Digital marketing strategies for E-Commerce businesses

An E-Commerce business is, simply put, the buying and selling of goods and services or the exchange of funds or data over the internet. E-Commerce covers a wide range of transaction types such as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), or consumer-to-business (C2B). E-Commerce businesses also include features like online payment processing, consumer order tracking, and inventory management.

In comparison to the traditional brick-and-mortar businesses out there, there are plenty of advantages to running an E-Commerce business; Some of these examples include the 24/7 availability for consumers (provided the website is built well and is up and running), the speed of access to the site, international reach, and lower costs as a result of not having to maintain a physical store.

Due to the never ending internet presence, digital marketing is essential for E-Commerce businesses to thrive and compete in the competitive marketplace. Throughout this blog, there will be a selection of effective strategies you can use to make the most out of your business.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of optimising a website for more keywords in order to rank higher on the results page of any given search engine. The SEO process involves various methods and types – one of these being on-page SEO which is done by optimising the titles, headers, URLs, content and meta-descriptions on individual pages to draw in more relevant traffic and higher rankings.

You could take another SEO route such as researching keywords with the most search volume, making the user experience (UX) better through improved navigation, load times, page layout, and technical SEO. Technical SEO is where the backend of the website is configured and optimised to improve crawlability, which is where the pages on a website must be indexed and must reach certain criteria before it is shown in results.

Pay-per-click (PPC)

Defined, PPC is an advertising model that consists of advertisers paying each time there is a click on one of their online ads. Despite there being various types of PPC ads, one of the more common types is the Google Shopping ad; This is where a photo of a product is shown alongside a title, price, and shop name. These are included to give potential consumers an idea of what is being offered before someone clicks on the ad – which can result in a higher quality of traffic.

Instead of businesses simply paying more to appear higher in search results than their competitors, they are instead applied to an ad auction bidding system. 

The ad auction bidding system is where advertisers must ‘bid’ on the terms known as keywords they would like their ad to display for. When a user submits a search term into the search engine, it then performs algorithmic calculations to decide which ads are displayed, in what order, and by which advertiser (Wordstream, 2024). What’s more, you will only need to bid 1p more than your competitors to reach the next position.

Due to E-Commerce businesses being solely online, this method of advertising is definitely one to take into consideration. 

Social media marketing (SMM)

Social media marketing is a digital marketing method which utilises social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter) to promote and reach potential customers, leading to potential sales and relationships.

Social media marketing offers a variety of targeting options that allow businesses to craft their advertising towards specific demographics, interests and behaviours – those of which vary depending on what platform is being used. For example, the age range of users on Facebook may be vastly different to those who use Instagram. Because of this, businesses should do prior research on each platform before showcasing their products and services so that they can maximise their potential reach.

Engagement and interaction are also a valuable feature when it comes to social media marketing, as it provides direct communication between consumers and businesses. This can be through comments, images, videos and stories – potentially building up relationships and trust with consumers, and overall publicity that could lead to an increase in traffic being driven to the business website.

User-generated content (UGC)

Linking back to social media usage is user-generated content, which is where consumers and non-consumers are uploading forms of content reviews, photos and videos – the latter two being known as visual UGC. Visual UGC is an excellent way to enhance trust and credibility in a business’s product as the information is being provided from a source that is not theirs. The best example of this would be a consumer of a food product delivered from an E-Commerce website who decides to take a photo and upload it to their social media. In turn, the E-Commerce business in question can share this photo to build product awareness and attract new consumers. 

Customer reviews are important to a business both as a form of UGC and as a means of monitoring product performance. This is due to the fact that reviews seen on product or service pages serve as a form of proof on how it is received; Positive reviews are also good influencers on potential buyer decisions.

The previously mentioned digital marketing strategies are essential for E-Commerce businesses – particularly if they are aiming to maximise their online presence in addition to attracting potential consumers and driving sales for their products or services.

At Website Design Ltd we have a lot of experience in various industries, bringing them success through the use of the methods mentioned in this blog –  Reach out to us today to see how we can help your marketing.