Nearly 150 million people shopped online for the first time in the pandemic, according to an eMarketer report last year from “Insider Intelligence” (emarketer.com/content/global-ecommerce-2020), and it is predicted that the number of ecommerce buyers will only continue to rise. So much so that some industry insiders are dubbing 2021 as “The Year of Add To Cart.”
With all the platforms, options and strategies available, deciding where to focus can often leave business owners in analysis paralysis. The truth is there isn’t “one” way to market your business. The right way is the one that fits your budget, your goals, and that you have the ability to execute properly. In planning out marketing in 2021, I’m recommending my clients focus on at least one of these four areas to maximize their online awareness, sales and, most importantly, their impact.
Re-Engaging Existing Customers
Re-engaging existing customers made up 30-40% of my clients’ annual sales revenue last year. If you aren’t seeing similar percentages, then this is an area you’ve got potential revenue waiting to be collected. Ways we’ve maximized re-engaging past customers are through email blasts in tandem with ads to past customers announcing new products, new sizes or items that are back in stock. Not in a position to add new products? Then it’s time to get creative and see if there are ways to bundle existing products and promote as new offerings.
One of the most important assets a business has is its list. As social platforms rise and fall and regulations change (or don’t), it becomes vital that businesses prioritize growing and cultivating their email list. Not only should you have a consistent strategy to grow your list (utilizing organic traffic, social channels or ads), but you also need to have a system in place to stay connected to your list. Emails should be a mix of user-generated content, education or information sent out at least once a week and then every six weeks have a promotion. If you aren’t currently running routine sales and your return customers aren’t generating 30-40% of your revenue, then this is your low-hanging fruit ready to harvest. Tip: Run paid ads to only your email list during promotions to maximize sales.
Video Awareness Ads
Online stores that have scaled to seven and eight figures have done so by consistently reinvesting 15-30% of revenue into paid traffic. When it comes to running paid ads to cold traffic, video is the most effective (if done correctly) and most affordable way to increase brand awareness and grow your audience. The twist to this year is we’re seeing user-generated video content perform the strongest. This is great news in that it frees business owners from having to be behind the camera. However, it can be a challenge if you don’t have a system in place to solicit the videos. One of the easiest ways to get started is to offer an incentive discount or dollars off a future purchase in exchange for a video testimonial. We do this through either a post-purchase follow-up email sequence or app. Tip: Don’t forget to guide them to share why they love it, why they bought from you, or how they use it. And advise them you will be using the video for future marketing.
Advertorials
Advertorial-style landing pages seem to be leading when it comes to conversions as of late. These are still “landing pages” but designed in a way that looks like an article or blog piece that are specific to ONE product. Perfect for top-line awareness, these pages need to speak specifically to who buys this product and then position it as the perfect solution though emotional-based “story-selling” sprinkled with testimonials and a couple of places to click through to your store and purchase. Starting with your best-selling product, you can build these out to utilize in your awareness ads as a CTA (call to action), to send to your email list during promotions or as content, or as retargeting ads for people who visit your store but don’t purchase.
Chances are you may have one of these on lock already, but if not, I would suggest working the pillars from top down as priority to get you started. Lastly, I implore you to go all in on whichever pillar you chose to focus on this year. Halfway will not get enough results to make it worth your time, and as business owners that’s the one thing we just don’t have to spare.
Melanie Moscicki is the founder of Social Manna LLC, a digital marketing agency that specializes in revenue generation for six- and seven-figure online eCommerce stores. She lives off coffee and true crime stories in Queen Creek, Ariz., with her family and enjoys reading and all things chocolate.
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