Don’t get me wrong – email marketing is great. It is an integral part of a business’ marketing tactic and has been since over 10 years. Did you know the average open rate of an email campaign across industries is 22.87%?
The channel is reported to deliver a CTR of 3.26% and has a un-subscription rate of only 0.53%. When an email campaign is strategized right, every $1 spent on it $38 in ROI.
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But you know what’s really interesting? A majority of emails are not immediately opened and read as soon as they are sent. To be honest, emails are just a one-off thing and this marketing tactic is not enough to capture the attention of consumers today.
The future of eCommerce in 2019
The year that has gone by was fantastic for the industry. Shoppers have spent majorly on online stores, with nearly half (48%) of online shoppers first turning to a mass commerce marketplace. Online shoppers are buying from both domestic and international websites.
Moreover, global retail sales are expected to touch $1 trillion by 2021. It’s quite evident that eCommerce is still booming at a fast pace, and online stores are more aggressive than ever in their marketing activities.
That’s why stopping at emails is not right for the businesses. The dynamic market and evolving technology have given rise to many marketing strategies that are also effective in boosting customer engagement and acquisition.
In this article, we are going to take a look at four effective marketing tactics for eCommerce businesses. Read on:
1. Give a friendly “push” through push
According to Forrester, push notifications don’t replace emails in no way. In fact, the push strategy complements the email marketing initiatives and acts as a core component of any direct marketing program. The good news is 70% of consumers find all types of push notifications, including order updates and location-based messages, to be of value.
Nykaa, an online beauty store, applies a push to bank on the frequent sales it runs on the website on a monthly basis. If you read the message as shown in the image below, you will find words like “flat 25% off” and “only for today”. The tone emphasizes on urgency.
Another beauty brand, Sephora, sends a notification when it locates a potential buyer or a customer near its physical store – with an attractive offer.
Your business can also do the same. For example, if your prospect is from Delhi, all you need to do is send him a localized offer that he can redeem at a store next to him – trust me, he will take the opportunity.
2. Get chatty on FB Messenger
This one’s suddenly my favorite because as a marketer, I am really impressed with the way Facebook is revolutionizing online shopping. Did you know the social media giant has the highest conversion rate? No wonder another giant – an eCommerce giant eBay – is leveraging this technology better than ever.
eBay’s ShopBot helps the website visitors in making a purchase on the basis of their preferences. It engages the customer by suggesting items filtered by price, historical behavior, product range, etc. ShopBot’s technology is quite advanced; hence if you are starting off with a chat tool, use the Facebook Messenger.
Through the platform, your online store can keep its customers informed about ongoing sales, stock position, shipping delivery status, and more apart from cross-selling/ upselling, handling queries and complaints, etc.
Through the Messenger, you can accelerate a buying process and acquire a customer faster.
Ready to start a conversation with your consumers? Create your Facebook Messenger bot with ZoConvert today!
3. Surprise and engage with exit popups
Do you think popups are annoying? Hmmm…that’s a tough one to answer. The average conversion rate for all popups is 3.09%, which is higher than in most ads. But popups can sometimes be annoying and make it difficult for a visitor to peacefully browse through the site.
Therefore, instead of installing a popup that gets highlighted on the page as soon as the visitor lands on any webpage, apply exit intent.
Before you ask me what it is, I want to tell you it is the popup that comes on the webpage right when a customer is about to leave the webpage.
What better way to pull back prospective buyers with a discount or a coupon code when they are leaving your online store? With exit intent technology, you can better understand audience behavior and accordingly optimize the browsing experience for them.
4. Try Instagram Marketing
Did you know? A whopping 65% of Instagram users check their feeds out for any online shopping inspiration. Also, while doing this they also are looking to discover new brands. Making them just the right audience looking for stores like yours to purchase from.
Therefore, nurture your Instagram followers, keep them engaged while also encouraging them to make purchases. It’ll seem simpler to manage if you focus on one, creating quality content, two, getting more followers, and three, engaging with your audience.
Further, it is needless to say that quality images are actually the foundation of your Instagram account. Being a visual medium you’ll be required to use photos and images that are high in quality and highlight your products in the best possible way.
Though the backbone of your account or quality content won’t suffice to grow your account exponentially and to do that what you need is—be proactive. According to Nathan Chan, CEO, Foundr Magazine, posting at least 3X a day looks ideal. So, make sure you post on your account consistently.
Wrapping up
You do know that the competition is not decreasing anytime soon for eCommerce businesses. Today, customers are happy to have more options in hand and hence, converting them is what poses a challenge for online stores.
Are there any other marketing tactics that you would suggest to our users?
