11/10/22
12'
E-commerce marketers use a variety of strategies and tactics to promote and sell their products or services online. The goal of e-commerce marketing is to attract and engage customers, build brand awareness and trust, and ultimately drive sales. In order to stand out in a crowded market, businesses need to develop a successful multichannel marketing strategy that reaches and engages their target audience.
Successful multichannel strategies need to rely on multiple channels, including social media, search engines, product ads, affiliation, and retargeting to reach and engage customers. However, brands and retailers face challenges such as changing consumer behaviour, limited budgets, increasing competition, and data privacy concerns.
On top of that, today’s consumers have many opportunities to discover and research products before making a purchase. For example, 74% of people use Facebook to discover brands or products, 43% use Google to find information and compare products, and 70% use Instagram to research their next purchase. These numbers show that shoppers often use more than one source when making purchasing decisions. This makes them become so-called “One-Time Buyers”.
In this article, we provide an ultimate guide to creating a successful e-commerce multichannel marketing strategy. We believe that a well-thought-out and tested strategy is essential for success in the e-commerce market. Follow our guide to develop a strategy that will help your business thrive.
Contents
E-commerce Multichannel Marketing: The Questions You Should Ask Yourself
Key Steps To Follow For Your Marketing Strategy
What Are the Acquisition Channels To Consider?
Social Commerce: Key For Every E-commerce Marketing Strategy
Make Sure Your Marketing Strategy Is Data-Driven
Example: Data-Driven Google Marketing Campaigns
Marketing Automation: A No-Brainer
Before developing a marketing strategy, it is important to ask yourself a few key questions. While this may not always be easy, taking the time to reflect on these questions will help you refine your strategy and create a more effective campaign:
In a second step, you may be faced with more complex and advanced questions such as:
Once you have answered the questions above, it is time to begin implementing your strategy to drive more traffic to your e-commerce website and increase your sales. Some key steps to follow include:
To generate traffic to your e-commerce site, there are several acquisition marketing channels to consider. The most important are listed below.
Social media marketing involves using platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Instagram to promote your business and connect with potential customers. Effective product ads in various formats can make a big difference, consider also native shopping solutions (the entire shopping process – discovery, reinforcement, add to basket and payment – takes place on the social media platform, without leaving it for another site).
To improve your website’s visibility in search engine results, search engine marketing strategies include optimizing your site through search engine optimization (SEO) and using pay-per-click (PPC) or search engine advertising (SEA) to increase its ranking for specific keywords. Google (Google Ads) is the most widely used search engine, but it’s important to also consider Bing (Microsoft) and Yandex.
Affiliate marketing involves partnering with other businesses or individuals to promote your products or services, and paying them a commission for each sale they generate. Some of the best-known affiliate marketing platforms include ShareASale, Awin, Amazon Associates, Shopify, and eBay Partners.
Retargeting is a form of online advertising that allows businesses to show ads to users who have previously visited their website. This can be an effective way to increase brand awareness and drive conversions because it allows businesses to show ads to users who have already shown some interest in their products or services. Some of the biggest players in the retargeting space include Criteo, Facebook, and RTB House.
If the brand or company you work for also has a presence on marketplaces like Amazon and sells directly there, then it can also be very important to include retail media in their marketing strategy.
To increase online sales, it is important to focus on where consumers spend the most time online, which is on social media. In the UK, 77.9% of the population is active on social media (53 million users). In Germany, the percentage is even higher, at 78.7%, (66 million users), and in France, 76% of the population uses social media (47 million users).
This shows the significant potential for marketers to reach and engage with consumers through social media platforms. Generation Z in particular spends a lot of time on social media.
By 2025, the share of e-commerce done through social commerce is expected to reach 17%. In 2021 alone, 64% of social media users made a purchase through social commerce, representing a total of 2 billion buyers. This shows again the vast potential of this market.
Social media platforms offer a range of e-commerce features that can help marketers boost online sales. Some of the most notable examples include:
Some also have native shopping solutions like Facebook and Instagram shops, TikTok Shopping, or Pinterest Shopping, but these functionalities are not yet available globally, often limited to certain regions.
Engage with new promising audiences and boost your online sales throug…
Learn moreFor e-commerce marketing it is crucial to rely on data you can easily turn into actions. It will help you drive better decision-making, maintain control over your advertising activity and optimise the costs.
By combining advertising data, such as clicks and impressions, with business data, such as margin and turnover, you can enhance your advertising efforts. For example, you can use data such as stock levels, seasonality, and margin rates from your business to inform decisions about your product catalog. This can be done using an e-commerce intelligence platform like Lengow. You will be able to effectively execute your marketing channels strategy.
Another concrete example: If you plan promotions, first review your product catalog and use data from recent months or past promotions to identify which products to push in your marketing strategy. Consider sales and stock levels to avoid disappointing shoppers.
Use an Analytics tool to analyse your product performance and buying behavior, such as the number of sales and views, and the conversion rate. After that, you can segment your catalogue and create rules based on the Analytics data. For example, you could reduce the prices of products that are not selling well, or to increase the visibility of your best-selling products on the best working channels.
As Google being the most important channel for marketing activities (49% of users utilize it to discover new products and services), let’s have a closer look at it to see which data-driven strategy you could use in this case. Three examples:
Run A/B tests on Google Shopping Ads: Converting and driving profit is a major goal for a Google Shopping Ad. Running A/B tests is a solid method of improving your ads. By using A/B tests, you get to see the side-by-side comparison between an ad as-it-stands as well as with new adjustments made. Use the data collected to make the best decision on which ad is the winner.
Base your ads strategies on reliable data: Integrate your own data, such as stocks, seasonality performance, competitive pricing, and margins. Add relevant figures and statistics as ‘additional sources’ to your marketing platform in your Google feed. This will allow you to create a complete product catalogue that matches your specific business needs. Afetr that you can segment your Google product catalogues to get ahead of the data, simplifying the process of analysis and evaluation.
Set up an accurate price strategy to generate profit: With a Google Price Tracker you can find out which products you sell more expensive, cheaper or equal to the market average. In a similar vein, you will be able to determine whether or not you have the best pricing by using a Google Shopping Repricer, which will allow you to define alternative price strategies for each segmented group. Always remember: base pricing decisions on relevant data.
Master Intelligent Google Marketing Campaigns to Drive Performance The…
Learn moreMarketing automation changes a marketers life. Repetitive, time-consuming marketing tasks are automated. For example, Lengow’s marketing automation platform allows businesses to set up and automate their marketing campaigns, such as email marketing or retargeting. This can help businesses save time and resources, and ensure that their marketing messages are delivered to the right customers at the right time.
Some key elements a marketing automation platform should provide:
If you’re curious about what successful e-commerce multichannel marketing strategies might look like, here are a few examples to inspire and pique your interest:
Yes. A multichannel marketing strategy is important because it allows businesses to reach and engage with their target audience through cross-channel marketing, increasing the chances of converting them into customers. It also helps businesses build brand awareness, establish trust, improve customer relationships, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Having your own multichannel marketing strategy is important if you want to effectively reach and engage with your target audience, establish your brand presence across multiple channels, and stay competitive in your industry. However, the specific channels and tactics you use will depend on your business goals, target audience, and available resources.
Your e-commerce library
How to Succeed on Marketplaces on Black Friday
Learn moreL'Oréal Luxe Success Story
Learn moreAI in E-Commerce: Product Feed Focus
Learn moreBy submitting this form you authorize Lengow to process your data for the purpose of sending you Lengow newsletters . You have the right to access, rectify and delete this data, to oppose its processing, to limit its use, to render it portable and to define the guidelines relating to its fate in the event of death. You can exercise these rights at any time by writing to dpo@lengow.com
Marketplaces
In 2024, selling on marketplaces is a real challenge. Rivalry between sellers is intensifying, and the range of marketplaces is…
18/01/24
7'
Marketplaces
Emerging under the vast umbrella of PDD Holdings Inc., Temu has skyrocketed in popularity as a shopping sensation from China…
17/08/23
5'
Marketplaces
The e-commerce scene is a vibrant mix of marketplaces in Europe. These aren't just websites; they're bustling hubs where millions…
08/12/23
7'
Google Shopping
Google Shopping isn't just another advertising channel; it's the undisputed titan of paid e-commerce advertising channels. And why is that?…
11/01/24
9'
Price Intelligence
Selling successfully on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay hinges on how well you price your products. It's a balancing act:…
24/11/23
7'