15 Powerful eCommerce Strategies for Small Businesses

With thousands of companies and entrepreneurs entering the eCommerce market every year, it can be difficult to stand out in a sea of online stores. Shoppers won’t buy from your storefront on their first visit, regardless of how much money you’ve spent on it. 

That means your online store must strike a chord with your customers repeatedly. A good marketing strategy for an eCommerce platform will help it succeed regardless if you’re a newcomer or an established brand.

It is important to have a proper marketing strategy, even if you have a strong online presence. You need to make your business (or product) stand out from the competition. This means your marketing efforts – both on and off your website – are crucial to this endeavor.

You aim to make a profit online and if you have the right plan and strategies in place, you might be able to make it all happen.

eCommerce Marketing Strategies For Small Businesses

Poor marketing strategies lead to a diminished online presence, while a good one leads to increased sales and visibility. But don’t worry. With marketing strategies, we’ll show you what works – and what doesn’t.

Here’s a look at the top 15 e-commerce marketing strategies for small businesses that will make the most out of your online store.

Whether you’re just starting, or have been selling for years, these strategies will help you get ahead of the competition.

1. Email Marketing:

Email marketing is one of the most trusted and successful marketing strategies for acquiring new customers, increasing revenue, and driving traffic to your website. Yet many people still can’t grasp this idea and fail to realize that becoming omnipresent within your customers’ inboxes is essential.

BuzzFeed sure is riding high right now, and it’s widely assumed that their social sites are the biggest reason. An upcoming report, however, reveals their newsletter to be among the top sources of traffic for BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed has tons of different types of newsletters you can subscribe to in exchange for your email address.

By investing in email marketing, your brand will see long-term benefits. It establishes your authority as an expert in your niche and builds trust with customers.

Email marketing also provides great ROI and is a great way to recruit more customers, address customer pain points, increase sales, and boost customer retention rates.

The best email marketing software and solution for ecommerce websites are Drip. Drip is a highly popular and powerful ecommerce email marketing software. In fact, it is the only eCRM (they coined the term) available that is designed for online stores to maximize conversion and NPS.

If Drip isn’t the one you’re looking for, try Keap (InfusionSoft). Both are equally powerful.

Email marketing can turn out to be an indispensable tool both for business owners and their clients. And, it is one of the best ways to stay in touch with your audience, which can be important in today’s times when people are flooded with online content and are constantly scrolling through social media feeds.

2. Neuromarketing:

The term neuromarketing refers to the measurement of physiological and neural signals to gather information about customer motivations, preferences, and habits to help marketers create more effective advertising, product development, positioning, and pricing.

Charmin, the leading toilet paper brand in the world, knows how to have fun. Sure, bathroom humor isn’t exactly new, but the way it uses it is brilliant. Charmin has a way of standing out from the competition that involves using humour and hitting right on the audience’s emotions through neuromarketing.

A key goal of neuromarketing is to provide consumers with better quality products and marketing experiences by understanding their needs better.

Neuromarketing enables companies to understand how consumers react, feel, think, and act when they are exposed to certain marketing stimuli. Marketers can deliver better products and services, exceeding consumers’ expectations, by learning about their subconscious needs, feelings, and emotions.

NeuroMarketing is a more modern approach to market research that talks about consumer decision-making, consumer behavior, and brand image, as well as understanding the lifestyles of consumers. You can take your marketing to a whole new level by harnessing the power of neuromarketing.

You should also read our article on the best machine learning and A.I.-powered tools.

3. Content Optimization:

Optimizing your content is an effective approach to growing your eCommerce site and allowing visitors to convert easily into potential clients.

No matter how good your products are, you’re never going to see number one Google rankings if your content is not optimized.

Content Optimization in eCommerce is the key to driving more sales, and every detail on your website should be carefully designed to lead users towards that goal. Optimizing an e-commerce website involves looking at factors such as the user experience, site design, and content.

Google Optimize is being used across the globe by marketers to optimize their content and create online experiences that engage and delight visitors. Google Optimize lets you make sure more visitors will perform your desired actions, such as signing up for your email newsletter, making a purchase, or more.

You can also try using tools like StoryChief to create content for your e-commerce store blog. It’s less time-consuming and allows you to create content at scale. It allows you to manage your e-commerce blog, write emails that convert and manage social media posts, and more.

Find more content optimization tools in this guide.

Regarding eCommerce SEO, you need to focus on content optimization. Content is the only thing that can boost your business and help you achieve your goals. Understanding how your customers interact with your website and using that knowledge to create an optimized customer journey.

4. Drip Marketing:

Drip marketing is a marketing method in which sales messages are sent sequentially to the same customer over a period of time. Email marketing is the most common way of communicating these messages, although other forms of communication can also be used.

One classic example is iMDB’s editors’ pick messages, which are sent out every other week to all of its users. This kind of marketing allows them to nurture a relationship with users for as long as they wish.

Drip email campaigns present an opportunity for businesses to build and nurture a customer database over time. The goal is to develop customer loyalty through nurturing prospects that will increase sales and repeat business.

With drip marketing, marketers create a helpful, ongoing dialog with customers. This results in potential customers becoming valuable clients. By using drip marketing, you can drive interest, build trust, and ultimately generate traffic to your landing pages or website.

5. Advanced Retargeting:

Have you ever been to a website that you left, and then found advertisements for this site on other sites you visited? This is an example of retargeting, or remarketing. Essentially, retargeting helps companies reach people who have previously been to their sites.

The other day I was checking out some YouTube management tools, and I kept getting this advertisement from TubeBuddy almost everywhere I went, until I finally clicked on it and ended up choosing it. Retargeting works, eh?

The concept of remarketing and retargeting is an online marketing strategy that targets consumers based on what they previously viewed on the Internet and where they go next.

A retargeting strategy relies on re-engaging customers, based on their previous interactions with your brand or website.

You can use tools like Convertful and OptinMonster to quickly test on-site retargeting on your own website. This will give you an idea of how powerful this marketing strategy is.

For a much more powerful experience, Adroll and Outbrain would be an ideal choice. But usually, you won’t need them.

Advertisers can reach out by remarketing or retargeting to people who have visited their site previously and are thus more likely in the buying cycle – either at the best time or at the most appropriate place.

6. AI Marketing:

Marketers can take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase revenue by making the most of their time and efforts. Moreover, it offers improved online shopping experiences by predicting what consumers are going to do next.

BrightEdge reported that 60% of marketers are seeing the benefits of AI and machine learning to attract new audiences and skyrocket their businesses.

In today’s marketing environment, data is the fuel that keeps the engines running: customer information, social media posts, surveys, website visitors, reviews… the list goes on.

Through artificial intelligence, you can take this data and convert it into actionable insights to improve your customer experience and boost sales.

Conversational marketing tools like Drift use the power of A.I. and help businesses convert more visitors without the need for more content.

Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence offer marketers new and innovative ways to create a personalized, relevant and timely customer experience. They can be used to automate repetitive and boring tasks, which is helpful for planning, budgeting, execution, and customer experience. As well as offering you a new level of automation for your customer service.

7. Referral Marketing:

People are much more likely to act when their friends or family direct them to do something, which is what Referral Marketing is all about: providing high-quality information to potential customers and trying to get them to take action. This is why referral marketing is one of the top ways to attract new customers.

AliExpress is one of the world’s largest eCommerce companies and it has been using this strategy for many years now. Invite a friend to AliExpress and they receive $19 and you get a $5 coupon when they make a successful purchase.

Marketing efforts aimed at generating new customers from existing customers fall under the category of referral marketing.

A variety of ways can be used to achieve this, including giving discounts and bonuses to customers who refer people to their friends, to giving incentives such as free services to people who refer others.

Nowadays, businesses have a greater degree of control over how they acquire new customers, thanks to the internet than in the past, yet many fail at this task, still relying only on traditional forms of advertising.

Affiliate marketing is similar to referral marketing. The basic difference between referral and affiliate is that referrals are referred by current users of your product. You can pay referral credit to use your application.

You can start your own referral/affiliate program using PartnerStack or ShareASale platform.

On the other hand, affiliates can be anyone, but they must be paid in real money. To set up an affiliate program or a referral marketing campaign for your product/service, use tools like PartnerStack, ShareASale, or Samcart.

8. Social Media Marketing:

An eCommerce site can make a noticeable impact on the customer and generate more sales using social media marketing.

Your eCommerce store’s online presence on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and more will directly impact how many sales you make online. Marketing through social media for eCommerce brands can be a goldmine.

Beardo Official offers a niche product line of male grooming supplies to a highly targeted audience via their Instagram feed.

Social media marketing not only improves the visibility and reach of your online store, but also allows you to build brand awareness, attract online followers, and generate sales.

There are more than a dozen social media platforms that have made it easy to take advantage of these features and promote a brand, a product, or service online.

Social media automation tools like Sked Social make it much easier to schedule posts on all major social media platforms. Even Instagram now supports direct publishing and scheduling via third-party apps.

The future of marketing lies in social media. Social media sites have 4.20 billion active users, which is a huge opportunity for businesses that are trying to reach more customers online.

9. Video Marketing:

Videos are the best marketing tool to tell your story and to get your customers interested in your product and give them more self-confidence about buying it.

Videos offer a lot of possibilities, ranging from customer testimonials to product videos. Videos can be used both on their own and as part of an email campaign.

An analysis by HubSpot Research revealed that more than half of the consumers prefer video content from brands over any other type.

Videos are now taking over the internet. Videos are captivating and people are easily able to comprehend complex ideas, details, or anything through them in a short period.

If your potential client has lots of questions about what you offer or how it works, the video will answer them. 

Take Tubebuddy for a spin if you’re looking to improve your Youtube channel stats. It’s a chrome extension for Youtubers that shows you keyword stats, channel analytics and more stats to helo you grow your channel.

Videos are excellent at bringing a product to life. And it is not surprising because, regarding buying things online, customers want to see what they’re getting. And after all, what’s better than an eye-catching video when trying to promote your business?

10. Advertising:

There is so much competition nowadays due to the online market presence that advertising is always a crucial part of marketing strategies.

In today’s digital age, advertising bolsters brand awareness through creative ad campaigns and social media shares. Good advertising can have a positive impact on your brand and your sales.

A few of these top-tier web hosting companies are using Google Adwords to propel their business and grow their revenue. It is as effective as it can be.

Advertising helps a business market its products or services to the public. An advertisement is an announcement that promotes some value, goods, or services, and conveys a message to the audience.

Google Adwords and Facebook are the most widely used advertising channels. 

The number of searches happening on Google each day is mind-blowing, while on the other hand, Facebook has over 2.7 billion monthly active users. And being able to harness that power for your business will not only increase your sales but also drive traffic to your site and help you build an audience for future marketing campaigns.

11. Guest Posting:

Guest posting is an effective strategy for promoting your brand online, which can also lead to higher sales when done correctly. Your website will receive more traffic through this strategy, and your ranking will improve as well. The more people you reach, the more likely they are to buy from you.

Among the main reasons everybody seeks guest blogging is to improve their organic traffic. More than 53.3 percent of website traffic comes from organic search, according to Ahrefs.

Guest posts will make your content more authoritative and help you diversify the traffic sources that are being generated to your website or blog.

Additionally, you can advertise your brand, products, or eCommerce store directly within your post’s bio section or in the post itself.

You can develop a positive image about you and your brand in the minds of your prospects through guest posts, which will help establish your brand as an authority in your niche. Earning an authoritative status in your niche will give you an edge regarding selling our products and services.

12. Personalized Experience:

When customers visit your online store, they want to know whether if you can help them find what they’re looking for. That is where personalizing the buyers’ experience comes in.

Customers want to feel secure that there will be someone there to guide them through an easy and stress-free process.

One of the most famous examples of personalization has also become one of the most successful. In 2015, Amazon’s product recommendations contributed to 30% of the eCommerce giant’s revenue. Could it be any more personal?

The good news is that the buying experience can be personalized in many ways and that it has been proven to positively affect the perception of the brand. You can personalize your emails or website with the names of your prospects, recommend products based on previous purchases, or use other such lead magnets to compliment your marketing efforts.

Take a look at our picks for the best Personalization tools for websites.

If customers receive personalized emails or receive an upsell based on previous purchases, they feel as though your store is committed to finding them the perfect product. People will be much more likely to purchase from you in the future and tell their friends about your business.

13. Reviews & Testimonials:

Reviews and customer testimonials are crucial when it comes to closing a deal or closing a sale for eCommerce businesses. It is well known that web visitors trust online reviews as much as they trust advertisements or recommendations from friends and family.

Codecademy is one of the biggest online education platforms, and their testimonials page speaks for itself. It showcases testimonials and reviews from its old customers and attracts thousands more using this simple yet effective marketing strategy.

The first thing on customers’ minds when they browse the web for a product is what other people are saying about that product.

This is because they want to buy something with a stable quality, something that has been tested, verified, and approved by others before paying for it.

Reviews, ratings, and testimonials are one of the most important influencing factors in a site’s conversion rate. They provide external validation, building confidence in a company or confirming a decision to purchase.

14. Collaborations:

Collaborating with Influencers is one of the most popular forms of marketing because when you do it properly, creatively, and strategically, it does wonders. It enables marketers to reach out to their potential and existing customers through social influencers. You are therefore able to leverage the influencer’s reach.

McDonald’s collaboration with hip-hop star Travis Scott that includes merchandise drops and a limited-edition meal may be the sassiest food/music pairing ever, but it works.

Simply identify key influencers in your niche who have a large following on social media, collaborate with them on high-quality content, then pay them for their endorsement of your product or service.

It is not just a fad, but a practical way to grow your eCommerce business and reach new consumers.

Collaborations such as these help get your brand heard worldwide by these influential people, who have nothing to do with your company except that they like it so much that they want to tell everyone about it.

15. Automated Support:

Automating your customer support by having a live chat option on your e-commerce site enables you to enhance your shopper’s buying experience and offers you the chance to connect with them. The easiest way to accomplish that is by using a chatbot.

Businesses that use chatbots to automate their customer support include Sephora, Lyft, and Starbucks, as well as Facebook, Domino’s, and countless more. Here’s an example of a Customer Support Chatbot from MarketMuse, one of the most popular content optimization tools.

Chatbots help in increasing sales and conversions by interacting with visitors through live chat around the clock.

It’s not just the chance for your business to generate more leads and convert those leads into sales. They can also be used to show off your brand’s personality, and to make interactions with customers quicker, more efficient, and simpler.

We recommend starting with Olark to create your first chatbot. It’s simple, easy to use yet when you need extra features such as logical automation, they are available.

Chatbots are taking over the Internet and people enjoy interacting through chat or text messaging. It’s easy, convenient, and quick. A chatbot can provide even more convenience by providing an added personal touch to interactions with clients or prospects.

One Final Thought:

If you are reading this, chances are you are involved in the eCommerce business somehow, and we can bet you’re searching for ways to get more of it. Just as there’s always some secret recipe to a great meal, there’s always one little thing that makes everything just right… for eCommerce marketing.

Sometimes it feels as if success is always just out of reach, but if you follow our set of strategies above, you are sure to be on the right path to success. For your business to grow, you’ll need to try out a few different marketing strategies and find out which ones work the best for your audience.

Get in charge – put your eCommerce marketing strategy to work, and watch your sales and profit margins skyrocket.