Top 5 digital marketing strategies for your e-commerce business 

Digital Marketing Strategy One: Search engine optimisation (SEO) 

SEO is fundamental for any e-commerce business looking to increase visibility and organically attract customers through search engines like Google. SEO involves optimising your website to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords related to your products. 

Key SEO techniques include: 

• Keyword research: You need to identify the keywords that your potential customers are using online and integrate them into your product descriptions, titles, and meta descriptions. You’ll also need to ensure that the content you create to target those keywords is relevant to your potential customers for the best results. 
• On-page optimisation: Ensure that all elements of your website, including images and videos, are optimised to enhance your visibility in the search results. 
• Technical SEO: Improve technical aspects of your website, such as site structure, mobile-friendliness and page load speeds, to boost rankings. 

SEO should be considered a long-term strategy. You will need to spend time conducting keyword research, optimising your website, and consistently checking on your site’s progress in search engine results, but once you’ve done this work, the results will continue to pay off over the long term. As long as you keep your site optimised and updated, you’ll continue driving traffic to your website. 

To learn more about building an effective SEO strategy for your e-commerce business, read our full guide: The complete guide to creating an effective SEO strategy. 

‍

Digital Marketing Strategy Two: Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) 

PPC is a digital marketing strategy in which advertisers pay a fee each time of of their ads is clicked. It’s essentially buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to earn those visits organically. 

PPC advertising allows you to reach your potential customers at every stage of the digital marketing funnel from awareness through to conversion. Platforms such as Google Ads allow you to target your audience based on a range of demographics, interests and behaviours to ensure that you’re reaching the right people when they’re searching online.

Types of e-commerce PPC campaigns 

There are a number of different types of campaigns you can utilise to drive results for your e-commerce business. 

Search Ads 

These appear in the search engine results pages and are triggered by the keywords searchers use. You’ll need to ensure your ads are properly optimised for the right keywords to ensure the best success. These ads appear above the organic search results and are perfect for driving qualified traffic to your website. 

Display Ads

These are the visual ads that appear on websites across the Google Display Network. These ads can help you to build brand awareness and retarget the people who may have visited your site but haven’t converted yet to nurture them until they’re ready to make a purchase. 

Shopping Ads 

These are essential for any e-commerce business. They appear at the top fo the search results and are visual ads that display a product image, price, and your business name. You can read more on this in our blog: Google Shopping Ads for e-commerce: your path to increased sales and visibility. 

Building effective campaigns 

Here are just a few of our top tips for building effective PPC campaigns for your e-commerce business. 

• Targeting and Retargeting: Use precise targeting to reach specific demographics and retargeting to re-engage visitors who have left your site without converting. 
• Choose the right platforms: Platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads are essential, but don’t overlook social media ads on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram (we’ll cover more on these channels later). 
• Budgeting and ROI: Monitor your campaigns closely to adjust bids, manage your budget and maximise ROI. 

If you want to know more about running effective PPC campaigns for your e-commerce business, read our blog: E-Commerce PPC marketing: Everything you need to know. 

‍

Digital Marketing Strategy Three: Social Media Marketing 

With billions of users worldwide, social media platforms offer a huge audience for your e-commerce business. They are not only a tool for promotion but also for engagement and customer service. 

Organic social media 

Organic social media is the the content you post for free and which you do not pay to boost to a wider audience. Always share engaging content such as top tips, videos, infographics and images to engage with your audience and provide them with the information they need to decide whether or not to buy from you. 

This is also a great place to share customer reviews and testimonials to provide social proof to those who may be thinking of making a purchase but are doing their due diligence. You can also utilise messenger apps on social media channels to provide answers to questions and to allow customers to reach customer service quickly.

Social media advertising

Advertising on social media channels allows you to reach a much wider audience and narrow down the audience to people who fall into your target audience. You can target by location, interests, age, gender and a range of other demographics to ensure that the right people see your ads when they’re browsing online. 

Key channels to consider as part of your e-commerce social media strategy include: 

• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• TikTok 
• YouTube

Channels such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok now allow users to buy from brands directly on the platform so they don’t even need to leave the app to purchase from you. More consumers than ever are buying from their favourite brands on social media channels so finding the right channels for your business should be an essential part of your digital marketing strategy. 

For more information on utilising social media for your e-commerce business, read our blog: Your complete guide to social media for your e-commerce business. 

Digital Marketing Strategy Four: Email Marketing 

Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing strategies available to you due to its direct approach and because you can highly personalise your communications. 

You can utilise email across the full digital marketing funnel by asking potential customers for their contact details in return for helpful information or updates in the form of newsletters. You can then utilise abandoned cart emails to bring back those people who have added items to their cart but are yet to convert. 

Finally, email marketing is a great tool for reengaging existing customers by continually providing them with helpful information and letting them know if you have any new products that might be useful to them. 

Here are a few tips for crafting compelling emails: 

• Personalisation: Address recipients by their first name and tailor your content based on their purchase history and browsing behaviour. 
• Segmentation: Segment your email list based on customer demographics and behaviour to tailor messages and offers. 
• Call-to-action: Include clear, compelling calls-to-action to encourage recipients to make a purchase or visit your site. 

Digital Marketing Strategy Five: Content Marketing

Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. 

Whether you want to build awareness or drive conversions, content marketing is perfect for reaching customers across the full customer journey. 

In addition, it can help to boost your SEO efforts by allowing you to target the keywords your customers are using when they’re researching online. 

Types of content for your e-commerce business 

The following types of content are highly beneficial for e-commerce businesses: 

• Blog posts: You can cover a wide range of topics and showcase your expertise to build trust and authority with your target audience. Not only this, it should help you to become more visible in the search engine results and drive traffic to your website. 
• Product descriptions and pages: Ensuring you have plenty of content on your product pages can help to increase conversions on your website. Plus, using relevant keywords will boost your visibility in the search engines results pages too. 
• Videos: Videos provide a highly engaging way to connect with your customers. You can utilise them on your product or category pages, on social media channels and in your ads. 
• User-generated content: Encouraging existing customers to share reviews, unboxing videos or photos of your products is a great way to build up a bank of content for your business and build trust with prospective customers. 
• Email marketing: Email is a great tool for e-commerce because it allows you to keep in touch with both potential and existing customers. Sending abandoned cart emails or the latest product drops can help to increase revenue for your business. 

For more information on developing a content marketing strategy for your e-commerce business, read our blog: E-Commerce content marketing: A complete guide. 

Key takeaways 

Integrating these digital marketing strategies into your e-commerce business can significantly enhance your visibility and attract more customers. Experiment with these strategies to find what works best for your specific business needs, and continually optimise based on results. 

We always recommend trying one strategy first and measuring the results before trying something else. You need to know which strategies are working well and which aren’t so you can make informed decisions going forward. 

If you’d like to know more about how digital marketing can help you grow your e-commerce business, book a free, no-obligation 30-minute consultation call with one of our experts. 

‍