Nearly 15% of startups fail because of poor marketing strategies.
You may have the best product — but if you can’t get the word out or attract your target audience, you’ll struggle with generating sales.
Fortunately, you can learn how to capture potential customers, turn them into buyers, and retain them — no matter how limited your resources may be.
Dive into this post with nine ecommerce marketing tactics to grow your startup.
1. Send compelling promotional emails
Deliver the right email at the right time to compel subscribers to take your offers.
For instance, if your customers left their virtual shopping carts, send cart abandonment emails reminding them to complete their checkout.
Boost your click-through and open rates, among others, by using relevant subject lines, attractive designs, and concise content.
Insert CTA buttons as well, so shoppers can directly respond to your offer. This increases your conversion, sales, and revenue.
You can do all that with email marketing tools such as Sender.
Sender lets you design mobile-responsive emails or customize their templates, personalize, insert product images and videos easily, automate your email workflows, and more.
Additionally, insert eye-catching and professional-looking email signatures to get more leads, email replies, social reach, and more. Use signature generator tools such as WiseStamp.
In just a couple of clicks, WiseStamp lets you customize your email signature by filling in basic details, your social media handles, formatting styles, and others.
You can even create different versions for yourself and your team, centralize your branding and signature management, and integrate with your email platforms.
If you’re using Gmail, for instance, you can fully and quickly sync your company’s G suite signature management, allowing you to segment signatures by departments, and more.
2. Install live chat
Use live chat to engage potential customers and increase your sales and conversions.
With live chat, visitors can ask you about your product more conveniently. You can also assist them in browsing your catalog and solidifying their buying decisions.
Install live chat with tools such as LiveAgent.
LiveAgent lets you chat with your visitors in real-time and automate chat invitations to customers. It even allows you to customize your chat window and integrate it easily on your site.
Leverage live chat to capture and qualify leads faster and improve consumer happiness and shopping experience.
3. Optimize your keywords for search engines
Target the right keywords to heighten your site visibility on search engines.
Use keywords research tools such as Wordtracker.
Enter your seed phrase and hit enter. I typed in “natural cosmetics” as a sample, and these results appeared:
Wordtracker lists keywords with performance metrics: average monthly volume, competition level, and the number of webpages keywords that appeared in anchor and title tags (IAAT).
Go for high-yielding, low-competition phrases such as “natural preservatives for cosmetics” in the example.
Also, include buyer intent phrases and your location in your keywords to optimize your local listings.
Sample phrases include: “affordable sunglasses and eyeglasses in New Jersey,” “Miami surfboards under $800,” etc.
Sprinkle these phrases appropriately in your blog posts, product pages and descriptions, photo alt tags, and others.
4. Employ pop-ups for opt-in offers
Pop-ups have an average conversion rate of 3.09% in 2020. Use them to promote your opt-in offers and encourage visitors to take action.
Remember these tips when displaying your pop-up offers:
- Set pop-ups to appear at the right time, such as immediately when visitors land on your site, or after a few minutes of staying, indicating their interest in your store.
- Keep your pop-up content concise, with only one to a maximum of two fields requested for entry. Longer ones repel your customers.
- Stick to one conversion goal and offer for every pop-up. This prevents confusing your customers and delaying decision-making.
- Align your offers and pop-up settings and formats with your objectives, shopper activity, and others.
Design compelling pop-ups with tools such as OptinMonster.
On your dashboard, OptinMonster lets you pick your pop-up format and template, customize its CTA buttons, font styles, etc, and determine when it shows up.
Through well-designed pop-ups, you stimulate your customers’ interest in your opt-in offers and boost your conversions.
5. Publish stunning photos
Invite visitors to linger in your site by showing photos of your product in high resolution and from various angles.
Doing that magnifies the item’s details, allowing customers to inspect it thoroughly and convincing them of its quality.
Hershey’s presents an excellent example:
Hershey’s displays a large, mouth-watering photo of its s’mores on its homepage, enticing visitors to buy their product (and enter their contest).
Mango also provides a great example, with high-impact, zoomed-in photos of its buttoned wrap dress from the back, front, side, etc.:
With stunning photos on your homepage and product pages, you captivate and entice your customers to buy, increasing your sales and profit.
6. Leverage video marketing
Brands using video marketing grow their yearly income 49% faster than brands that don’t.
Leverage video marketing to present your product, elaborate on its features, demonstrate the best use of the item, and more.
Dermcare, for instance, dedicates a page for monthly BeautyFIX box reveals, tutorials, and introductory product videos.
If you’re posting videos on YouTube, apply a catchy design and the right size for your thumbnail. Use consistent styles and personal branding also the way Ulta Beauty did:
Embed your YouTube video on your website instead of uploading it to save space.
Through video marketing, you can attract potential buyers and positively influence their buying decisions.
7. Use functional, attractive web design
Apply attractive web designs to impress your visitors, catch their attention, and exhibit your legitimacy and professionalism.
Enhance your site’s functionality also to ease your store’s navigation and improve your customers’ shopping experience.
A stellar example is Recess’ online store:
Recess has a colorful, creative, yet straightforward homepage. It features its canned drink with micro-animation, a CTA button, Shop and Login links, and your cart (canned beverage icon).
With a functional, attractive design, you make shopping more enjoyable and motivate your buyers to come back to your store.
8. Offer coupons
Customers love buying items at cheaper rates. Compel them to add items to their carts by offering discount codes, vouchers, and coupons.
Here’s an example by United by Blue:
United by Blue invited its visitors to get 30% product discounts using the code “SUNSHINE” when they check out.
Flash your coupons on your homepage so customers can see them immediately. Include a CTA button as well, leading to the right page. Doing increases your sales, profit, and conversions.
9. Run refer-a-friend programs
Referral programs help spread brand awareness, leading to more customers, sales, and conversions.
Entice your existing customers to refer your brand by rewarding them for every friend that becomes a paying shopper.
Here’s how Pop Chart did it:
It designed an enormous banner announcing its referral program, so it’s sure to get attention. Clicking “Get Started” leads to a page that briefly explains the system:
Through refer-a-friend programs, you maximize your regular shoppers’ marketing power, widening your brand promotion, and customer reach cost-efficiently.
Grow your startup quickly with these marketing tactics
Marketing your ecommerce startup is a progressive thing, so keep implementing these tips until your performance skyrockets.
Be innovative and align your campaigns with your customers’ needs. Test, monitor, and refine your strategies always. Over time, you’ll grow your startup and achieve your desired results.
