How to Market E-commerce - 7 Subtle Ways to Get Results

Converting window shoppers into paying customers is not a new science, and it is as important in brick-and-mortar stores as it is with web marketing. We are all aware of the importance of colour choices when setting up a brand, so this article won’t go on about the calming effect of the colour blue or impulsivity of the colour red. It is however, nice to refresh ourselves about the subtle ways in which we can boost customer sales. The road to E-commerce success is busy and can be long, so it’s easy to let the little things slip our minds from time to time.

Reciprocity

A tale as old as time, this tactic is the basis for many others and the premise is simple “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours”. Providing a special service for your customers makes them more likely to return the favour by giving you their custom.

Personalization

Being treated like one of a million others doesn’t help to build good customer-client relations. Being treated like one IN a million on the other hand can, and it’s super simple to implement. From the use of first person language to directly engage your e-commerce browsers, to recommendations based on click history and previously bought items, it shows that you pay attention to your customers’ needs.

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Alternative Product Recommendations

If your customer has the product they want in their basket, providing products that go well with it can increase their basket size. Similarly, providing products that can be bought instead can increase their basket worth (or maybe it decreases it, but a company that recommends me quality over quantity will always go up in my estimations). The best thing is that this can be used even when you don’t have exactly what your customer wants in stock. It’s also successful because it helps to show products from your catalogue in multiple places on your website, and repetition is a great way to spur interest.

Customer Reviews and Referrals

Showing product reviews from your customers is a great way to build consumer trust. It requires effort to monitor incoming reviews and filter out spam, but it is worth it. It helps to make your brand more authentic, which is becoming more and more important to customers. Anywhere from 47% of over 65s and 70% of millennials trust referrals from unknown online shoppers, so it can make sense to include reviews. Referrals don’t have to be product specific either, campaigns offering special discount for introducing new customers are a great example of reciprocity and encourage return custom (referrals from known sources also boost trust even more than other reviews, with 79% of over 65s and 85% of millennials putting their faith in them).

Fear Of Missing Out

It’s human nature to want to be involved and this can be used to your advantage when designing email campaigns. Holiday specific or otherwise, timed campaigns are great way to do this. Buy before X o’clock, on X day of the month and get special discount?! Well, why wait.

Personal Campaigns

You’re out to dinner and you let slip to the waiter that it’s your birthday. At the end of the meal you get a free dessert with a candle. It’s a small gesture, but it’s sweet and it’s only for you. Sending cake over email isn’t so easy, but creating specific campaigns is, and it doesn’t just have to be on their birthday. Rewarding customers for earning loyalty points or frequenting your webstore for a particular length of time also offer a special touch. These are VIP customers, why not treat them as such!

Targeting your Audience

Let’s assume that your e-commerce business sells outdoor equipment. You want to run a sale on tents, so you create an email campaign to alert your customers. Before you push the campaign you already know that being bombarded by irrelevant advertising is a big turn-off, so you take a second to look at your audience demographics and to segment accordingly. Who bought a tent a before? Who bought similar camping equipment and may also be interested in a new tent? Likewise, who only seems to be interested in adventure sports? Maybe they should be bypassed for this campaign. You know your product well, so know your audience well, too.

Thanks for reading our quick guide on e-commerce marketing strategies and we hope that it helps while you build your own e-commerce business!

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