“We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.”

In the Internet era, it has become increasingly essential for businesses to go online, or rather have their online presence felt strongly on the Internet. The buying habits of customers have changed significantly. The covid-19 pandemic has influenced purchase decisions and a large chunk of users is moving to e-commerce for their purchases.

Since the first online sale in 1994, e-commerce has changed radically. With the help of the social platforms, information accessibility and digital marketing, online shopping has perpetually changed the retail landscape.

To simplify things, first let us understand what the basics of digital marketing and e-commerce are.

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce is an act of doing business that is performed online or over the internet. In other words, when you buy or sell something online or via an electronic medium, it is referred to as electronic commerce, i.e., e-commerce.

Because of its vast reach and popularity, it has completely revolutionized the way entrepreneurs do business and has been adopted by everyone from small businesses to the big giants.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing refers to the online promotional activities of a business’ products and services, carried out on the Internet using various digital medium such as social media, websites, digital advertising on search engines, paid advertising online, etc., aimed to increase customer engagement and awareness about the product and services.

What Is the Importance of Digital Marketing for E-Commerce Businesses?

“You can’t wait for customers to come to you. You have to figure out where they are, go there and bring them back to your store.”

Increased Brand Awareness and Improved Brand Credibility

Rather than focusing on increasing sales immediately through ‘aggressive’ marketing, brand awareness campaigns can help to build a permanent relationship between a product and the target consumer. Through digital marketing and advertising, positive associations around a brand grow in the consumer’s mind, sparking consumer interest, trust and loyalty – often even before the conversion takes place.

Since online reviews drive most of the purchase decisions, brands need to pay close attention to what is being said about them. It is an eye-opening fact that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Digital marketing and social media marketing are the perfect way to reach out to more people at a time and will improve your brand reputation and credibility.

Higher Conversion Rates to Drive More Sales

Digital marketing helps more to improve the conversion rate of a business than other traditional marketing methods because one can reach millions of people at a time through the digital medium. Digital marketing utilizes the CRO Tools, SEO, SMO, and email marketing to convert visitors into buyers. More the conversion rate, more will be the revenue generating, and hence more income.

Low-cost Marketing

Digital marketing gives you the scope to reach out to even more customers, that too within the budget. To reach out to more people at less cost, there should be a digital marketing plan to target customers according to the budget.  

Gain Genuine Audience Base

The internet is growing and exploding with millions of users being added every day. Digital marketing channels are the perfect way to reach out to a lot of new and existing customers to boost the scope of online marketing in e-commerce businesses.

Measurable Analytics

Digital marketing is a computable form of marketing and it works in real-time as it shows the success rate of every strategy that has been used. The accurate data can help an e-commerce business to rise. By using Google Analytics, one can do audience targeting, customer acquisition, such as from where website visitors come. Additionally, one can change the campaigns to reach more customers and make plans to make even more profit. Google Analytics data provided is a great opportunity for analysing competitors and to find out the best business competitors.

Increased Sales and Higher Revenue

Digital marketing efforts are the easiest way to increase sales in short as well as long term. Since online shopping is so convenient, just advertising a product to the targeted demographic will ensure that people try out the products and services. If they like what is offered to them, the company will start to develop a loyal customer base.

Market Your Products and Services Online

The pandemic has resulted in an extensive online purchase of products – be it groceries, clothes, books, phones or furniture. Even businesses that did not use to sell their products online are taking the e-commerce route now. Digital marketing agency has revolutionized the entire concept of marketing and the way of buying and selling things. It is a new trend of marketing, which allows hassle-free buying and selling.

Customer Engagement and Retention

Generally, millennials and gen Z spend a large chunk of their day on various social media platforms.  So, instead of the traditional ways of billboard advertisements, businesses prefer to promote themselves through social media to create a buzz.

Social media can help to draw the attention of prospective customers, convert leads and re-engage customers from earlier times. Digital marketing executives help you figure out the latest social media trends and the ways to utilize them effectively. Digital marketers help businesses by keeping track of the new features being added by social media platforms, generating ideas to attract customers and boosting or promoting posts in a way to appeal to the target audience.

Influencing Consumer Behavior

Nowadays, to make a purchase, consumers access the internet to research and make their decision in very little time. Consumer behavior is much more streamlined today than ever before.

Using digital marketing data to share content and digital ads can aid in the creation of experiences that are highly relevant, as well as different from that offered by competing brands. Not only can personalization enable marketers to hold the attention of their targeted audience, but also inspires brand loyalty.

Competing with Other Businesses

Today’s world is entirely digital. Hence, it is difficult to compete with any other similar business if there is no personalized digital marketing strategy. The big boys of the marketing world have already figured out what works and what not, and to even survive in this sphere, one needs to develop a digital marketing strategy and execute it.

As companies continue to optimize their approach to digital marketing for e-commerce, voice and visual search are going to take center stage.

What Are the Digital Marketing Tools for E-Commerce?

The impact of Digital marketing on e-commerce is immense and an effective e-commerce Digital marketing strategy helps to grow the business faster. There are various Digital marketing tools which optimizes online marketing for e-commerce.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization involves all those techniques that are necessary to rank a website on search engines by which customers can find an e-commerce site easily on top of the SERP. SEO is a direct method which can drive enormous traffic to an e-commerce website. SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

For immediate, short-term results, when you can’t wait for search engines to rank you (it usually takes 3-6 months to see significant traffic from SEO), SEM or paid search (PPC) is the perfect channel. SEM is done to promote a website by increasing its visibility in search engine results. It includes, pay-per-click strategy, through which a business can grab the attention of the consumers, when they search for a particular product which will help the business to gain leads and sales.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media marketing plays an indispensable role in e-commerce businesses. You need to follow the recent growing trends in social media to sustain in the market. It is important to stay in touch with your customers. Social media provides e-commerce businesses with the platform, which facilitates building communities for your consumers to understand them better.

If aligned well, they provide exposure to start-ups, not only to grow in one market but also to expand in other markets as well. Digital marketers must include paid social media as part of their strategy, since social networks are making it harder to reach your audience without paying.

Email Marketing

Email is not dead yet; only the ways to use it has changed.  It is still one of the most effective digital marketing tools for retailers delivering positive ROI. Email plays a huge role in enhancing the customer’s shopping experience, as it helps in reaching a massive audience at a time.

Usually, User’s email questions about products and services or general information requests about the company.  E-commerce marketing agencies do send out digital invoices by email. Email is also used to remind customers of their abandoned shopping cart and so much more. Triggered emails and scheduled email campaigns can also be used to generate the sales further.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach, which aims to provide valuable, relevant and consistent content to prospects and existing customers, without requiring them to make a purchase.

Whether it’s a simple buying guide or a short blog post explaining how to do something, it helps in building awareness, nurture your prospects and delight current customers. It helps to retain customers by providing them with the content, which can drive them to make a profitable action.

Posting relevant, useful and practical content on search engine and social media profiles help in enhancing conversions and boosting the sales.

Behavioral Re-marketing

Behavioral re-targeting uses the same data to re-engage prospects and customers that have already shown an interest in your brand based on their interactions with the website, social media ads, and email campaigns. With this knowledge, you can create personalized ad and email campaigns to keep your audience engaged and to make them return to the website, once they leave your website. This helps to increase their brand awareness and the likelihood of them returning to your site to make a purchase.

Mobile Marketing

The internet browser is no longer the only software being used to access the web.  We are using apps more than ever.  To socializing with our friends alone, we are using more than a single app. Hence, having a mobile marketing strategy is important. Consumer behavior is different while using a smartphone and digital marketers need to be there at the right time with the right message and intent.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate, generally a website, earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products. The affiliate simply searches for a product they enjoy, then promotes that product and earns some profit from sales they bring to your online store. Building an effective and engaged affiliate network will certainly boost your overall marketing campaigns by helping spread the word online.

What Are the Tools Available for E-Commerce Business?

There are various tools that come in handy while preparing a digital marketing proposal for an e-commerce website. Some of them are-

Content Marketing Tools

• Google docs
• Grammarly
• Canva
• Trello
• Slack

Email Marketing Tools

• MailChimp
• Campaign Monitor
• Omnisend
• Active campaigns
• Klaviyo
• GetResponse

Marketing Automation Tools

• Zapier
• Smile.io
• Drift

Optimization Tools

• Hotjar
• CrazyEgg

Social Media Marketing Tools

• Facebook ads
• AdEspresso

SEO And SEM Tools

• SEMRush
• Ahrefs
• AdNabu
• Goggle ads

In today’s times, when most people are resorting to online shopping, e-commerce looks extremely conducive as more and more people are going online with their e-commerce stores, and it is expected to be at its zenith in the coming years.  Engaging with an e-commerce marketing agency like Imarti Media can help craft out-of-the-box ideas to take your efforts up a notch and help you, not just to increase brand awareness and credibility, but also to boosts conversions, drive more sales, and hence boost your revenue.