1. Digital marketing for ecommerce

The creator’s guide to digital marketing for ecommerce

Digital marketing for ecommerce: what, why and how?

In today's digital age, online shopping has become an increasingly popular way for consumers to purchase products and services. As a result, online merchants face stiff competition and need to find ways to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Digital marketing provides an effective way for you to reach and engage with your target audience.

By utilizing various digital marketing strategies such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising, you can improve your business’s visibility, attract more customers, and ultimately increase sales and revenue. In this way, digital marketing is a critical tool for any online merchant looking to succeed in today's competitive e-commerce landscape.

Owned channel marketing

Also known as organic marketing, this is a strategy whereby you advertise your business through free channels to potential customers. These channels include:

  • Search engine optimization: For Etsy and Shopify

  • Email campaigns

  • Referral programmes

Pros
Cons
Free advertising. Organic digital marketing is a free method of marketing with no advertising costs, so won’t cut into your profits.
Free advertising. Organic digital marketing is a free method of marketing with no advertising costs, so won’t cut into your profits.
Slower to build. It takes time to build quality content and get traction from organic campaigns, referrals or word of mouth. Traffic to your store is likely to be slow to start with as you build brand awareness, and it can take months to collect enough data to make more informed marketing decisions.
Good conversion rate. If people come to your store from organic digital marketing, it means that they’ve reacted to one of your campaigns and therefore are interested in what you have to offer. This leads to a higher conversion potential.
Good conversion rate. If people come to your store from organic digital marketing, it means that they’ve reacted to one of your campaigns and therefore are interested in what you have to offer. This leads to a higher conversion potential.
Sustainable. Once you build a following, organic traffic will continue as long as you maintain the quality of your products or service. Think of some of the biggest brands in the world; customers will always search for their products regardless of the advertising campaign they are running at the time.
Sustainable. Once you build a following, organic traffic will continue as long as you maintain the quality of your products or service. Think of some of the biggest brands in the world; customers will always search for their products regardless of the advertising campaign they are running at the time.

How to get started

There are some key things to focus on to make sure you’ll get the most ouf of whichever channels you decide to invest in.

Know your audience

  • Speak to your existing customers to find out what they love and their pain points and combine this insight with market and competitor research to create a picture of the customer profile you’d like to attract.

Define your goals

  • Are you looking to increase website traffic, generate leads, or boost sales? Knowing your goals will help you determine the best channel, strategy and allocate your budget effectively.

Content matters

  • All of us are bombarded with a ton of content daily, which means whether it is for Ads or your owned email communications, compelling headlines, concise ad copy, and a strong call-to-action (CTA) are important. Don’t be daunted by this if you feel you are not creative, there are many online resources like ChatGPT or Microsoft Designer to help you.

A/B testing & analytics

  • Especially when it comes to online advertising, noone gets it right on the first try. A/B testing is essential to learn and optimise, so try using different content or keywords across multiple methods. To conduct an A/B test, change one aspect of your campaign and run both variants at the same time, collecting the data on the performance of both. Then, you can implement the change that gives you better results. 

  • As you are investing time, resource and budget into your marketing efforts, knowing if you are successful is key. And although a mix of different channels might yield the best results for your business, consider starting with one or two to become familiar with the metrics, and have enough time to analyze performance before moving on to the next.

Digital Marketing is an ever evolving field, so continue to research, stay up-to-date with industry trends, test new strategies, and refine your campaigns to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Use resources from Gelato.com to help inform your strategy, read up on what other merchants are doing well to get inspiration or consider seeking professional assistance or consulting with an expert.

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