Top 5 effective digital marketingstrategies for internet retailers

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In this age of information, where any-thing is just a f ingertip away, nearly 97% of consumers use online media when researching products or services. And these are not just the Gen Y but people across dif ferent age groups. People now feel it safer and easier to buyonline. These changes, in the mindset of consumers took some time to evolve. Even though it ’s challenging at times, digitalmedia has opened up so many opportu-nities for internet retailers. The ‘word of mouth’ has turned into ‘world of mouth’. Data shows that 78% of the consumers trust peerrecommendations, only 14% trustadvertisements (1800 Enterprises LLC). The whole marketing paradigm has shifted from being a one-way broadcast to a multi-point conversation. The control has become more decentralized and the consumers areequally contributing in the branding of a com-pany as the company itself. And for that tohappen, it ’s necessary to be present ‘out there’.

“If Facebook was a count ry, i t

would be t he 4t h l arges t in t he

world.”

Digital Marketing Channels & End Customer BehaviorThere is a gamut of channels which could work wonders if utilized in an appropriate manner. But often, it is being seen that these channels are getting over-utilized rather than properly utilized. There is growing evidence that marketers don’t want to manage and maintain presence across all the platforms and networks. It is largely due to two factors:

» It ’s just too much effort to reconcile all the profiles, logins, etc.» It ’s simply not needed to be everywhere

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You have to choose just a handful of channels which resonates with your business and your target audience and then manage them really well.Some of the channels which go well with the e-commerce business are briefed here.

facebookWhen you think of Facebook, the worde-commerce doesn’t generally comes to mind but when a medium is digital world’s most loved one, there must be something about it. It ’s just not about the massesbeing there. Facebook provides a lot of convenience for branding and even transactions,considering the recent emergence of the ‘buy’ button.There are plenty of easy to use, tightly integrated Facebook apps for internetretailers, which can import the whole store into the page itself. Below are some of the suggestions which work well for this platform:

» Use more images for posting than videos» Never post anything having just a plain text» Connect with your audience’s emotions, don’t just promote» Engage in the comment section giving personal attention» Use dif ferent apps for coupons, of fers, loyalty management, etc.» Integrate with one of the e-commerce apps like StoreYa, Storefront Social, Ecwid, Shopify, etc.

T wit terSame as Facebook, Twitter also introduced the ‘buy’ button, but even before Facebook hasannounced that. This will let users to buydirectly from the promoted tweets withouthaving to go through any thirdparty. This was done, keeping in mind thatalmost 80% of the Twitter users are onmobile devices. And this functionality isreally a win-win for both end customers and the marketers. Some suggestions which

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» Figure out what frequency of posting you can manage and commit to it» Use analytics like Audience Retention to f igure out which videos aren’t working» Engage with your audience using annotations which are either commentaries or hyperlinks

5 Digit al Marke t ingS tra tegiesIn this content centric, socially driven,digitalized world, social media channels play a prominent role and judiciously utilizing them can take your business to a dif ferent height. But then, there are a few more things when it comes to planning a digital marketing strategy.

Organic Search Marketing/SEOFor many internet retail businesses, more than half of the traf f ic can come via the search en-gine result pages. It is free of cost but you need to earn it. Search Engine Optimization is a vast area but even if you can take care of a few basics, your website will start get-ting the traction. Often, not enough atten-tion is paid to these basics, which include:

» Including alt tags for images» Blog posts having keywords in the headlines» Proper meta description of the pages» Including social sharing buttons » Creating contagious contents to attract backlinks

There are many such tactics which can en-hance your search engine rankings without even paying a dollar.

can enable you to ef fectively use this channel:

» Try to be creative. It ’s got space for just 140 characters» Use twitter cards for better engagement rates » Use images as much as possible » Use hashtags carefully. Don’t spam around by using unrelated hashtags» You have to tweet a lot. The frequency in the medium demands a lot of content creation and curation.» Don’t overshare self-serving promotional tweets» Integrate with dif ferent native apps for providing coupons, contests, gift cards, etc.

Pinteres tPinterest ’s explosive popularity is making it a major sales tool for social-savvy online retail-ers. Last year, 38% of the users made a pur-chase because they saw it on Pinterest. There are dif ferent tricks which can enable you to ef-fectively use this online pinning board plat-form for getting more re-pins. For example:

» Use images having lighter colors» Try more pins of taller dimensions» Be sure to provide a call-to-action» Try our promotional pins like Promoted Pins and Rich Pins» Use hashtags for business promotions

YouTubeVisuals always add a whole new dimension to your marketing mix. So, we need to utilize the king of all visual content platforms – YouTube, which has over 1 billion unique visitors each month. Through YouTube you can give your followers a face to as-sociate with. You can consider your YouTube chan-nel just like a visual blog and focus on engaging with your fans rather getting viral. Some tricks:

» Shoot shorter videos » Create your channel and segment the videos into dif ferent playlists

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» Choose your social handles/channels according to your target audience» Build sizeable followership but more than that engage with the audience» Social channels are like your digital assets which speaks of your brand» Use dif ferent media like blogs, images, videos, etc.» This is the best place to show your offers and events» Be creative with your themes. Add humor!

Content Marke t ing As of yet, whatever we have discussed, would be successful only if we have a good content. This is the core to the whole digital marketing process. It has far reaching effects on search engine results, paid marketing and even while engaging in the social media. It is key tocreate brand awareness and drive onlineengagements. Even Google’s algorithm isgiving more priority to the higher ranking pages which give unique content. As such, the advertisers are evolving more and more into publishers. There are a few things whichonline stores should consider:

» It should maintain a blog with regular posts» The blog should be consistently shared across the social media channels of the business» Every page, wherever you are putting up your content, should have the social sharing buttons» The content should vary according to the channel viz. Facebook, Twitter, etc.» The content should inform, entertain or otherwise add value to the daily life of end users

Paid Marke t ingWith over 550 million websites, it becomes a tough job to get your traf f ic especially when you are bounded by a limited budget. Paid marketing is a tricky job and you have to f ind out a formula which f its your business. Many times internet retailers will have low cost products for which they will bedoing paid advertising. If you consider just this one ‘buy’, you will never get the clear picture of the ROI. It should rather be calculated on thebasis of Average Revenue Per User in a year. Paidmarketing should work hand in hand with otherfactors like a smooth navigation in website, betteroffers, faster checkouts, etc. Only then you can get loyalcustomers which in turn will lead to multiple buys. This will in turn increase your ARPU. Some of the paid ads which can work for internet retailors include:

» Google AdWords» Facebook – Sponsored post, right column Ads, etc.» Twitter – Sponsored Tweets, Sponsored Accounts, etc.» Content Syndication – Outbrain, Taboola, etc.» Remarketing

Social Media Marke t ingAs mentioned before, social media is not just a playground of teenagers anymore. It has evolved into a multi-purpose tool across dif ferentdemographics. Social media opens up a forum of dialogues with your end users and it builds up credibility when you are easily accessible. It helps you in crafting your loyal customers and in the long term boosts your brand image. But if you are here for a short-term direct salestarget, you might be in the wrong place. Social media is often hugely successful for e-retailors for bringing the traf f ic and is a great way to get that ‘word of mouth’ momentum. But there are a few principles of ef fective social media marketing:

Email Marke t ingLast but not the least, email marketing is still one of the most powerful ways to share across your content and communicate with your sub-scribers in a consistent way. Online retailers are still using mass email campaigns, which are smart enough to look personalized. Some of the cases where this can prove reallybeneficial are:

» Sending automated reminders whenever the shopping cart is abandoned

» Sending personalized emails considering the demographics

» Pre-booking reminders to highly engaging customers

» Emails regarding offers, coupons, contests, festival wishes, etc.

By seamlessly integrating various digital marketing channels into one cohesiveapproach, you are better able to foster deeper and more meaningful connections with those who f ind value in your brand. Following are the steps to execute an integrated digitalmarketing strategy:

» Define and Establish your brand in the digital age

» Convey and Promote your brand message across channels

» Connect and Covert your target customers

» Measure and Refine your ef forts

about Frequent innovations, 3-click awaypurchasing models and the internet of things world are constantly pushing the boundaries for both online and offline shopping. As the digital and virtual in-store experiences shape the retail experience for end customers, it is opening up exciting new possibilities for the out of the box retailers. With this power shift comes a great opportunity for retailers, the front runners choose to adopt the tools and insights from the web to close the gapbetween the smart online consumer and the offline retailer, which enables them to stand out in a fiercely competitive & crowdedmarketplace. The biggest question now for the internet retailers is – How will I increase myrevenue from X to 2X within thegiven time frame? Who has themindset to help me achieve my revenue targets promised to my stakeholders?

Expedux technologies an Online retail special-ist operates with a single minded focus towards achieving one goal – Increase the online retailers revenue from X to 2X for our customers. We fre-quently push our boundaries in technology and marketing perspectives to achieve our customers end objective of maximizing their online pres-ence and revenue within short duration. Onlineretailers interact with customers through count-less channels—websites, physical stores, kiosks, direct mail and catalogs, call centers, social media,mobile devices, gaming apps and more. Expedux can help Online retailers to have their presence across all the above mentioned channels with the technology and customer engagement best practices.

Expedux Technologies Pvt LtdNo.61, Gangathara Naicker Street,M.T.H Road, Villivakkam,Chennai-600 049,Tamil Nadu,India.

Phone: 91-44-4263 6948 0504