10 Best Tips to increase E-commerce sales

Are you an eCommerce business? Does it feel as though, no matter how much money you spend, you can’t seem to increase your sales? Are you struggling to build a digital presence and increase conversions?

That’s because there is a lot of competition when it comes to selling online… and it is only going to get worse. By 2040, 95% of all purchases will be via eCommerce sales.

You know what that means: if you want to stand out, you need to begin refining your eCommerce Marketing strategies immediately.

In this article, I will explain how eCommerce marketing is different from traditional commerce and give you 10 marketing tips to help you increase sales NOW.

What is eCommerce Marketing?

eCommerce marketing is the act of driving awareness and action toward a business that sells its product or service online.

For eCommerce marketing, it is important to use digital channels because that is where your customers are making their purchases. Marketers can use social media, digital content, search engines, and email campaigns to build awareness and increase their conversion rate.

eCommerce uses a lot of digital marketing tactics like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, local marketing, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing. This is a lot to keep track of so in order to not fall behind your competitors we recommended having a team dedicated to your marketing.

To help manage your sales find a CRM or Customer Relationship Management software like Hubspot which allows you to manage sales and emails in one location.

A problem that many eCommerce businesses face is that they only use traditional marketing tactics. While these tactics can work, you are losing customers by not taking advantage of your digital landscape. Hubspot allows you to take advantage of many of these tactics in one space.

How Does eCommerce Marketing Differ from Traditional Marketing?

While in traditional commerce you are able to form a relationship with your customers in person, eCommerce forces you to rely on your digital marketing to connect with them.

Another difference to keep in mind is that in traditional commerce you can only have one-way marketing, but with eCommerce, you can have one-to-one marketing.

Therefore, if you want to stay ahead of your competition, it is important to create personalized interactions with your customers to give them a feeling of connection to you despite the barriers that arise with eCommerce.

Now that you know how eCommerce marketing differs from traditional marketing, let’s go over 10 digital marketing tips to increase your eCommerce conversions.

10 Best Practices for eCommerce Marketing

1. Use Google Shopping Ads

Google shopping ads are a great way to get sales because you are being seen by potential customers when they show interest in products that are similar to yours. The audience of this type of advertisement is already searching for something similar, so you are more likely to get conversions.

If you connect your Google Ads account to Google Merchant Center, Google can automatically generate ads for your product or service when a user searches for something related to your product or service.

2. Know Your Audience

The best way to get to know your audience is by developing buyer personas. This gives you a chance to dig deep into who your customer is, what they want, and what are their pain points that you can address.

Knowing your audience well can help you develop a better campaign and create content that speaks to them. This in turn will help improve your conversion rates.

For more information on buyer personasdownload our buyer persona deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/102SFpvTOwu-lLLgT9bO7xe1TKHaMjFBRO4geUevlqmo/edit#slide=id.p4

3. Remarket with Display Ads

You can set up your retargeting based on different actions your user takes and personalize the message. For example, you can reach out to people who have recently visited your website about items that they looked at, or you can up-sell to customers who recently made a purchase.

According to the Baymard Institute, 69.23% of shopping carts are abandoned. That is a lot of potential sales lost. By using display ads, you can retarget these lost customers, reminding them of what they left in their cart and even incentivize them with a discount.

4. Connect with Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to create a more personal interaction with your customer. You can create personalized messaging that is delivered at the perfect time based on different triggers.

Use emails to keep your customers engaged. For example, you can send out a welcome email after they visit your site, monthly newsletters discussing any changes you may be making, or promote discounts that can drive sales.

The best part about email marketing is that you can say as much as you want because there are no character limitations like there are with social media.

5. Embrace Social Media

Instagram

Instagram shopping is a great tool that has gained popularity. In fact, according to Hootsuite, 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every year.

You can tag your products in your posts, allowing your customers to shop directly off of social media with just a click of a button without having to go on your website to find it. This makes the purchasing process more effortless, reducing the number of drop-offs and increasing the number of sales.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms and has a wide range of users. It is also a great place for eCommerce. You can even integrate directly with your Shopify store for effortless use.

One way to step up your Facebook marketing is by setting up your advertisements using custom audiences, inclusions, and exclusions. This way, your customer is seeing ads based on their actions.

6. Include Customer Reviews

One reason you may be struggling with conversions is a lack of credibility. When shopping online, most customers want to be able to see other’s reviews of your products before making a purchase.

Customers tend to trust each other more than brands. In fact, 90% of people are much more likely to trust a recommended brand (even from strangers).

So while you can talk about your product until you are blue in the face, a couple of good reviews can make a world of difference. Add some ratings and reviews to all of your product pages to turn visitors into customers.

7. Referral Marketing

Word-of-mouth is one of the strongest marketing tactics you can use. This is because customers are more likely to trust the recommendations of their friends and family. Use incentives like discounts or offers to encourage customers to tell their friends about you.

Referral marketing is so powerful because not only does it help bring in more valuable, qualified leads, but it also does not cost much. 54% of marketers say that referral programs have a lower cost-per-lead than other channels.

8. Pop-ups

Pops-ups are a great way to grab your audience’s attention. Use pop-ups to advertise any promotions or discounts that you are offering that could be the extra push your viewer needs to make that purchase. You can time the pop-up to go off after a few minutes of them searching on your website or right away.

Pop-ups are also valuable lead generators because they can capture email addresses. Backlinko added an exit popup to their website prompting users to enter their email, and their email subscription rate doubled overnight. They even made an extra $82,125 in revenue in just one year after implementing this feature.

If this single instance alone didn’t convince you to start revamping your emarketing strategies, we don’t know what will.

9. Enhance UX (User Experience)

Improve Usability 

A website that is poorly designed will lose customers. One main reason you may not be getting sales is that your website navigation is confusing, and there are too many clicks before the purchase.

If the user can’t find what they want on your site, they may end up looking somewhere else.

Customer Service with Chat

Whether you use chatbots or a live customer service respondent, your customers should be able to get in contact with you 24/7. This way, you can answer any questions they may have and address concerns.

One of the biggest differences between eCommerce and traditional commerce is that there are no operating hours and therefore customers expect to be able to get in contact with someone at any time. Make this expectation a reality, and your sales are likely to increase.

Personalization 

80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. You can personalize your site based on location, interests, and behavior.

For example, include a recommendation section based on what they have previously looked at on your site or what is popular in their area.

10. Test!!

Throughout all of your marketing, you should be testing your efforts to ensure that they are the right moves for your company. Test before you implement a new feature, test while it is running, and test when your campaign is done. The only way to know what works and what doesn’t is by testing it! This way, you aren’t wasting your time or money on something that isn’t getting you sales.

One way to test your marketing is through A/B testing. You create two versions of whatever you are creating, varying them just a little. Test these two versions on a small portion of your audience and then implement the winning version.

Increase Conversions with an eCommerce Digital Marketing Agency

Ready to begin improving your digital marketing presence and grow your sales?

Now that you know more about eCommerce marketing, it’s time to look at your business and begin implementing these tips.

At InApps, we are experts in all things digital marketing and can guide you in your journey to becoming a successful eCommerce company. Let one of our senior analysts conduct an audit of your eCommerce business and use our expertise to provide strategy and insight!