Congratulations! Your new ecommerce store is set up and ready for customers. From detailed product pages to a streamlined checkout process, you have done the work to ensure the buyer's experience is superb. Now, it's time to get the buyers on your website by investing in ecommerce advertising.
Having an ecommerce store enables you to reach a broad audience of potential buyers. But they aren't just going to come to you, at least not at first. Instead, you will need to make your new store readily accessible. You can do this by setting up an ecommerce advertising campaign across various platforms to increase brand awareness and engagement while driving traffic to your website. Here's how to do just that.
Your ecommerce store is the website that houses your products and information about your business. However, it is not the only platform you need for your business to succeed. Instead, you need to ensure you are everywhere your target customers are and everywhere they might look for you. So, to create effective campaigns, set up these ecommerce advertising channels and use the unique features each platform offers to advertise your brand and products to your target audience.
For your ecommerce store to succeed in this day and age, you must be on social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and others, depending on your product type. If you haven't already, set up business accounts for the main social sites you will be advertising on (hint: with over 1.1 billion monthly users worldwide, Instagram should definitely be one of them). Your social media handles should be the same as your business name or as close to it as you can get, as some may already be in use by other people or companies.
Once you have your social media platforms created, begin posting relevant, high-quality content with catchy captions. Utilize product photos and industry hashtags on Instagram and Facebook to reach your target customers. Invest in video marketing for YouTube and cross-promote on all your social media channels.
For a complete guide on building a video marketing strategy:
To further your reach, take advantage of the "store" features available on Instagram and Facebook. Selling products on social media platforms is gaining popularity. It is easy for your target customers, and it provides more ways for people to purchase from you.
Here are some tips for selling on Instagram:
For paid ecommerce advertising, set up Facebook Ads on your Shopify store and place your social media ads in front of the right people, on the right platform, at the right time. For a social media ad to be effective, be sure to use relevant, high-quality images or videos and include a strong call to action for viewers to "Learn More" or "Shop Now." This will generate interest and engagement on your website.
There are a variety of ecommerce advertising strategies available through social media platforms. This is why creating your brand pages and utilizing them right away is the first step in creating a strong ecommerce advertising campaign for your new store.
While social media helps you establish your brand and generate traffic to your website, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with your potential customers and increase sales. A recent study has shown that combining ads and emails can accelerate your sales cycle. This is why learning how to build an email list and create quality email content is vital for your ecommerce advertising campaign.
For more information on email content marketing and audience building:
To build your email list, first, choose the right email marketing software for your business. As an ecommerce store, check out the top six ecommerce email marketing software designed to help companies like yours thrive through email advertising.
Next, choose which email opt-in strategy is right for you and most relevant to your target customer. By offering free shipping or a first-time-buyer discount in exchange for an email address, you will start to build your email list quickly. And with an email list, the ecommerce advertising strategies are endless and useful.
For more ways to collect email addresses:
Your email advertising strategy should include targeting and retargeting emails, cart abandonment win-back emails, and more. Start reaching out to your potential and existing customers often with quality emails that are interesting and relevant to your customers' needs and desires.
Google is a robust ecommerce advertising platform. While it does cost money, you can incorporate it into your marketing strategy without going over budget. Even more, the investment is worth the potential ROI, especially when you can set up Google's Shopping campaigns as part of your Google Ads account.
Shopping campaigns include advertising options tailored to ecommerce stores, so you can visually promote your products in Google search results. With the ability to display an image, price, and description for each product you advertise, this digital advertising strategy is vital for your new store.
To increase your advertising campaign's effectiveness, create digital ads, email campaigns, and social media content that push the same sale, product, or message. Consistency is critical when it comes to advertising across multiple platforms.
Ensuring your ecommerce website is optimized for user experience is last but certainly not least. This ecommerce advertising strategy can make or break your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Because the ecommerce industry is very competitive, it is important to provide the best user experience on your site to drive customer engagement.
For more tips on driving website engagement:
Consider each landing page and product page in your overall advertising strategy. For example, use a product recommendation tool to add an "other shoppers purchased" or "you might also like" section at the bottom of each product landing page to advertise additional products. Remember, your ecommerce site is not something to "set and forget." Continuously optimizing your site should always be part of your ecommerce advertising plan.
To increase brand awareness, product engagement, website traffic, and sales, you must invest time and energy into ecommerce advertising. With free strategies available, you can begin advertising and reaching your ideal customers with any marketing budget.
Start by posting original content on social media and building an email list. With this strong foundation, you can get creative with how you use social platforms, email marketing, and digital advertising together to reach your ideal customers, drive traffic to your new store, and generate sales.
Last updated on September 20th, 2023.