What is E-commerce Marketing? And why Trends and Keywords are So Important in Growing Your E-commerce Business Online
What
is E-commerce Marketing?
And Why Trends and Keywords are So Important in
Growing Your E-commerce Business
Contents
1. What Is E-Commerce Marketing and How Has the Internet and Ecommerce
Marketing Changed the Shopping Experience
2. What is an E Commerce Website
3. How are consumers purchases influenced these days by E-Commerce Marketing
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)... What is it?
5. Why
What Content You Have On Your Website Matters
What is digital marketing... is it just a buzz word? I am here to tell you that
it most definitely is not! Digital Marketing, also referred to as e-commerce
marketing is the way of the future. I am here to share with you how e-commerce
marketing is completely transforming your shopping experience on and offline,
and why when it comes to e-commerce marketing, the items you choose to sell
in your shop matter.
E-commerce
marketing is the process of driving awareness to an online business or service
using channels such as the multiple social media platforms, online digital
marketing, email lists, search engines, mobile phone apps, web apps, and
good-ole fashion websites; ultimately resulting in sales. The internet has
provided us with an incredible hub of tools and a digital eco-system that make
it easy these days to market yourself online and sell virtually anything...
right from the comfort of your own home! The internet has created a portal with
which we can share and process information. It has made tremendously easy so
many different areas in our day-to-day lives including the comfort of shopping
from home, how we stay connected with each other, our banking and use of
banking systems online, catching up on our favourite series' on TV, the way we
do our mailing and communicate, and it has totally transformed probably every
industry that you can possibly think of. A wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and
shopping, accessible from your pocket, tablet or laptop and you can take this
information with you almost anywhere to have at your disposal, whenever you
want! The internet has enriched our lives and changed the world as we know it.
And whether you hate it or love it, I think we can all agree on one thing...
What would we do without it?!
With this ease of access comes the constant influx of information and advertisements, and the constant tracking of data. Because there is so much information available to you, the internet uses methods to streamline and personalize your experience like cookies, which is collected data, fingerprinting, which is when stored information and profiles from your device are used to provide a very accurate profile of users and also tags and geo tags from sites that track where you have been or how you have interacted with a site, including how much time or how many times you may have interacted with something on a page or even in your email. Your devices and the websites you visit start to get a pretty good idea of who you are and what you like and what generally catches and keeps your attention online. And in this new age with all this data, information, and digital payment systems at your fingertips coupled with a personalized experience, it can be easy to get lost in a wild night of checking your emails (Yes, email lists are still very much alive and well!), which then results in searching up your favorite items on the businesses website, reading about them online, visiting their social media pages (I got more than one email after all), thinking on the items for a week, trying not to look too hard at the ads that pop up on Facebook and Google from the stores you visited, and eventually returning to buy everything you have been obsessing about for the entire week and maybe a couple more things you didn't plan on buying, but impulse got the better of you! Sound familiar?... That is the power of e-commerce marketing!
Selling things online is not just a
walk in the park though! I mean, the internet makes it easier! But there is
definitely still a lot of contributing factors and a step-by-step formula that
goes into building a great e-commerce website. Before I get into the
step-by-step formula on how to start the best e-commerce website though, I
should probably explain what exactly an e-commerce website is; for those of us
who still don't know, or never thought to ask yet... as that was me at the
beginning of this week! This whole world of "e-commerce" existed and
I never even knew that I didn't know about it... So here I am to share with you
what I have learned this week... An
e-commerce website for those of you who don't know is the online transaction of
retail items, provided services or portals. A successful e-commerce business
acquires revenues through advertisement usually over the internet,
subscriptions, transaction fees, sales affiliates and now, with the rise of
social media, brand ambassadors. E-commerce is a really wonderful model it has
many positives as well as a few negatives. Some positives of e-commerce
marketing are that consumers can shop from the comfort of their own home, these
same people are always looking for what is new and on trend, your business can
acquire an international reach fairly easily, it is easy to share information
and connect with your audience, and information is shared very quickly, there
are low business costs when it comes to having your own e-commerce platform,
and the potential earnings can be seemingly unlimited, with a 24/7 access to
your goods, and even personalized shopping experiences that make it easy to
gain a customer, influence a splurge purchase, and even keep in touch with your
customer encouraging repurchases! And the list goes on... Some negatives of the
e-commerce model are that the internet can be highly competitive; your
customers have many options, and if they can't try things on, this could mean
the potential for a return, which means more shipping, cringe. Or even worse! A
lost sale! And why should someone buy from your store in the first place when
they are able to go somewhere else where they know they will be able to try
items and browse without any hassle or interruptions from accidentally
refreshing the page? And it can literally ruin your whole day if, during one of
the hottest new releases, you get that item in your cart and go to press send
and the site crashes! And I better not get double charged either!! As with any
business, there are negatives and positives. But e-commerce websites can be
overall pretty great. Giving consumers 24/7 access, to all their favorite
brands and products, the ability to literally get almost anything your heart
desires online now, from almost anywhere in the world, shipped right to your
door and maybe even for a discount or with a couple goodies thrown just for
you!... All this thanks to the wonderful world of e-commerce and e-commerce
websites.
These days a personalized shopping
experience is everything. We are almost getting to the point of becoming
accustomed to it. I mean everyday companies from all different sectors with
different niches are trying to sell us stuff...Businesses almost need to
prove themselves these days. Why do I need your product over all of the rest,
and what do you have to offer to me? And how can an e-commerce website have
influence over my purchases? I can think of 50 things on my wish list right
now. But how is my next purchase
affected? And why am I most likely going to make that purchase first? I would
like to answer these questions by giving you an idea of how me, the average consumer,
navigates their online experience. A glimpse into a typical day in the life of
me and my shopping habits goes a little like this… Currently on my wish list
are the following items (Shoutout to my family... I hope you are reading this.
Christmas is coming. Love you xoxo)… a microwave, a clothes steamer, some
Norwex towels, new throw pillows for my couch. Just to name a few. My purchases
are influenced by many things. First being, sometimes I just decide that I want
something and after that it is only a matter of time before I get it! I am
obviously into redecorating my home right now, which I never would have even
known until I looked at that list back and made a mental note that all of those
things had to do with home and lifestyle. I currently don't own a microwave,
probably actually won't be getting one anytime soon, but feel like at some
point it would be good to get one for my guests. I haven't to date put this in
my search engine yet and am probably going to end up randomly picking one of these
babies up on Kijiji sometime in the future. I don't frequent Kijiji often, but
for things I don't feel like spending too much money on, many times that would
be the first stop online that I would probably head for something like that.
Kijiji would probably be in my favorites bar by now, or I may frequent Kijiji a
lot more if it had more of an Etsy, or Facebook marketplace vibe and was more
organized and had a cleaner more streamlined look, if I am being honest. And, I also would probably be signed up for a
microwave notification email, but their emails seem so spammy to me and the
formatting is awful. Which is pretty crazy when you think about it, because I
could have a pretty decent free microwave by the end of the month if I signed
up for email notifications. But as a constant consumer of items, information
and endless emails, I refuse to clutter up my inbox or purchase things that are
not visually appealing to me. And although I find it Kijiji very useful tool, I
do not get particularly excited to visit on a whim and to shop and consume on
Kijiji. Unless I am shopping and consuming on Kijiji of course... in which
times I like to go crazy and buy 3 to 5 other items I did not know I needed! I
know I need a steam cleaner however because my younger brother
purchased one for himself once upon a time, and ever since he moved out I have
meant to get one for myself. And one of these days, I may pick one up. Maybe it
will be when the price is right on Bed Bath and Beyond, which I do enjoy
frequenting often. And I am also subscribed to their email list. I open, read
and value the coupons and information they send me on their store-wide sales in
my email and find myself often opening their emails when I don’t plan on
necessarily making a purchase or trip to the store, but sometimes opening the
email definitely influences that decision in the end. Or perhaps it will be
when, like I have done in the past, I price compare and type into Google “upright
clothes steamers” and see what vendors and brands come up first, what the
reviews look like and who has the best deal. I don't know how it will all go
down. But I can tell you the day I get a steam cleaner will go down in history
as one of the best days of my life and I will be sure to tell everyone that
visits my home where I got it from! I also need some Norwex body towels, face
towels, cleaning products, a window cleaning towel, an animal hair brusher and furniture brusher and much more, because more than one of my friends have been
a personal affiliate in the Norwex e-commerce business model and they have
shared their fantastic presentations with me in person, as well as their
beautiful online catalogs, which I love to browse as it is a beautiful
e-commerce site and there are so many great things to purchase. My most recent
Norwex purchase was a laundry basket which I found while searching on Google,
Bed Bath and Beyond, Wayfair, eventually landing on a Facebook ad for a Norwex
clothes hamper. A limited edition, anti-bacterial clothes basket from one of my
favorite companies and I could pick it up the next day from an affiliate in the
city! I direct messaged the girl through Facebook messenger and we made plans
to meet up on the spot. There were so many options when I was looking, and I
was looking at mostly at 3 hamper options for sorting, but when I saw the ad on
Facebook for a basket that I knew was anti-bacterial and the perfect price, I
had to buy it. The idea to purchase a clothes hamper was very intentional, but
the moment I seen it, the avenue I found it and the choice to buy it at
that particular moment was very unintentional. But thanks to the power of
digital marketing the laundry basket I was looking for found me. And last but
not least I am eventually going to be looking for some new throw pillows...
this time I don't want to spend too much money, but I also don't want something
used from Kijiji. I can act slightly bourgeoisie sometimes... but I can not
afford Crate and Barrel prices. I also want my throw pillows to be trendy, a
little grown-up, but not too mature... I'm most likely going to throw something
like “trendy fashion throw pillows red” in Google and just see what comes up
first in the search bar. This is just a small glimpse into some of my shopping
habits and a look into the way my brain is working and the processes that go
into how I choose to buy the products I choose to buy. Sometimes I will know
exactly which avenue I will want to use, and there will be an authority in that
area of sorts. When I go to Kijiji that is generally the case. If I need
something fast, if I need a service done on a time restraint, if I need a
contractor in my city, or if I am trying to save a couple bucks and possibly
purchase something second hand I will probably head over to Kijiji. And then I
have my favorite sites that I like to frequent. I may be on their mailing lists
to be notified on sales, events or new product information. And at any point in
time you can find me looking online or in my inbox for information on any
variety of things whether it be clothes, home decor, information pertaining to
some of the apps I frequent and am subscribed to, emails from my favorite
producers with their newest beats, promotions or important newsletters and
more. Other times I may just Google it, when I have no idea where to look, or
if it hasn't already found it’s way to me through Facebook ads or email lists.
This is when the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in.
Now-a-days it is so easy to
shop from your couch. Phones are so advanced and we have become so dependent on
our mobile devices for everything. The
mobile phone has become many people's go-to tool when it comes to doing anything
online.
A lot of people still love to shop, bank or transact online from their laptop,
but many people are using their mobile phone for the majority of their affairs
online and a lot of the time will make impulse buys, while they are looking for
that thing or not, while browsing the web and social media. It is becoming
easier and easier to find what you are seeking online. And with over 2.6 billion Facebook users
signing in on an average monthly basis it is safe to say there are a lot of
people online, a lot of people connected, a lot of people shopping and a lot of
people looking at Facebook ads.
51% of Shoppers said that they like to look up their purchases on Google when
researching into an item they might buy. And over half of Shoppers said that
being able to make a purchase from their phone was an important factor when
deciding on which retailer to shop with. (Statistics from Think with Google,
2019) And from 2016 to 2018 there was an over 900% of people looking up
"___ near me today/tonight". That is incredible! People are
supporting local businesses and letting google influence their choice in where
to eat, where to spend their money, and what businesses to check out! Whether
new, or just somewhere you haven't experienced before. Facebook and Google are
definitely becoming major influencers in where we spend our money. And it is
largely due to digital marketing, and of course Google and Facebook algorithms.
To simplify things, an algorithm is an indexed or sequenced computer instruction
that takes you, the computer user, to exactly what you are looking for. When
those 1 out of 2 people hop on Google, or Google Maps or Facebook to decide
where they are going to go to eat, shop, explore, Facebook and Google use the
keywords you type in to connect you to where you are trying to go. Those same
keywords are used in what is called search engine optimization (SEO) to navigate
you around the world wide web. A digital marketer’s job is to use tools such as
Google AdWords, apps and programs like Semrush, Yoast, Raventools to optimize and analyze your SEO, product-focused or informational keywords, and
important algorithms to get you right to the forefront of Google.
When I type in "handmade soaps Calgary". I get a couple familiar
companies, like Rocky Mountain Soap Company, Aleppo savon. I also get direct
ads to Kijiji and Etsy where many people are selling fresh small-batch homemade
soaps, and I love to support local. And I come across several small websites by
local companies that have definitely hired a professional Digital Marketer to
help optimize their website for search engines (SEO).The key is in the keywords… and
having a great online presence and web authority. When trying to help you to
build your business, a good digital marketer will look for all of the areas
they could drive traffic and sales to your website looking for things like...
great content, including great keywords, security measures, online presence, a well-designed
and easy to navigate website, easy and secure checkout systems, good return
systems and processes, social media platforms, and customer ratings and
reviews. And digital marketers also help
with all the fun details too like FAQs, User Agreements, Terms and Conditions, Privacy
Policies, Contact Info, the About Us section and much more. All the while ensuring maximum keyword
optimization (yes even in your FAQs), in order for your page to come to the top
of a potential clients Google search. SEO is a powerful tool, and when it comes
to search engine optimization and content, being intentional when choosing your
items and descriptions on your e-commerce website matters. Every word, how your
page presents itself, and even the items you choose to sell on your website all
matter.
As a consumer all those same little
details matter when I am looking for a great e-commerce website to shop
at. Things I take into consideration when shopping online and decided which
websites to use and where I will spend my money and things I would take into
consideration if I was trying to build the best e-commerce website and
experience on the world wide web... The content of your e-commerce website
is key. When looking for a good e-commerce website, I, along with many others,
am looking for a trustworthy, streamlined, easy shopping experience... Good
quality layouts, descriptions and pictures, an easy check out experience,
trusted payment systems (like Paypal, WePay, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, interact
online), great security measures, a good return policy, hassle-free customer
service, ease of access online and great mobile functionalities.
I am an entrepreneur at heart and see
the value in providing quality products and services and giving the people what
they need. And when I own my own business I know I will take into great
consideration the items I am selling in my shop and also I think it is
important to sell the things that the people are looking for. Knowing what I do
now about what digital marketing entails, SEO, and the importance of keywords. I
would tell anyone starting a new e-commerce business to choose a niche that
they would like to enrich the online community with, research that
niche, do some good research on popular keywords and phrases are related
to your business, your content, what you are trying to market, and what items
are trending in the niche that you chose. This would be a very smart place to start when
building your business from bare bones. For example, when I think of clothing
and what would be relevant and popular in that niche to sell, I immediately
think lace, black, florals, leopard print, undershirts, t-shirts, black womens
runners, business clothes. When I did a quick search in google for “womens tops
Canada” some of the things that immediately came up were a Black Top With Lace,
V-cut tops, Black Jersey T-Shirts, Grey T-Shirts, a couple of beautiful floral
or plain coloured business shirts, a lot of shirts with sleeves for a more
polished look and scroll down just a little more and you will find the leopard
print and hey, polka dots too! How could I forget about classic polka dots?? And if I
was in the tech industry for example, I would probably definitely sell some
kind of knock off airpods and beats (and other portable headphones, but
definitely knock off airpods and beats, because people love to copy trends), I
would sell classic LED lights, phone cases and accessories, selfie lights and
ring lights, Bluetooth activated lighting or home systems, portable chargers,
as people are always on the go these days…
and many more things that I know people are consuming on a large scale,
daily basis. My goal in doing all of that, searching out my niche, further
delving deeper into that niche and finding out what people are searching and
what people are buying, would be to deliver the people everything that they
want and need, and to create a kind of online authority, so that when they
think of something new, cool or relevant, they think of my shop first! And that
that would be the first website they visit and hopefully also one that they spend
the most time and money in.
Having detailed descriptions of items on the site like measurements, textures,
colours, dimensions, weights, warranties, good payment systems, return systems
and security features will help you to become the top of Google's search engine
results page (SERP). Having a richer content, using SEO and working with a
digital marketer will help you to rank higher in the search engine results page.
You want to rank higher so that you can deliver the consumer the products and
solutions they are looking for and also increase the likelihood that
potential customers choose your site over the rest of the competition. And
ranking higher in the search engine result pages helps to put the potential
buyer's mind at ease when making purchases on your site. A good digital marketer
can help you optimize your site to the greatest advantage in order to build
trust and a relationship with your customers who are not able to shop in your
store physically, and also to deliver the right products, so you can forget
about processing a bunch of returns, and focus on retaining more loyal
customers. Popular keywords that people are searching up are the keywords you
should be utilizing in your e-commerce website; getting as detailed as
possible. These days people know exactly what they are looking for and they are
looking local too. Why have it tomorrow when you could have it tonight? The
more keywords you use in your descriptions on your site the better. Instead of
"black t-shirt". Use "100% Black Quality Cotton T-shirt
Calgary". Instead of "ABC Fashion Clothes" in the homepage title
in the search engine try enticing consumers to click on your site by putting "ABCfashionclothes.com
- Exciting Deals and Wholesale Prices Every Day" in the search engine title. Also, get active in
the community by creating an online presence or authority, commenting valuable and thoughtful information and ideas on other similar businesses social media pages. Or maybe by getting creative,
having a little fun with it by creating blog or vlog post on your website and social
medias about how to remove various stains from cotton, coupled with a YouTube
video How-To, that possibly goes viral and attracts many people to your
website. Also, considering carrying trending items and styles in your store.
People are being influenced on a daily basis online, so take it one
step further be more competitive in the market by selling what is
influencing the people, what is trending online and what the people are
searching for. If you are ready to take your e-commerce business to the next
level, it is time to hire a Digital Marketer. Using SEO, Google analytics and a simple
step-by-step formula, they will help you optimize your consumer's experience and your
content online, transforming your e-commerce platform and business from
potential browsers into real sales and loyal returning customers. And next time
you are truly enjoying your shopping experience take a second to appreciate all
the little details that went into making the experience so great and the digital marketer somewhere
across the globe that helped to land you there!
References
CNBC - How the internet has transformed our lives
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/10-ways-the-web-and-internet-have-transformed-our-lives.html
Hub Spot Marketing Statistics - How prevalent is
digital marketing in 2020
https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
E-Commerce Advantages and Disadvantages
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/20-ecommerce-advantages-and-disadvantages
GCF Global - Internet Safety and Understanding Data Browser Tracking
https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafety/understanding-browser-tracking/1/
Google Search Handmade Soaps Calgary
ABM College - Professor Kamal Bhattarai
Powerpoints Chapters 1-5
