If you want your top-funnel traffic to convert into sales and customers, then having an e-commerce marketing strategy in place is imperative. Basically, if you want people to buy what you are selling, then A) they need to be aware and B) they need to be convinced.
Indian E-commerce growth is expected to jump to 188 billion US dollars by 2025; if you wish to have a slice of this pie, then optimizing your e-commerce marketing strategy is crucial.
A right e-commerce marketing plan or strategy will involve a well-curated mix of paid and non-paid strategies. From organic practices like content marketing and SEO optimization to paid practices like Google and Facebook ads. In addition to that, you will also need to look into business aspects like order fulfillment and pricing strategy, and more.Â
This blog will help you understand all the basics of e-commerce marketing: Personas, Traffic Drivers, and Advertising Channels, and More.
Table of Contents
The basics of creating and executing the e-commerce marketing plan.
As they say- “Plan your work and work your plan,” basically having a vision and a plan to reach there are the two pillars on which successful execution can be carried out on.
Let’s learn how we can build and then carry out a successful e-commerce marketing plan.
How to build an e-commerce marketing plan.
- Analyze and understand what your competitors are doing.
Competitor analysis is a bedrock on which successful e-commerce business strategies can be built. Ask questions like:
How did they get started?
What marketing channels did they use?
How did they target their customers? Who their target customers were?
- Write down your executive summary, value proposition, mission, and goal.
Once you know what your competitors are doing and offering, you need to narrow down your objectives.
Create specific but achievable goals for your e-commerce business. A good way to do that is to consider the questions below and fill them up with answers specific and relatable to your business.
- I want to generate sales of X amount.
- Increase AOV by Y amount.
- Increase website visits by X.
- Increase app download by X.
Make sure you fill in realistic and achievable answers.
To create a good value proposition for your brand, keep the following questions in mind.
- What’s the problem you are solving? How is your product different from your competitors?
- What can you offer in addition to your key product? Customization, compact sizing, etc.
- What do you not offer as a brand?
- Create Your Buyer Persona.
Before developing a plan on how to sell, it is important to know who you are selling to. Creating a buyer persona requires you to know your audience. Following are a few of the questions you should be asking while creating a persona-
- Age ranges.
- Gender breakdown.
- Geographic location.
- Purchasing power.
- Where are they looking for solutions?
- Pricing and positioning strategy:
Once you know your buyer persona, you can then device your pricing and positioning strategy. Pricing your product is the right mix of your target audience’s purchasing power and the pricing of your competitor’s product.
- Distribution and order fulfillment plan.
Devising a cost-efficient and optimal distribution and order fulfillment plan is important. It involves a lot of factors like shipping, warehouse management, inventory management, etc. We can help you out with all the management related services. To learn more, visit our website here.
How to execute the e-commerce marketing plan
- Determine your sales and lead generation strategy!
Your customer journey happens through a funnel. At the bottom-funnel, you have your paid advertising strategies that generate an instant response, like social media advertising, google ads, product listing ads, etc.
At the top funnel, you have your brand awareness strategies like content marketing, social media, organic postings, and more.
- Use software and tracking tools.
Make technology your best friend when it comes to analyzing the performance of your e-commerce marketing efforts. Data will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t. Use this data to test, scale, and boost your marketing efforts.
E-commerce marketing channels, tools, and tactics to consider.
Here are a few E-commerce marketing channels of 2020 for you to create awareness and generate sales:
- Pay-Per-Click.
This is the bottom-funnel marketing tactic. Here you will pay the network each time someone clicks on your advertisement. A few of the most used PPC formats include Paid search, display ads, and shopping campaigns. Along with Google, Amazon, and Flipkart, advertising campaigns are a good addition to the mix.
- SEO Optimization.
Up to 80% of Google users rely on organic search results. Make sure you are following the latest SEO practices and have made your website SEO friendly. If you wish to check on your website’s health and enhance your SEO, then click here.
- Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing
The right content marketing plan compliments every other marketing chancel you use. It helps create a strong brand voice and also establishes you as an expert in your niche. It includes a mix of blogs, infographics, videos, etc. Email marketing is the best way to have a personalized and direct conversation with your customer. With affiliate marketing, you can increase your touchpoints with customers and generate more revenue with the help of other websites promoting your product.
- Social Media and Influencer Marketing.
Social media and influencer marketing go hand-in-hand. It is a great way to create a solid brand image and engage your customers.
Conclusion
Running an online e-commerce store without marketing it is like existing in a space vacuum. No matter how awesome your product is, there will be no one around to buy it.
It is important to work with the right talents to scale your business online. You have two ways to go about it:
- Hire an army of employees or
- Hire an agency that already has industry knowledge and expertise.
You should make the decision after considering the costs involved in hiring employees V/S agency. The scale of your business and your marketing needs and budget.
