Effective Marketing Strategies for Your E-Commerce Startup‌

Traditional marketing was the norm for decades and digital marketing was a slow transition.

However, the pandemic forced a change in what was the norm and what was obsolete.

In the blink of an eye, everyone is suddenly favoring digital marketing and digital shopping to buy the goods and services they need.

Consumers sit in their homes browsing through their phones and adding items they fancy to their digital carts.

All it takes is a few clicks here and there before they check out and purchase the items they need, paying with a credit card or mobile app.

If that wasn’t enough, digital wallets also became part of everyday lives to avoid physical contact. The pandemic changed the way we live and the way businesses run with no signs of reverting.

E-commerce has a solid place in our future and marketing agencies for startups know just what you need. We’ll be discussing different effective marketing strategies that startup agencies would recommend.

Marketing Strategies From Startup Agencies

Source: Pexels

1. Branding Services for Startups to Grow on Social Media

Social media platforms are one of the most efficient ways to expand your reach as an eCommerce startup. It has a wide scale that will let you find and build your target audience. Marketing agencies for startups highly recommend using social media for marketing strategies. Filled with professionals, they know just how social media influences business trends.

You can choose one or two social media platforms that will perform well with your brand. Then, you need a regular posting schedule and strategy because consistency is key.

Social media algorithms favor pages that post valuable content regularly. You’d have a better chance of appearing on users’ news feeds because you’re deemed a reliable source. 

Depending on your business niche, you can post about recipes, reading lists, or tutorial guides.

Keep brainstorming what kind of content you can publish to entertain your followers. You can also share your blog posts that can answer people’s questions about your product. 

2. Startup Agencies Recommend Utilizing Sponsored Advertisements

Social media’s paid advertisement is a low-cost marketing strategy that’s perfect for startups. It can introduce relevant audiences to your brand and drive traffic to your site. Most of all, it can secure important conversion and sales for your startup.

You have full control of the kind of audience that sees your paid ads as well. For some industries, the pay-per-click cost of an ad on Facebook can be less than $1.

Hence, startup agencies highly recommend putting this feature under your radar. It can prove to be a good ROI in the future considering how big an audience can be on social media.

However, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind: retargeting and geolocation targeting.

Retargeting will help you reach brand-new customers, like those who have visited your site before. These are prospects who are already aware of your brand, making it easier to convert them into customers.

Meanwhile, geolocation targeting is a common mistake that eCommerce startups make. That is, if you plan to ship internationally, you shouldn’t limit your advertisements to one location.

E-commerce means people are always shopping online and the internet is open to everybody. 

3. Publish Interesting and Compelling Content

Whether it’s on a social media account or a blog, your audience has expectations of your brand.

That’s why you should deliver useful information related to your industry at no extra cost to them.

You’re just helping them get to know your brand by answering questions they’ve been meaning to ask. And by publishing this kind of content, you’re also giving current customers a reason to stick around.

When publishing content, startup agencies advise putting together a schedule or content calendar. It should contain your plans for content creation and publication, like a schedule for your next blog post.

You need to keep the whole team in the loop for this stage by having meetings. You can discuss what topics you should write about, blog titles, and ideas for your collaborative calendar.

By publishing consistently and compellingly, your brand will have a stronger online presence. This will then help drive traffic, conversion, and sales to your website even more. 

4. Listen to Clients and Improve Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is another necessity for every business, especially an eCommerce startup. You can showcase your customer reviews on your website to increase credibility as part of your strategy. It’s common for people to read the reviews before adding an item to a cart or purchasing it. 

The reviews you receive highlight your startup’s “personality” and what customers experience. In the same way, it also affects visitors’ expectations of your business. If your website shows high reviews, then your visitors expect the best experience from you.

However, if you don’t have enough reviews to highlight your product, you can run an email campaign.

You can also do it on social media or use review apps to gather the best reviews.

The best reviews can come from different online platforms which enhances your credibility. This will help build trust between you and your growing audience as a startup.

Different Types of Marketing for E-Commerce Startups

1. Social Media Marketing

This type of marketing is where you use social media platforms as part of your strategy. There are a variety of platforms for different types of businesses online.

If you rely on visuals, Instagram and Pinterest are great platforms to use. TikTok is great for reels and short videos to reach and attract your target. Facebook and Twitter are good for textual interactions with your audience.

2. Content Marketing

This is a type of marketing that we’ve discussed among the marketing strategies to employ. It uses different types of content to market your brand, like videos, blog posts, and more. It can be tied up with social media marketing to reach your target audience while publishing content.

3. Search Engine Marketing

Also known as SEM, it’s one of the most effective methods of growing your startup. It’s all about online advertisements, such as using paid ads that appear on search engine results. Those are the results on the first page of search engines that are labeled as ads by the search engine.

4. Email Marketing

This type of marketing is used to incentivize customer loyalty by ensuring they’re updated on your latest products. You can also email them discounts, promos, and other services that highlight their loyalty. They can receive valuable information about your products and brand as a way to keep them engaged while selling your brand.

5. Influencer Marketing

This is one of the best marketing types for e-Commerce startups because of the ROI and benefits. Partnering with influencers can be a big boost to your conversion and sales. You not only benefit from their established followers and gain a massive following as well.

Conclusion

It’s no exaggeration when startup agencies say eCommerce is the future of business. There are several benefits to having an online shop and online marketing.

You have fewer things to pay for, like rent, utilities, and traditional advertising. Most of the things you need to do are handled online so you can keep your staff at a minimum too. 

However, just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean you can be reckless with your marketing. Strategies are still highly recommended if you want your eCommerce startup to succeed.

For example, using social media marketing to grow your business and gain followers is a great idea.

Social media is popular with people of various ages so it’s easier to find and reach your target audience.

Employing the right strategy can yield great returns for your business, like using paid advertisement.

You should also remember that publishing content has to be strategized by using a content calendar.

You can’t publish things willy-nilly without a plan or a schedule because it will be inconsistent.

Without consistency, you’ll seem less reliable of a brand which will cast doubt on your followers.

There is much to consider when it comes to establishing and marketing your eCommerce startup. That’s why digital marketing agencies for startups are the best people to consult about your plans.

FAQs

1. How should I choose between different eCommerce platforms in terms of website development?

List down your requirements, budget, and the platform features you need. Then, list your chosen platform and compare its pros and cons. If you’re confused, we recommend consulting a digital marketing agency for startups to help you.

2. What do you need to develop an eCommerce website?

You’ll need a domain name, hosting server, website and logo design, and extensions to run the portal. Keep in mind that you’ll need to keep maintaining the website once you launch it. You’ll need to learn proper technical SEO so you can rank highly among search results. You can also hire an SEO specialist to take care of that portion for you.

3. What are the fixed and variable costs for running our portal?

The one-time design and development are fixed costs while variable costs include hosting, digital marketing, and maintenance.