If you intend to run an e-Commerce campaign, you have your work cut out for you. Finding a cost-effective way to make whatever product or service you offer to stand out from the crowd is not always easy.

At Strikepoint Media, we’ve put together a little checklist that you can use to build the perfect e-Commerce Campaign for ANY product. If you’d like to gain an edge in your e-Commerce marketing, read below!

Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Before you’re able to concoct any meaningful e-Commerce marketing strategies, you must first examine what it is you offer. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your product?

Much of marketing is about getting a potential customer’s eyes on a product and then convincing them it is worth their time. At a very simple level, you must show them why they might want your product.

The difficulty is that there are almost always alternatives. What makes your product stand out? Is it price? Utility? Aesthetic?

Your product also is going to have weaknesses. Price is a common one; you can’t guarantee someone will choose a quality product if there is a less expensive alternative.

Not all these traits can be changed but they should all be understood. They are going to guide how you present your product to the world.

Narrow Your Target Demographic

 

Many businesses have failed by misunderstanding what selling online really means. They get to thinking their only goal is to get eyes and ears on content about their new release. However, this is not entirely the case.

While most attention on your offerings is good, some attention is better than others. The key to marketing in a way that is efficient is targeting the right demographic.

Every e-Commerce brand has a target demographic. This is the group of people to which what you offer most appeals. They are the potential customers that will be easiest to convince to make a given purchase.

The traits you target can vary, with some common ones including:

• Gender
• Age
• Political leaning
• Race
• Income level
• Geographical location
• and much much more…

It is often best to determine your target audience based on the product being offered. Does it appeal to some people more than others? You can capitalize on that by focusing your marketing on those most likely to care.

Tailor Your Advertisements

Once you have a target demographic in mind, it is time to tailor your advertisements. Much like your product, advertisements are going to appeal to some people more than others.

Take for instance an energy drink advertisement. These advertisements tend to be high-energy, with a hip, young feel. Broadly speaking, these ads are often aimed at younger people, the target demographic for most energy brands.

Compare this type of ad to that of many whiskey companies. Whiskey ads tend to have a suave, sophisticated, masculine tone to them. This makes sense; these ads are aimed at older men, whiskey’s main demographic.

Do some research into the types of advertisements that appeal to your target demographic. Be careful about assuming what they like. Many brands have gotten into hot water with “cringe” ads aimed at audiences they failed to understand.

Your Website Is Part of Your Campaign

A big part of an e-Commerce campaign is to drive customers to your website since that’s where you will be offering your product. Despite this, many companies neglect their site when engaging in a marketing push.

First, let it be said this is a simple matter of logic. If your ads look lavish and targeted to a certain demographic but your website looks cheap and aimed at another, you’ll look dishonest. 

In many ways, a website should be thought of as your storefront. It should look as nice as you can manage and be easy to navigate.

Second, engaging in some practices such as SEO-friendly blogging content is one of the most cost-effective ways to get attention on a product. Older business owners may not realize how integral this is to modern marketing.

If you can design your website such that it is high on Google’s search rankings, it becomes much easier to attract customers to your site. Even better, the barrier entry to start doing this is quite low.

Understanding the Sales Funnel

In any kind of marketing, there is the idea of a “sales funnel.” This is the process by which a company attracts a potential customer and guides them towards hopefully making a purchase.

Even if a business owner is not familiar with the process by name, most engage in it on some level. The first step is making people aware of your product, through advertisements and other marketing techniques.

From there, some people are filtered out. If they don’t care about your ad (or dislike it) then they won’t go further. However, those that remain are the people showing some interest.

At this stage, you want to have a way for interested people to get more information. This is done through articles on your website, posts on social media, and interacting with them directly in comments or in person.

More people are now funneled out; some won’t want what you offer now that they know all the details. However, those that remain are now genuine sales leads. They may very well make a purchase.

This is the “Decision” stage of the sales funnel, where you show the potential customers all the ways they can purchase what they’re interested in. The easier it is to make a purchase, the better your chances.

The final stage of your sales funnel is the sale itself. The customer chooses a product or service (or multiple) and confirms all the details. At this point, all you need to do is deliver.

The Unfortunate Reality of Marketing

It’s easy to say that successful e-Commerce requires good marketing but, in practice, it is more complicated than that. The unfortunate truth is that many business owners are not professional marketers.

This is perfectly understandable; marketing is a different skill set than running a business. At the early stages of a business, many entrepreneurs also get by doing most of that work themselves.

However, when it comes time for a big product push, many companies have trouble knowing what to do as they lack true marketing expertise. 

Many smaller companies can’t afford to have a marketing team in-house. It’s expensive and a company is rarely making constant marketing pushes. However, this is where a proven company like ours can help.

You can hire our company to be the marketing experts you likely can’t afford to have on full-time staff. This helps you have an edge when it is time for important pushes without breaking the bank. 

Once the job is over, you part ways with our team without issue. We’ve helped you make your marketing push and now it’s time for you to reap the reward.

Marketing Should Be Scaled to Your Needs

Not every marketing campaign is of the same scale. After all, it is clear to anyone that massive corporations tend to engage in much bigger marketing efforts than small mom-and-pop stores. 

Marketing is about using what resources you have efficiently.

This is the reason behind most of the steps we discussed. You could choose not to target a demographic with your ads, but then what? Many who saw them would not be interested.

Any business, no matter how big, only has so much money they can spend on marketing. It doesn’t make sense not to spend this money in the way that is likely to produce the most sales.

This is where we can be of help to businesses of all sizes. We offer several marketing solutions dedicated to what makes sense for your needs. 

Strikepoint Media also offers access to our full-service exclusive ad network. This network allows your business to get a message or offer amplified by a premium influential lineup of publishers.

E-Commerce Is Easier With a Team Behind You

It is not easy to run an e-Commerce campaign by oneself. There are many steps requiring expertise in a variety of fields, all while you still need to run your business.

If you’d like expert help making a strong push of your latest product or service, contact us! We can give you a competitive edge on your digital marketing all while freeing you up to continue running your business.