for promoting products on blogs, social media platforms etc.
The key to any successful affiliate marketing programme is to provide value to your customers with high-quality products, educational content and campaigns that build trust. Affiliate revenue will be a natural by-product of this approach.
4. Get personal with text messages
With 53% of consumers using smartphones to shop online every day, incorporating mobile device techniques into your eCommerce strategy is a must.
A great example is SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing. This involves sending personalised text messages to customers based on their shopping behaviour. The messages could be about new product offers, discounts, order updates and more.
When done correctly, SMS marketing helps to build better customer relationships and drives more sales.
5. Cross-sell and up-sell
No matter what products you’re selling, it’s vital that you’re able to give additional value to customers so they continue to return to your store. Cross-selling and up-selling can help you achieve this quickly.
In the case of cross-selling, you can offer complementary products for a customer who likes to buy specific items. For example, you could recommend a hat and jeans made from sustainable materials to someone who had put an eco-friendly shirt in their shopping basket.
For up-selling, it’s about persuading a customer to upgrade to a new product, and you might do this by adding additional perks to a purchase. As an example, an expensive smartphone could have a screen replacement warranty.
6. Create urgency
Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a powerful psychological technique that can be used to create urgency among your audience. A simple way to do this is by creating a flash sale section in your eCommerce store where shoppers only have a limited time to buy certain items.
In this example, it’s best to place a flash sale banner at the top of the homepage so people see it as soon as they arrive on your website. All products should also have a countdown timer to increase the sense of urgency.
Create an epic eCommerce strategy with Trio Media
The eCommerce industry is always changing and at Trio Media we have plenty of experience with helping brands adapt with new insights and marketing campaigns.
Get in touch with us on 0113 357 0440 and we’ll help you create an eCommerce strategy that takes your brand to the next level.
