Take advantage of the exponential growth of eCommerce by employing Digital Marketing strategies to help your business reach customers in new and exciting ways!
According to Statista, global eCommerce sales are on the rise, and this is not expected to slow down. It’s expected that sales reach $4.5 trillion by 2021. Australia is currently number 4 in the world for the largest eCommerce market, sitting at $18.6 billion in 2020. However, eCommerce businesses must recognise that alongside this growth is the all-time high of products and information available online. Customers are spoilt for choice, so how will you capture potential prospects?
Leverage Opportunities of Online Market Growth
The shift of consumers choosing to purchase products online, and subsequently an industry shift of brands moving towards becoming online retailers has been both dramatic and swift. Studies reveal the changes we have seen in 2020 are predicted to remain. Australia Post released their eCommerce industry report of 2020, stating that 5.2 million Australian households had shopped online in April 2020 alone. That’s over 4 million shoppers in only one month!
Retailers should be capitalising on this growth and employing Digital Marketing strategies to stand out from the pack. SEO is the key to this.
Search Engine Optimisation employs technical strategies to make your business stand out amongst competitors. Content writing is a core component of an SEO strategy and will be the first point of communication between you and your customer.
Content on your website needs to be branded and inclusive of keywords relevant to your business. Google scans your page’s content for certain words and phrases to determine where you will rank in search results. Therefore, It’s important to understand the intent of what your target market is searching for and the problem they may face. Then it’s up to you to offer a solution!
It doesn’t end there! Content marketing also includes images, graphics, videos, or any other interactive content. The more relevant to your business and the more engaging the better your web pages will rank. SEO will bring prospects, but it is your responsibility to uphold quality pages that will educate and attract new sales. Nurture your prospects by capturing their attention right away and then provide valuable information to ignite conversions.
Utilise Social Media
Social Media is more than just a place to like and comment, it’s an engagement tool to reach new and targeted prospects. As of 2017, 2.8 billion people use social media all over the world. It’s a place where you can also be expressive and fun to truly be on a personal level with customers.
LinkedIn is a rapidly growing network that is becoming a must-have feature of Social Media Marketing plans. It’s a great platform to make connections, and pitch if you are a B2B company. Since COVID-19 there has been a 26% increase in its usage, with 11+ million users in Australia alone. Social media enables you to find prospects that are in your target market, whether it be searching through tags, groups, or commenting on industry articles. Know your customer and communicate with them.
Consistency and flexibility are how you will find success in Social Media Marketing. You can’t post once a month and expect results. Your followers want to see content and will engage with you once trust is formed. However, for your content to be seen, e-commerce brands should also focus on growing their following. LinkedIn outreach strategies can help you do this.
A commitment to posting quality content, and communicating with your followers will bring success to online businesses.
Planned Promotions and Significant Dates
It’s important to remember that a consumer’s wants and needs are continually shifting dependent on market trends and seasonal changes. A stagnant Marketing plan is not a viable option!
Digital Marketing strategies such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising are customisable and adaptive. As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers began to spend more time at home and shopping habits changed. People were looking for eCommerce options and products to suit their new lifestyle. Our experts recognised an increase in searches for POS systems and applied this to our client Wedderburn’s Marketing strategy. Utilising PPC, we adapted their messaging to target consumers looking for paperless payment options. As a result of research and a proactive response to trends, Weddderburn’s conversions increased by 10x in just 4 months!
Other dates such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc. can also be factored into a PPC campaign. With Google Ads, there is the freedom of trialing multiple ad types and messaging to find what resonates best with your target audience. Including a ‘20% discount’ or ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ offer in your advertisements to test which one receives the most clicks, is a creative technique for eRetailers to grow their audience.
