E-commerce competition is fierce as more consumers opt for the convenience and accessibility of online shopping experiences. According to eMarketer, U.S. retail e-commerce sales are expected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2026 and account for over 20% of all retail sales. Meanwhile, global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $6.9 trillion in 2024 — up from $6.3 trillion in 2023.
So, whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just learning how to start an e-commerce venture, it’s important to harness key strategies to boost online sales and foster sustainable business growth.
That’s where this guide comes in.
Here, we’ll unpack comprehensive tactics to take your e-commerce marketing strategies to the next level,drive success at scale, and help you grow your business.
If you’re looking to learn more about getting an edge in the e-commerce world, watch this video:
Elevate Your Brand’s Online Success: Introduction to E-commerce Growth Strategies
It can be tough to navigate today’s dynamic digital landscape. Advertisers not only have to fight for dwindling attention on saturated content channels; they also have to sustain audience engagement and continue nurturing relationships across the entire marketing funnel.
The good news is that, with the right e-commerce growth strategies, marketers can not only overcome these obstacles but truly thrive in such a competitive landscape.
So, let’s dive into fundamental tactics for elevating your brand’s online success — from harnessing the potential of native advertising to unlocking new opportunities to amplify sales.
Harness the Power of Native Advertising: Leveraging Taboola for Enhanced Campaigns
Native advertising is one of the most effective ad formats available to marketers. Since native ads match the form and function of their surrounding content, they’re less intrusive and more user-friendly than traditional ads. As a result, marketers can use native advertising to seamlessly share their brand message and build better consumer experiences across the funnel.
In fact, 80% of news consumers say seeing ads within news content increases or maintains brand trust. This is known as the “News Trust Halo.” Native video ads were also found to deliver better outcomes than other video ad formats, including connected TV and in-stream ads.
Advertisers can use a content recommendation platform like Taboola, for example, to distribute targeted, personalized ads across a network of over 9,000 publisher properties and 600 million daily active users. Taboola is also a proven leader in driving e-commerce recommendations, generating more than 1 million monthly transactions. Apparel retailer Bombas, for instance, increased ROAS by 50% with Taboola native ads.
By harnessing the power of native advertising, brands can engage customers in an authentic, non-invasive manner and drive them to make meaningful, post-click conversions.
Building Strong Foundations: Key Tactics for Increasing E-commerce Sales
Recent e-commerce trends are shedding light on what customers want from their online shopping experiences. For instance, more people are prioritizing mobile experiences and experimenting with re-commerce — or buying and selling used products.
The question is: How can advertisers tap into these engaged audiences and drive sales for their brands? By boosting brand visibility and nurturing robust customer relationships.
To help, let’s look at fundamental tactics to reach those target audiences, increase sales, and grow your e-commerce business.
Turbocharge Discoverability: Strengthen Your Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is the first step to engaging your audience and achieving e-commerce success. It’s that initial phase of the marketing funnel when you can cast a wide net, start sharing your brand message, and let audiences know what you have to offer.
To make this happen, consistently launch brand awareness campaigns on both organic and paid channels with the goal of driving clicks and impressions. Also, build an SEO strategy for your on-site content to improve search engine visibility and expand your reach.
You can complement these efforts with native ad campaigns via Taboola. We recommend using high-performing content formats like photo galleries and videos to increase CTR and awareness. As a recent study found, Taboola outperformed other channels in increasing awareness and consideration KPIs. For example, Taboola’s average message association lift was 87% — 8x higher than the industry average.
Customer Magnetism: Cultivating Your Email List and Nurturing Relationships
Marketers should build a robust email list of subscribers so they can reach customers directly with personalized offers.
To start your email marketing operation, place sign-up forms on your site and offer discount codes or other perks in exchange for email addresses. From there, you can craft compelling email campaigns, delivering real-time product recommendations, inventory updates, and customized promotions right to people’s inboxes.
Seamless Shopping Everywhere: Mobile Optimization for Enhanced Conversion
Advertisers must use mobile optimization strategies to ensure their ads, landing pages, and checkout processes are mobile-friendly. This way, they can reach shoppers wherever they are at any time.
For example, you can minimize content and compress images to improve load times. Always test and adapt website layouts and templates for mobile responsiveness. And implement autofill suggestions to create an intuitive and frictionless journey for mobile shoppers.
Golden Testimonials: Amplifying Reviews and Feedback
By showcasing authentic reviews on their landing pages and ads, brands can help instill confidence in potential buyers, build trust, and drive e-commerce sales.
To help create your cache of testimonials, ask for feedback right after the checkout process, follow up with email surveys, and offer special discounts in exchange for leaving a review. Also, you can leverage third-party platforms like Trustpilot to source and showcase vetted reviews right on your site.
Social Media Mastery: Crafting Irresistible Campaigns
Social media can be a vital tool for driving proactive brand engagement and building a loyal community of followers. But it’s not enough to just set up accounts on the major platforms and wait for customers to find you. Take the initiative to drum up engagement with user-generated content campaigns, social media contests, and shareable videos. Also, launch targeted ad campaigns to be sure you’re reaching just the right demographics.
Social media platforms don’t just drive upper-funnel engagement, either. With tools like Instagram’s shoppable features and TikTok’s shoppable ads, you can generate e-commerce sales right from your social apps.
Unleash Popularity: Effective Promotion Strategies
Who doesn’t love a good discount or free giveaway? It may seem simple, but one of the best ways to grow your e-commerce business is with promotions and compelling offers. For example, some common promotion types include:
- Buy one, get one free. Package popular products together in a BOGO sale to make room for new stock and entice customers to buy.
- Free shipping. Knock off that shipping cost to help increase sales during holidays, or offer free shipping for orders over a certain price.
- Free gifts. Include a free add-on with each new order as a “thank you” to your customers. This could be a simple trinket like a keychain, sticker, tote bag, or some branded swag,
- Discounts. It’s hard to resist the classic “20% Off” or even “10% Off” callout, especially if you’re trying out a new brand. Many brands are now offering this promotion in exchange for email newsletter signups, so they can continue engaging new customers with special deals and helpful product information.
Whichever strategy you use, be sure to include it in your ads and on your site to help customers make swift purchasing decisions. Also, remember to make your promotion a limited-time offer to create that sense of urgency and ultimately drive sales.
Data-Driven Excellence: Enhance Conversion Rate through A/B Testing
If you’re not sure how to optimize your e-commerce site to improve conversion metrics, start A/B testing different elements. This involves running two distinct versions of a piece of creative and gathering analytics to see which performs better. For instance, you might A/B test your headlines, product photos, CTAs, and even page layouts.
You can then use a platform like Google Analytics to gather metrics like clicks, conversions, sales, and costs-per-action. With these A/B testing insights at your fingertips, you can easily optimize your e-commerce site, start to enhance your results, and grow your e-commerce business.
Taboola also makes it easy to A/B test native ad campaigns and optimize metrics like CTR, CVR, and CPA. After setting up their creatives, advertisers can simply choose their test period — anywhere from three days to 30 days. And Taboola’s machine learning algorithm will automatically determine the best-performing creatives and scale them to improve results.
Service That Sells: Delivering Exceptional Customer Experiences
When customers come knocking with issues or questions, you have to be ready to provide exceptional service across channels — from live chats on your website to social media DMs. After all, just one bad service experience can send customers off to a competitor.
This means you need to offer prompt and understanding responses, and provide shoppers with the resources they need to quickly resolve their issues. Also, create an accessible database of customer purchase history so service reps can provide personalized experiences based on each buyer’s needs and behaviors.
Sustained Growth Blueprint: Strategies to Grow Your E-commerce Business
Now that you know how to build a strong foundation for your e-commerce business, let’s explore advanced strategies to fuel sustained e-commerce growth and ensure long-term success.
Whether you’re looking to expand into new markets, upsell current customers, or elevate your brand’s presence, these proven tactics can help.
Amplify Reach: Partnering with Influencers for Enhanced Exposure
Still building your own customer base? Collaborate with influencers who have built-in followings and hold sway over your target audience. You might send them free products, for example, and invite them to make a TikTok video review or Instagram Story. You can also set them up with a custom product link and discount code to entice their followers to buy.
Influencers often earn commissions or collect up-front fees in exchange for creating compelling content that drives traffic and conversions. If you’re not sure how to find the right partners for your campaign, you can try using an influencer marketing platform to get started.
Across Borders: Global Expansion Through International Shipping
E-commerce has made it easy for customers to break down geographic barriers and buy from brands across the globe.
So start your global expansion and grow your customer base by offering international shipping. Just remember to clearly communicate shipping costs and timelines at checkout. Also, advertise your international product and shipping offerings to help position your brand as a global player.
Know Your Audience: Tailoring Strategies to Target Segments
Create buyer personas that outline the key demographics, behaviors, and pain points of your target audience. Conduct market research to answer questions like:
- Who is my target customer?
- Who are my highest spenders?
- What traits do they have in common? i.e. age, income, career, location
- What are their interests and values?
- What do they expect from their content and e-commerce experiences?
You can then use these insights to tailor your content marketing campaigns to reach these unique segments.
With Taboola’s Data Marketplace, for example, advertisers can tap into more than 20,000 third-party audience segments — ranging across interests, demographics, and content preferences. These unique segments are built from aggregated data based on Taboola’s network of over 1.4 billion monthly users.
Keep Them Coming Back: Encouraging Repeat Business
Even after you make that first sale, you want to keep customers coming back for more. After all, it can be more expensive to acquire a new customer than to nurture an existing one. That’s why it’s so important to re-engage new shoppers and site visitors with retention strategies, like:
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- Customer loyalty programs. Create membership tiers with different perks, product offerings, and content experiences.
- Personalized offers. Follow up with product recommendations tailored to each customer’s interests and purchase history.
- Incentives. Provide incentives for recent shoppers to keep buying, like offering 20% off their next purchase or free shipping for a limited time.
- Retargeting campaigns. Use a tool like the Taboola Pixel to automatically track and retarget engaged website visitors with personalized campaigns.
A strong customer loyalty program can help you drive repeat purchases and turn satisfied customers into long-term brand advocates.
Perfect Pairings: Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategies
Maximize the value of each e-commerce transaction with upselling and cross-selling tactics. For example, you might showcase complementary products and upgrade options at checkout, enticing customers to explore additional offerings. You might even provide comparison charts — highlighting the differences between two or three similar products — inspiring customers to buy the more expensive option with added capabilities.
Ultimately, these strategies can help you deliver more personalized customer experiences and boost order value.
Content That Converts: Marketing at All Stages of the Funnel
E-commerce optimization is about more than just making a sale and checking off a conversion metric. It’s about crafting compelling content that guides customers through every stage of the buying journey. This way, you can build customer relationships and increase retention, further driving revenue and engagement down the line.
Here’s a look at how to create content for each stage of the marketing funnel:
- Awareness. Use SEO tactics and native ads to reach customers across the open web and start driving traffic to your site.
- Consideration. Share how-to videos and persuasive articles outlining product benefits, educating customers about what your brand has to offer.
- Conversion. Promote customer reviews and re-engage website visitors with personalized ads, inspiring them to finally make a purchase. Also, include affiliate links in buying guides and influencer marketing campaigns.
- Retention. Keep engaging shoppers with customized product recommendations, loyalty program offerings, and informative content to help them make the most of their purchases.
Navigating Future Success: Insights and Beyond
It’s important to keep tabs on the evolving e-commerce landscape as you continue to grow your business and scale for future success.
For example, stay informed about future trends and industry shifts, such as:
- Artificial intelligence. E-commerce marketers are starting to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to automate ad creation and save time optimizing their campaign content.
- Q-commerce. Quick commerce or Q-commerce could continue to rise as shoppers look for more ways to access the products they need without the wait.
- Omni channel experiences. Despite the growth of e-commerce, people are still browsing and shopping in-store. Marketers should consider building intuitive omni channel campaigns that bridge the gap between offline and online experiences.
Also, explore resources for further education about the e-commerce industry, including:
- E-commerce Campaign Best Practices
- The eCommerceFuel Podcast
- Webinar: Post-Click Strategies for Performance Campaigns
- Global Retail Ecommerce Forecast 2023
Conclusion
As you grow your e-commerce business, remember to tailor these tips to your unique brand identity and target audience. Don’t just set and forget your chosen strategies, either. Be sure to continuously monitor and analyze your customer data to gather new insights and refine your approach over time.
Also, explore new platforms to scale your reach and achieve performance goals. Taboola has the tools advertisers need to revamp their e-commerce success and diversify beyond saturated social platforms. Unlike Meta, for example, Taboola doesn’t block advertiser accounts for no reason. Our platform isn’t subject to the tracking issues of iOS 14. And we support advertisers every step of the way with best practices and creative tips for optimization.
Ready to grow your e-commerce business? Create your first Taboola campaign now.