Businesses of all sizes and industries have an online presence in today’s digital world. Because of this, there is intense competition for consumers’ attention. Only a small percentage of the 2.1 million e-commerce companies operating in the US will be able to increase online sales and draw in enough clients.
As an online retailer, you have undoubtedly come to the conclusion that digital marketing is essential to the long-term viability of your business. However, what precisely is digital marketing, and how is it carried out? Let’s investigate.
Digital Marketing: What Is It?
Before the Internet, companies could advertise themselves via direct mail, billboards, television commercials, and store window displays. However, as consumers and commerce—and, let’s face it, the majority of our attention—have migrated to the internet, marketing and advertising have followed suit. Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, refers to the various digital channels that marketers can use to reach their target audience. These channels include social media, search engines, websites, text messages, and email.
The Significance of Digital Marketing
While traditional channels remain relevant, there are several benefits to the world of digital marketing.
- Online marketing gives you access to a worldwide audience.
- Customization makes it easier to target and segment your audience.
- Even with a small marketing team, efficiency and automation allow you to accomplish more with less money for marketing.
- You can increase the visibility of your brand on digital platforms.
- Adopting digital marketing strategies is made easier and faster by software.
- You can speak with clients more regularly and quickly.
- Making better decisions for your company is made possible by data collection and analysis.
Digital Marketing Types
You require an effective digital marketing strategy in order to take advantage of opportunities and differentiate yourself from the competition in this digital landscape. This entails engaging in a variety of digital marketing initiatives. G2, a software review website, discovered, for instance, that when marketers use three or more channels in their campaigns, the rate of purchase and engagement is 250% higher than when marketers use just one channel.First of all
Popular inbound marketing techniques like social media, paid advertising, email marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, SEO strategy, Google Adwords, affiliate marketing, and conversion rate optimization may all be a part of your digital marketing plan.
Additionally, text marketing ought to be a part of your digital strategy if it isn’t already. This is so because, on average, text marketing generates higher conversion rates than paid advertisements and email. According to G2, 61% of marketers still do not utilize text marketing, which means it “continues to be a best-kept secret.”(2)
11 Best Advices for Digital Marketing
Emotive assists e-commerce companies in utilizing texting as a vital element of an effective digital marketing strategy. However, we are aware that there is more to it than texting, so we are providing you with our top advice on digital marketing.
- Recognize Your Clientele
One of the most important steps in e-commerce marketing is identifying your target market. Who do they represent? What needs, wants, and interests do they have? How much time do they spend there? You might want to perform market research to find and comprehend your target audience; this can be as easy as asking some of your current clients to complete a survey. Using this information, you will create a customer journey that charts the steps a potential customer takes to become a devoted customer, as well as a variety of buyer personas. It is advisable to establish customer segments according to variables such as age, gender, interest, location, income, and occupation.
Once you have a clear understanding of your target market, you can start developing marketing campaigns that are specifically tailored to their interests. Additionally, remember that consumer feedback is a fantastic source of information that you can use to enhance your products and the way that customers interact with your brand.
- Produce Eye-Catching Information
The creation of engaging and pertinent content that entices users to visit your website is one of the most crucial components of digital marketing. Shoppers may be drawn in by clickbait content, but if it doesn’t offer your target audience anything of value, they’ll probably walk away without buying.
Posts on social media, blogs, videos, and infographics can all contain valuable content. Here are some marketing pointers for producing quality content:
- Post material on a regular basis.
- Provide witty, educational, and sympathetic content.
- Make sure the content you create embodies your brand’s values and is unique.
- Utilize videos and infographics.
- Tailor your content to various digital platforms.
- Think about requesting that users produce user-generated content that highlights your goods.
- Invest in high-quality design and photography; aesthetics count.
- Your content should address the needs and desires of your customers rather than just promoting your products.
- Keep your branding consistent to make it easier for customers to recognize you.
- Consistently Improve the SEO and Conversion Rate of Your Website
Conversion optimization is crucial for your website since it serves as the entry point for income. This entails checking that it loads quickly, has an obvious call-to-action, is simple to use, and allows for a seamless checkout process. Increased online sales can be achieved by optimizing your website for conversions.
Additionally, you can gather useful customer information from your website, including top purchases, browsing history, click paths, and more. You can target and segment customers more successfully and find opportunities for future optimizations by analyzing this data and looking for patterns.
Top search keywords are the terms and phrases that users enter into search engines to find goods, services, and websites similar to yours. You should incorporate these terms and phrases into both your published content and website. You can find free tools to assist you in conducting keyword research and optimizing your content from Google, the majority of ecommerce platform providers, website builders, and other businesses.
- Establish Your Online Identity on Social Media
The majority of your existing and potential clients spend a significant portion of their days browsing social media or congregating in Reddit and Discord communities. Here are some pointers on social media marketing to help you make the most of these widely used channels.
- Determine the communities and platforms that your target audience frequents. Keep an eye on the information and opinions they share about your company and sector.
- Post informational, educational, or entertaining content for your target audience. Talk about their needs and preferences as well as your brand and merchandise.
- Regularly interact with your followers on social media and in online communities by paying attention to what they have to say and answering their questions.
- Since images and videos are the most popular content types, use high-quality versions of these.
- Produce Content That Is Mobile-Friendly
It may surprise you to learn that 65% of the traffic to the Top 1000 North American online retailers comes from mobile devices.(3) You may be losing out on new business as well as some devoted ones if your website isn’t mobile-friendly. Ensure that your website functions well on all devices, loads quickly, and has a pleasing appearance. Make sure your website is responsive on all digital devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Check the speed of your page; it’s a vital component in drawing visitors to your website. It’s likely that visitors to your website will go away if the pages load slowly. When framing content designed for mobile devices:
- Keep your writing clear and concise.
- Make use of videos and infographics.
- Since social media platforms are where mobile users spend the majority of their screen time, establish a social media presence.
- Combine Marketing on Several Platforms
One of the most important aspects of digital marketing is simultaneously integrating your campaigns, branding, and messaging across numerous platforms. Although it can be difficult, managing content across digital channels is essential to success in the online world. The following are some pointers for cross-platform digital marketing integration:
Create long-term digital marketing plans that align with your objectives and mission.
Track customer information with a CRM tool to gain deeper insights into audience behavior.
A/B testing should be done while keeping an eye on conversion metrics such as open rate, CTR, etc.
Make a content calendar and distribute it throughout your company.
Ensure that your branding (fonts, colors, writing style) is consistent across all platforms.
- Open Google My Business.
Businesses can create a listing on Google using the free platform Google my Business. If you’re a local business with customers who live nearby, this is a great way to reach potential customers as it’s free to use. Make sure you complete all the information accurately and claim your business listing. Additional benefits of using Google My Business:
- You can add or modify pertinent details about your company, including your contact information, the URL of your website, pictures, videos, events, business hours, and more.
- Consumers have the option to rate and review your company, so you can react to comments and find out what your target market enjoys or finds objectionable.
- A type of SEO that improves your search rankings is adding your store to Google My Business.
- You’ll receive timely reports that include information about your business listing, including notifications about user reviews and page views.
- Make Effective Use of Email and SMS/Text Marketing
Email is a high-volume, low-cost way to stay in touch with customers, remind them about your business, and promote your products, sales, and news, which is why it is still the cornerstone of most digital marketing campaigns. Building email templates, monitoring click-through rates and open rates, and maintaining an accurate and compliant email list are all made simple by a plethora of software products. Additionally, expanding your potential clientele is simple when you include a form, banner, or pop-up on your website to gather email addresses. Email is a great way to share timely and important information, but SMS is a better option for urgent messages.
Using two-way, conversational SMS marketing can help you establish rapport with customers, generate a sense of urgency, and reach them where they spend most of their time: on their phones. Research firm Gartner has discovered that text marketing campaigns have response rates that are 7X higher and click-through rates that are more than 30 times higher than email, despite the fact that the majority of marketers still primarily use email.(4) High-conversion marketing messages, like reminders about abandoned carts, Black Friday deals and other promotional content, and customized or segmented messages based on user data, work best via text messaging.
- Make an Online Advertising Invest
One of the best digital marketing tactics for connecting with your target market and increasing website traffic is pay-per-click advertising. Spending money on digital ads can seem risky, but PPC ads are standard in the fiercely competitive e-commerce market.
PPC advertisements can be a helpful tool for testing out different messaging and brand approaches. The idea is to discover what generates the most clicks so you can continuously increase your return on investment. PPC advertising includes social media sites like Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook as well as Google Ads and YouTube Ads.
- Customize the Content
We disclose important details about ourselves online on a daily basis. As an online retailer, you can use this information to better understand your customers and match them with the things they need and want by using it in a courteous and lawful manner. Personalization, such as using a customer’s first name in emails or informing them when an item they were browsing on your website is back in stock, is a crucial differentiator in the digital marketing space. 82% of consumers report feeling better about a brand after interacting with personalized content, according to Demand Metric research.(5)
