E-commerce has taken the shopping scene by storm. According to Statistica, e-commerce will account for nearly 20% of global retail sales in his 2021. It is estimated that by 2025, these online stores will account for nearly a quarter of retail sales worldwide.

A key factor in the growth of this online shopping modality was the COVID-19 pandemic. As individuals stay home to avoid the virus, people have turned their attention to online shopping. “In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, e-commerce sales increased from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020, an increase of $244.2 billion, or 43%,” the Census Bureau said. reporting.

As the number of e-commerce stores grows, so does the need to stand out from the competition. Given that the e-commerce experience is virtual, a digital marketing strategy is essential to differentiating your brand from others. Implementing these three basic tactics is a great place to start.

1. Personalized outreach campaigns

In 2020, CEO and founder Danielle Hixenbaugh launched Bloom Digital, a fully remote digital marketing agency, to see firsthand the impact personalized SMS campaigns have on consumers.

Hixenbaugh said, “Since COVID-19, we’ve noticed a huge increase in customers craving an emotional connection to their purchases. , because SMS is intimate, your SMS list is made up of individuals who really want to hear from you and would like to receive information about upcoming discounts and new products. Use wisely and talk to your audience like you would talk to a friend.

Email campaigns are another personal way to invest in your clients, especially for brands with small marketing budgets. Some customers may not want to receive emails, but the data shows otherwise. According to Litmus, the e-commerce industry has the highest ROI for his marketing of email. For every dollar a marketer spends on his email marketing, he gets $45 in return.

2. Loyalty Program

A recent study conducted by CommerceNext in partnership with CommX surveyed 118 digital marketing and e-commerce executives. The results revealed that the top priority for these executives was creating loyalty programs that build more meaningful customer relationships. More than half of participants said they plan to expand or launch loyalty programs in 2022.

For brands looking to increase buyer loyalty, Zsuzsa Kecsmar suggests focusing on the emotional side of their loyalty program. Kecsmar is her CMO and co-founder of Antavo, a loyalty technology provider that recently published her 2022 Global Customer Loyalty Report. The study uses survey responses from over 320 global business individuals and data from the behavior of her over 25 million members on Antava’s platform to highlight the importance of emotional appeal in loyalty programs. emphasized.

“In an era where customers have access to a vast array of webshops and retailers, brands must grab their customers with their hearts, not their wallets. No,” says Kecsmar. “In our survey, only 20.7% of existing program owners classified their programs as emotional rather than rational, while 53.6% of companies in the process of starting or resuming programs , said its programs are emotional rather than rational.In the future, more loyalty programs will focus on generating emotional loyalty.”

“It’s worth emphasizing that emotional loyalty is not a zero-sum game,” Kecsmar said. And don’t forget to add some rewards.

3. Content optimization for SEO

Regardless of your company’s size or budget, SEO is a cost-effective digital marketing strategy that can help you connect with your audience. An SEO-optimized website can also serve as a valuable tool to increase brand awareness, increase engagement, and inform other marketing channels.

If you’re wondering where to start when it comes to SEO, consider the content you already have. There is a well-known saying among marketers that “content is king”. Alex Valencia, president and director of business development at We Do Web, even calls content the “backbone” of his SEO strategy.

Maintain content quality, relevance and freshness. These factors are important because they can affect how Google’s algorithms rank web pages. The higher your ranking, the more potential customers will see your valuable content and the more relevant they will be to your brand.

“The quality of the content we create and where it appears online plays a big role in the success of our larger marketing strategy,” says Valencia. “Each piece of content offers users an opportunity to get to know your brand, engage with your offer, and hopefully convert them into a paying client or customer. It should be at the forefront of your marketing plan, meaning a siled approach ensures your content is on-topic and relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach.

By implementing these three tactics, you can enhance your digital marketing efforts and grow your e-commerce business. With the shift in traditional marketing, consumers value experience above all else. Personalize your campaigns, offer reward programs to your current customers, and don’t forget to optimize your content for search engines. When customers notice you and appreciate your customer-driven approach, you’ll see your efforts turn into sales.