With improvements in technology, buyers are becoming more sophisticated and expecting more from brands than ever before. Technology has enabled companies to have more direct interactions with customers in a scalable way—a concept that would have seemed virtually impossible only a few decades ago.
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Increase CLTV with eCommerce Customer Retention
The downside of this advancement, however, is that creating an eCommerce marketing strategy is becoming difficult for brands. If your business uses an outbound-only model, you're probably facing the highest customer turnover yet. Buyers expect marketing strategies that focus on direct interactions and opportunities for engagement, so you need to adjust your methods to keep these users interested.
Although losing some customers is inevitable, we're sharing how to retain the customers that you worked so hard to win in the first place.
The Evolution of eCommerce Marketing Strategy
When thinking of ways to improve your bottom line, consider your customers. What if each person were to buy one more product each year or opt into a higher level of service? What if you could double or triple your conversion rate on new customers? Conversion rate optimization (CRO) through quality eCommerce marketing could make it possible.
All of these things happen to be benefits of using the inbound marketing methodology. Properly employed, inbound marketing for eCommerce is the preferred way to build long-term customer relationships because it positions you as an expert who is there to assist your target audience. Some of the most popular eCommerce tools and trends could help you capitalize on these opportunities.
By adopting an eCommerce strategy with predictive analytics and AI automation tools, you can gain a better understanding of customer behavior, which empowers you to optimize your marketing efforts and ensure that shoppers receive the information they want at the right time. This helps improve eCommerce customer retention and engagement.
Read on to discover valuable insights that will help you develop an effective eCommerce marketing strategy.
Building Blocks of a Successful eCommerce Marketing Strategy
Let’s start by discussing the importance of cleaning your database of undesirable email addresses.
An old database that hasn’t been maintained adequately tends to contain many email addresses associated with people who have stopped using their email accounts or no longer take an interest in what you have to offer. In other words, they are poor prospects for your products.
That's why it's important to clean the data you already have by stripping out old email addresses that haven't opened any of your messages in more than a year. Yes—your list size may shrink, but the reality is that the size of your list means nothing if it's full of junk.
In fact, a larger list of outdated email addresses could harm your brand. You're more likely to experience low open and click-through rates, which results in lower delivery rates, spam complaints, and even blacklisting.
Fortunately, it becomes significantly easier to eliminate old email addresses when you use the data segmentation and cleaning tools provided by Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). These tools make it easier to identify the people who are least likely to make purchases, so you can keep your lists clean.
Artificial intelligence tools could also help you identify likely high-value targets so that you can customize your outreach and engage with these valuable leads more directly. This level of personalization makes people more likely to stay interested in your brand.
You can then combine the insights you gain from these tools with your email segmentation, SMS marketing, PPC, and other forms of advertising so that your messages reach the ideal recipients at just the right time.
Content Marketing for eCommerce and Conversion Optimization
By blogging and sharing advanced content, your company creates an avenue for customers to engage in conversation and learn more about your brand. Although it may be difficult to come up with content to share at first, you must ensure that your blogs remain relevant to your audience and are consistent with your brand. If you don't have a blog just yet, follow these blogging tips to help you get started with inbound marketing for eCommerce.
Advanced content is similar to blogging but provides more in-depth information on a topic. Think about tip sheets, how-to guides, and white papers. This content reflects your brand's expertise in the industry, so take advantage of it.
If you need inspiration or would like to see how advanced content differs from blog posts, browse some of our resources on content marketing for eCommerce.
As you create content, you’ll want to carefully align it with current SEO trends like voice search and mobile-first indexing. The better you adapt this material to the way people search and what they want to find online, the easier it is to get your content in front of them. This nurtures leads and helps with eCommerce customer retention.
Once you have published your content, repurpose it across multiple platforms to maximize reach. You might republish portions of it on social media or include links in email messages, for example.
Even after you create outstanding content, you should still take the time to optimize landing pages with A/B testing. See how people respond to different layouts, headings, or CTAs. As you collect this data, you can optimize your page’s appearance.
To take this a step further, consider using dynamic content that shifts depending on the user. This could further improve your CRO. Various optimization tools can help you identify user personas and the content most likely to interest them.
Trends in eCommerce Marketing
A number of trends in eCommerce marketing have emerged in recent years. Be sure to take them into account as you build your marketing strategies:
- AI and predictive analytics: These capabilities make it easier for businesses to segment customers while understanding their motivations and interests. When you employ this technology, you can refine your campaigns and show content to the most suitable viewers.
- Omnichannel marketing: As customers engage with brands through multiple channels, they want to see consistent messaging and information. Consequently, you can benefit from using AI tools and insights to create user-friendly synchronized experiences across different platforms.
- Sustainability: Customers have become increasingly inclined to work with brands that appear to align with their values. Eco-conscious values have far-reaching appeal and may help you connect with even more potential buyers.
Actionable Tips for eCommerce Marketing Success
Website traffic is great, but it's useless if your landing pages aren't converting or fail to capture user contact information.
Decide what content should be freely available on your landing pages and what material should be gated behind a registration form. Be sure to follow landing page best practices to ensure your pages are highly optimized.
Remember: The greater the perceived value of the content, the more information you can generally request from users. For example, a form used to request an expert assessment can get away with asking for more personally identifiable information than a newsletter subscription form. Customers don't like to give out too many details at the beginning.
The cornerstone to success in eCommerce marketing is to test and iterate your marketing strategies with flexibility. You need to easily adapt to changes in technology and customer preferences.
Using platforms like HubSpot and Klaviyo can make this process significantly easier. For example, Elmhurst 1925 employed SEO best practices to optimize their content and achieve a 17 percent revenue boost. They adjusted how they developed content so that they were well-aligned with their customers.
Conclusion
We hope these insights help your eCommerce marketing strategy achieve success. Remember to always keep the customer's needs in mind as you share content that’s relevant to them and your brand. Quality eCommerce marketing comes from blending data-driven insights, innovative tools, and a customer-focused approach so that you can reach the right shoppers with the right information at the right time.
If you have any questions or concerns about conversion rate optimization (CRO), want more information about the latest eCommerce tools and trends, or need help creating your own eCommerce SEO marketing strategy, please contact us today! We’ll help you develop tailored solutions that will take your business even further. Our experts could also evaluate your existing website by performing a free audit and identifying the best ways to make improvements.
