The number of online stores has significantly grown over the past few years as people became fond of getting work done from the comfort of their homes. Making your E-commerce stores successful in such a competitive environment is not easy. Thus the importance of a set marketing strategy can’t be denied.
Your E-commerce Marketing strategy must clearly state calculated figures that you must achieve at the end of a set time period. This way your marketing department will be able to contribute to your overall company goals and measure marketing performance. But having a clear marketing strategy is only the first step towards success. You must also define your Tactical Marketing strategy that will be used to attain your strategic marketing goals.
What is Tactical Marketing?
Simply put, Tactical Marketing is the use of marketing strategies to achieve your business goals. Your approach might tell you to integrate social media but which social sites are the best for you? How are you going to use those for marketing? These questions and more are answered by Tactical Marketing.
In essence, a good Tactical Marketing strategy includes both on and off-site methods which will help you increase traffic, customer base, and ultimately conversions.
E-commerce Marketing Tactics to Drive sales
Below we discuss proven marketing strategies that you must incorporate into your store’s Tactical Marketing plan. You can work on these ideas one per week and analyze which ones benefit your business the most.
Use WooCommerce Extensions
If you want to have e-commerce capabilities on your WordPress website, WooCommerce is the go-to. WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plug-in specifically designed for online stores. It provides E-commerce stores with a number of easily-installable extensions that work wonders in improving sales and driving customers. From SEO optimization to email marketing, WooCommerce is a great platform that has more flexibility than say Shopify and less complexity than say Magneto.
List Appropriate Up-sells and Cross-sells
According to a Forrester research analyst, 10-30% of E-commerce revenues are a result of product upsells and cross-sells. But you have to carefully decide where and when to provide suggestions to your buyers so they are more willing to accept.
Upselling is the art of suggesting a slightly premium product than the one your customer is already considering. The other product might have a hand-made feature or better material that makes it worth the extra money. This way you can not only gain your customers’ confidence by offering better products but also generate more revenue by earning a little more for every customer you get.
If you have ever made an online purchase, you might have seen sections labeled “Customers also liked” or “Customers also purchased” in the sidebars. This is called cross-selling. Suggesting useful accessories with electronic devices, gadgets, and machines is the best way to make an existing customer purchase more. I personally find myself buying things that would make sense to come in a kit or things that I will need anyway that I didn’t know the store offered.
But you have to keep in mind two important factors when upselling or cross-selling. Your suggested product must be related to the originally bought product and it must fit in the budget constraints of your buyer.
Effectively Use User Generated Content
Customers are more likely to buy products that are suggested by their peers. Product reviews are a form of User Generated Content (UGC) that are very helpful in driving sales. You can share customer comments on your site or your social media to build trust among your potential buyers. When people see that users are satisfied with your products, they will make purchases in a large number with more confidence.
Another way to use UGC is sharing pictures of happy customers using your products. This is a trend extremely famous among restaurants. Many online stores have used this to report good success rates.
Up Your Email Marketing Game
Email is your best friend when it comes to market your Ecommerce store to increase sales and improve the customer base. This is not only an effective way to get new customers but also attract lost customers back to your store. But the most important point is to not spam your user’s inbox or else it will negatively affect your marketing campaign. Following are some of the ways you can incorporate Email marketing in your plan:
- Build your newsletter sign-up into your check out or cart on your website.
- Send a welcome email as soon as your customer makes the first purchase. You can ask them to make an account subscribe to your newsletter.
- Emails are also a good way to do upselling or cross-selling. Send an email suggesting products based on their buying history.
- You can use emails to inform your users about daily promotions or discounts on public events and holidays.
- Promotional offers and personalized coupons get more attention when sent through mails.
WooCommerce provides you with Conversio, a WordPress extension that transforms your simple customer receipt emails or shipping emails into a marketing opportunity.
Reduce Abandoned Carts and Lost Customers
The number one problem online stores face is customers abandoning carts at checkouts or before. E-commerce stores’ business statistics are highly disturbed because of this reason. So you must think of ways to reduce the likelihood of your user leaving without buying.
While the top reason for this can be that users were there just to surf or price shop, the following are some of the other reasons of customers abandoning carts listed in a survey by Baymard institute:
- Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, additional fees)
- The site needed an account to checkout
- A long and or complicated checkout process
- Total cost wasn’t displayed upfront
These problems if addressed properly can significantly reduce the number of lost customers. Most of these are solvable by simplifying the checkout process and clearing the site. You have to allow for guest check out and then ask them for account creation in the welcome email / receipt. A clean UI can curb most of the problems customers face at E-commerce stores. You can also give them special discounts in order to gain their trust.
Acquire and Implement Feedback
You must ask about your business to the people most affected by your business – your customers. In today’s world, customers are everything, they make you successful and they are responsible for your profits and revenues. You must ask for feedback from users after each checkout and also check online reviews about your business. These comments help you learn and better your mistakes. Part of the reason for Amazon’s success is that they keep updating their site to meet people’s changing needs. Making your customers feel listened to will make them loyal and more useful to your business.
Personalized Coupons and Customer Loyalty Programs
Who doesn’t love discounts? Other than daily offers or special events discount, you must provide your customers with personalized coupons. This will give them a sense of belonging to your store and they will be more than happy to make more purchases. Loyal customers are extremely important for a business, especially for an E-commerce store. They not only increase your customer retention rates but are also responsible for 22% of a retailer’s revenue, according to Stitch Labs. It is important to mention however that these coupons should be targeted more towards customers who require a lower price to make a purchase. For example, Sally might be more inclined to purchase something with a coupon judging by her use of previous discounts and cart abandonment if there aren’t any mark downs available. Jon however might make a buying decision without the need of any deductions.
Loyalty programs are also a great way to award large spenders and regular buyers. Many companies do this by offering a point system that adds up based on the amount spent. Another way to do this could be to offer this program as sort of an exclusive club that gets special discounts or benefits for frequently shopping (Think Amex Black). Major businesses like Starbucks and many others have benefited greatly from customer loyalty programs.
Social Media – Best for E-commerce Marketing
Incorporating social media into your Tactical Marketing strategy is the easiest way to gain customers and improve sales. People spend most of their time on social media and browsing your store seems much easier to them than opening your site. You can open a Facebook store so your shoppers can surf and see your items on their favorite social media site. You can redirect to your site when a buyer wants to purchase something making it easier for both parties to do their work.
Using Instagram for E-commerce marketing can never go wrong. It is the best site for sharing pictures and has a large user-base. You can post pictures of happy customers using your items and also display pictures highlighting the best features of everyday items that your customers may need.
Make Your Website SEO-Friendly
Unless your E-commerce site is SEO friendly, it is very difficult to drive sales and attract customers from SERPs. Many people are likely to search for goods directly on search engines. Your site must be in the top links with the appropriate product listings in order to get good conversions. You can use social media, podcasts, blogging, guest posts, and backlinking in order to attract potential buyers.
Your website’s search facility must also show the high-rated content on top so that it is easier for your customers to find good quality products. You must not only make your description but also your images SEO friendly in order for Search Engines to notice them. You can do this by adding alt text which is included with WordPress out of the box.
