The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Now is the perfect time to start updating your marketing campaigns and finding new ways to bring in valuable page viewers. With summer coming to a close, there are many opportunities to attract back to school shoppers looking for quality goods and services that your organization can provide. Here are a few experts within the business world and their valuable tips on how to make sure that your upcoming marketing campaigns are as effective as possible.
Develop An SEO Strategy
“Over half of all online actions start on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Most of them come from organic searches from these websites, making it extremely important for your small businesses to consider improving their Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Developing a good SEO strategy can help you increase traffic, generate leads, close sales, improve your brand loyalty, and position your website on top of your competitors. You can learn SEO through courses online, or you can work with a digital marketing agency. They can assist you with improving your website with SEO-specific strategies in mind. This is an excellent strategy as over 35% of all traffic comes from local sources, so ensuring you have a strong SEO will make sure your customers will be more likely to find your business when searching for your services.”
“If your business doesn’t already have a blog, it’s in your best interest to get one started to take advantage of content marketing. This is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your site as it is a way to build authority, as well as attract potential customers. Your content should align with your company’s values and what you offer. From here, you can begin to figure out topics for your content by researching what keywords people are searching for that are relevant to these topics. The content on your site can range from blog posts to videos, podcasts, and infographics – whatever format you believe will engage your audience the best is up to you. Having a variety of content will put you at an advantage over competitors when it’s time for the consumer to make a choice.
-Peter Reagan Financial Marketing Strategist at Birch Gold Group
Seasonal campaigns
“Seasonal campaigns can be very lucrative for your ecommerce business. While focusing on a specific month or holiday may seem too narrow to channel a marketing campaign toward, they can actually give you a strong return on your investment because they eliminate a lot of guesswork. For example, when you’re promoting a Christmas sale, you – or your marketing team – don’t have to spend hours deciding on colors, graphics, or a theme for the campaign. Seasonal campaigns are also versatile; you can target past customers by promoting them to your existing email list or increase brand awareness by using appealing social media campaigns.”
-Chris Hunter, Director of Customer Relations at ServiceTitan
Target younger audiences on TikTok
“TikTok, with millions of users already on this app and as one of the most used social media platforms, can be an excellent medium to utilize your marketing strategy for your business. User demographics for TikTok are primarily millennials and other younger generations that are easily attracted to an enticing short video; they usually look for the authenticity and credibility of your products. Undeniably, TikTok is an excellent platform for marketing your brand’s awareness and driving sales. By creating engaging content such as making use of TikTok trends, you can reach a new audience and convert more of your website’s visitors into paying customers. So if you’re thinking about adding TikTok to your marketing mix, now is the time to get started.”
“What is your ideal customer struggling with and how does your brand solve their issues? Providing valuable insight not only establishes your brand as an expert, it also creates excitement amongst your audience. It is a sure way to increase sales and engagement. Educational campaigns that include infographics, informative videos, blog posts, and product demos connect with your audience and establish a deeper sense of trust. Customers love feeling seen and heard, so providing them with insight through a series of how-to videos and social posts, gives them more of an inclination to connect and purchase your product. Educational campaigns also increase your chances of your brand being shared with others across different platforms.”
“Just because your business is managed online, does not mean you have to try to reach consumers from all around the world. Since there are so many online retailers out there today, it’s a good idea for ecommerce businesses to take a look at the local market and see if there are any opportunities you are missing. For example, you can analyze what types of products consumers in a certain area are buying and then plan a promotion around a similar product in that specific area. You can also plan a promotion around a specific time of year when you know certain products will be more popular in the area.”
“Virtual giveaways are a great marketing campaign to run for your ecommerce business because it is an effective way to introduce new people to your brand and incentivize them to take a desired action. When curating a giveaway, think about what you want new traffic to do, whether it is to sign up for a mailing list, share content, follow your brand on social media, or create user-generated content. Use the desired action as entry to the giveaway and this will allow for a huge amount of new traffic coming to your page and help drive KPI’s in your campaign. Giveaways are a great way to generate new leads from people who are truly interested in your brand.”
“A great way to reach your target audience is to use influencer marketing. Influencer marketing campaigns start with researching and analyzing the right influencers for your campaign. Choosing an influencer in your niche with a loyal following is very important. Once you find the perfect influencer, you create an agreement that ends with the influencer promoting your product or service to your target audience. Influencer marketing is one of the more cost-effective variations of marketing campaigns because your product or service can reach several potential consumers without the cost of volatile paid ads. Since your influencer has a following that trusts them, you can expect an ROI that you’ll be satisfied with.“
“With phones constantly receiving messages and notifications, texts remain one of the most important communication channels with the majority of texts getting responded to in the first five minutes. For marketers, this information tells that text message marketing is an effective way to communicate with customers. As we turn to a mobile-first world, build a campaign around incentivizing customers to sign up for text notifications. People who are already interested in your business to some degree and this preferred method of communication can help easily move them down the sales funnel. Not only is it a cost-effective marketing strategy but it can easily integrate with other channels and quickly deliver messages to customers.”
“One way to better promote your ecommerce business is by making sure your site is optimized for mobile use. Not everyone may have access to a laptop or tablet, but most if not all of us have access to using a cell phone. Ensuring that the items on your website are more easily accessible for those using their phone will definitely garner more attention to help your business. Try to make the look of your design innovative, yet simple enough to navigate your site so you can draw more attention from potential customers. Make sure they’re aren’t too many pop-up ads for mobile optimization so that they don’t cover the entire screen as that may become offputting. All that said, there is a huge benefit to making certain your ecommerce site is optimized for mobile.”
“If you already do email marketing, consider creating a weekly or monthly newsletter to include in some of your campaigns. Newsletters are a great way to attract new audiences and returning customers. In your newsletter, you can highlight members of your team, authoritative voices in your industry, as well as blast out sales your ecommerce business has going on. This can help introduce new products to your customers and push people along the sales funnel. However, it’s important to keep variety in your different newsletters. No one wants to read the same thing over and over again, so switching things up can help ensure your readers tune in for future versions of your newsletter.”
“Social media may be one of the most powerful tools you can have in your marketing toolkit. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest allow you to utilize paid advertisements to help you showcase your products and services. Because there is a large audience on social media, you can use this to specifically target certain demographics and tailor each campaign to be personal to each user. You are able to set your budget, ad style, and duration for your campaign, while also being able to see the number of clicks and engagement your ad has received that have led to sales. It’s simple to see how social media advertising can be one of the most advantageous tools in growing your marketing campaign strategy.”
“Whether it’s the holiday season or the middle of summer and you have tons of new products, creating gift guides is a great way to market your eCommerce business. A well-designed gift guide is an effective tool that helps you increase sales on your eCommerce store. Gift guides also serve as engaging content for your blog, making them great social media posts that allow you to maintain high engagement rates with your audience. When creating these gift guides, it’s best to have a clear understanding of your audience so that you’re able to select the gifts that fit them best. Email marketing is a great channel you can use to distribute your gift guides all year round, so don’t feel restrained to only send these guides out around holidays!”
“How to run a successful marketing campaign? That is a top-of-mind question for a few eCommerce business owners. A good marketing campaign can undoubtedly bring more customers to your business and keep your current customers loyal for a more extended period. So, one of the best ways to promote your eCommerce business is to build a website and integrate social media. Many customers will trust your brand and product more if they see that you already have a significant online presence. By incorporating social media into your website, you can easily interact with your customers and reach a wider audience.”
“Using live streaming shopping events is a powerful marketing strategy for your e-commerce business. By interacting with clients in real time, you can offer exclusive discounts, advance looks at new items, giveaways, and live Q&A sessions with customer support. Customers can learn more about your items interactively through livestreams, which can create a sense of urgency that could boost sales.”
An effective marketing campaign can be so important for any ecommerce business out there. Reaching new audiences and bringing back repeat customers can help your business grow and make the most of back to school shoppers. Sharpening your approach in the marketing department can also prove to be especially valuable for the upcoming holiday season. Not all marketing campaigns are right for every ecommerce business out there, so find the right fit for you and your business and see what kind of growth you can experience.
