The Most Effective Marketing Channels for Your Online Stores
Over the past several years, e-commerce marketing has seen a significant transition. We not only use our smartphones more and more frequently, but we also spend more money on them.
Smart businesses don’t wait for their consumers to take notice of them. Instead, they are deliberately promoting themselves where their clients are. In this digital-first economy, we’re delving into the top marketing channels you can’t afford to skip.
1. Content
You might say that content encapsulates all of the information on your website, making it a hundred marketing channels in one. Content is important for everything from product descriptions to blogs to even visual components like videos. Imagine visiting a website and finding more white space than the actual content. With so little information available, how can you possibly make an informed purchase?
One principle governs content: educate first, sell second. Customers purchase from trusted brands. Additionally, your chances of closing the deal increase right away if you’re offering accurate, instructional content that prioritizes the needs of your audience.
2. Pop-Ups
These marketing messages often referred to as lightbox or modal pop-ups, allow you to collect email addresses from prospects while they are actively using your website, or when they are browsing. You should be employing this sort of marketing because it is cost-free and simple to use.
Lightboxes are frequently used to present promotional codes to new and returning customers. But more crucially, they can serve as your company’s main source of leads. Customers may now provide you with their email addresses without first making a purchase on your website.
You may use lightbox pop-ups to get people to sign up for your mailing list in exchange for something, such as a free resource or a unique promo code. From there, you may later remarket to those same leads.
3. Email Marketing
Emails are something we either love or despise. However, depending on the information you’re providing, email marketing may be the most effective sales tool you have at your disposal. In fact, more marketers consider email marketing to be the most successful channel for content marketing than any other. Use email to advance prospects along the sales funnel once you’ve obtained email addresses through your pop-ups. You may invite people to join your social networks or provide a one-time use coupon code (followed by a giveaway you launch via email).
4. SMS
It would be difficult to locate somebody who isn’t constantly within reach of their phone. This is especially true for your ideal target market, which consists of mobile customers who can make a purchase with a few simple clicks from the palm of their hands while they’re on the road.
SMS, or text message marketing, is a medium you should surely employ as a result. Just two examples of SMS marketing material include brief messages announcing pre-orders or giving discounts.
But be careful: before sending your prospects SMS, make sure you’re getting their consent via an opt-in form or field. Include a method for recipients to opt out of receiving future texts by adding “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” following your promotional text.
5. User-Generated Content (UGC)
The last but not least content category is one that merits a separate section. There’s a good possibility that if you watch TV or use a phone, you’ve come across user-generated content (UGC). What then is UGC? Simply, it’s content that customers themselves have produced and shared.
Prioritize acquiring consumer feedback, whether it comes in the form of testimonials, video reviews, or word-of-mouth to get UGC going. Once you have a small group, speak with them directly and ask if they would be willing to spread the word about you. Even free items or discounts on subsequent orders might be used to entice clients or influencers. If that’s the case, make sure that reviewers disclose that they received free or discounted items in exchange for their reviews.
