As the owner of an eCommerce business, you have the potential to reach an audience of over 2.7 billion people worldwide. However, the company also faces stiff competition from thousands of other brands. So, if yours is ever going to gain its fair share of a $4.21tn industry, effective marketing will be essential.
Most brands do a lot of things well. Sadly, though, the vast majority hinder their progress by falling into common traps or overlooking key features. Learning to avoid the pitfalls will instantly give your company the edge and help it unlock its full potential. So, make sure you avoid the following mishaps to boost your business heading into 2025 and beyond.
Ignoring Offline Marketing Efforts
When working in the eCommerce sector, the majority of your marketing efforts will focus on digital channels. Nevertheless, offline endeavours can continue to have a huge influence on branding and marketing. For starters, virtually all consumers have instant access to your website via their smartphones. Real-world ads can direct towards it from any location.
Offline marketing materials help legitimise the brand and show an added sense of professionalism. After all, inferior operations are unlikely to invest money in printed materials or ad placements. So, seeing brand impressions in physical settings can subconsciously build trust in the brand. Of course, it also creates additional touchpoints for omnichannel strategies.
It’s not only an opportunity to reach consumers in new settings. Offline marketing can extend to trade shows or promotional events to build excitement with big results in a short space of time. Banner printing and a suitable pitch design will capture the imagination. Meanwhile, photos of the event can support your online efforts by giving a deeper insight into the brand personality.
The use of promotional goods like t-shirts and mugs will grow brand awareness further. They can even be added to online orders to create an added sense of value. Offline marketing may also cover meetings with retailers and other relevant B2B parties. By impressing them, you have the opportunity to transform the trajectory of your business growth in a single moment.
Missing Out On Social Proof
When creating a detailed marketing strategy, covering both online and offline matters is only the start. Modern consumers will scrutinise your marketing campaigns like never before. They know that brands are going to paint themselves in a positive light. Most new leads will want to see what other consumers have to say about the brand before they make a purchase.
Social proof is now an essential part of any marketing strategy, especially for eCommerce brands. After all, many of your potential customers need to trust the brand without face-to-face interactions. Securing more customer reviews can be the greatest weapon in your arsenal. Even when people don’t read them, they will look at the average rating and number of reviews gained.
The knowledge that you have satisfied many customers before them will verify the quality of your brand. For the best results, though, you also need happy clients to actively reach out to new leads. Affiliate marketing is an ideal choice. Not least because any payments made to your affiliates only occur after they have secured new sales on your behalf.
Affiliates also know which of their friends are most likely to respond positively to your products or services. Another popular way to increase brand exposure to new audiences comes from working with influencers. In either scenario, the power of recommendation will get more sales over the line. Furthermore, the fear of missing out (FOMO) encourages quick conversions.
Overlooking Local Search Intent
As an eCommerce business, you have the chance to reach a global audience. To see the best results, though, you must learn to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. You already know that the brand needs to resonate with them, which is why generic campaigns don’t work. In reality, though, target marketing isn’t just about the demographic data. Location is equally vital.
Users may have access to a world of brands, but most want to work with local companies. In fact, 55% actively prefer to use local brands, even when shopping online. As well as improved perceptions of trust, it can be a good way to reduce carbon emissions during order fulfilment. Crucially, using local firms makes it easier for clients to resolve any issues that may encounter.
Ultimately, 46% of search engine searches have a local intent. Search engines, social media platforms, and business directories often present local solutions too. Therefore, it makes sense for your company to target local searches as well as organic keywords linked to your brand. Aside from building a strong connection, it is easier to rank highly for local terms.
Targeting local audiences needn’t stop you from hitting multiple locations. Creating landing pages for specific locations is a great way for your eCommerce brand to gain a local presence in multiple places. You could even open virtual postal addresses in those locations and have warehouses in several parts of the country. It can significantly accelerate your growth.
Ignoring The Need For Clear Direction
Marketing success can be defined by many metrics including brand awareness and interest in products. While it is important to monitor several Key Performance Indicators, the truth is that nothing else matters if you fail to generate sales. Ultimately, if you want customers to complete a specific action, you need to actively guide them towards it. Ambiguity would cost you dearly.
It takes an average of eight touchpoints to gain a sale. So, the intended action won’t always focus on an immediate purchase, especially at the top of the sales funnel. Therefore, careful call-to-action (CTA) prompts must be used at each stage of the buying journey. This may focus on requesting a call back, signing up for newsletters, or getting a free demo.
Providing clear directions isn’t only about CTAs, though. Personalised marketing interactions should help users find the most relevant products for them. Data analytics that track past purchases, page views, and consumer habits can point them to the right products. Meanwhile, cart abandonment emails can prevent lost sales. Staying fresh in their minds is vital.
You may also utilise AI to assist users with their purchase. For example, questions could be used to ensure that they choose a fashion product in the correct size. Prompts regarding payment methods can also be useful. Not least because ideas like repayment plans can remove potential obstacles. Incorporate this into your marketing for a smoother process.
Avoiding Urgency
Your online business is open to customers on a 24/7 basis. When combined with the knowledge regarding touchpoints, you don’t have to panic if you fail to get a sale today. Sadly, though, many eCommerce brands are lulled into a false sense of security. In truth, you must introduce a sense of urgency unless you want users to back out of sales or turn to your competitors.
So, how do you create urgency? Timed promotions are a particularly useful method. The offer is sure to capture the user’s attention while the opportunity to get more value for money will appeal. Moreover, it forces them to make a decision, which gives them less time to find an excuse to not buy the item. It is a great solution for gaining impulse purchases.
It may see you lose some leads, but will also bring a healthy level of conversions. The quick nature of them also removes the pressure to generate revenue as a startup. As well as timed promotions, you could introduce limited edition stock. The sense of FOMO will encourage interested leads to take action before the opportunity passes.
Adding countdowns on your product pages to inform users about low stock works well. Meanwhile, automated “X amount of people bought this in the last week” can build social proof. By the time a user is on the product, they are a long way into the buying journey and now is the time to help them make a decision. Being too relaxed at this stage would cost you dearly.
Not Following Up With A Great Service
Finally, all of the above steps can help you gain more new customers. However, the initial conversion should not be the end goal. The Pareto principle states that 80% of your long-term revenue will come from just 20% of your audience. Therefore, gaining loyal clients is the key to success. With this in mind, marketing efforts must be followed by a great service.
High-quality products are the first issue to consider. However, it’s equally important to get deliveries right because consumers expect their orders fast. Regular communication and speedy deliveries will prevent client frustrations. Nevertheless, it’s important to ensure that customer support is easily accessed too. This can be done online or via telephone.
A winning service will give new customers another incentive to become loyal clients. Also, the historical data of past purchases and interactions can help your future marketing efforts. Remarketing is shown to be more effective and cost-efficient than reaching new clients too. So, this move can work wonders for ongoing sales revenue and ROIs.
In addition to boosting average customer lifetime values, a great service supports marketing. Happy customers will organically tell others about the experiences, both online and offline. It will spread brand awareness and build trust in the brand regardless whether the client is an affiliate or not. The snowball effect of impressing new customers should see your reputation grow too.
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