I’m tired of reading articles online that are just telling you what marketing tools to use and calling it a strategy. It’s tiring to see misleading information out there. To have an email list and chatbox with great photos and videos is not a successful strategy. Those are just marketing tools needed to execute a plan. Let’s get down to real successful e-Commerce Strategies that companies use all the time to become corporations and a NAME Brand company.
The Definition of e-Commerce
All e-Commerce means is a commercial transaction conducted online. Someone came to your store and bought an item online. Data is transferred, and a deal is completed.
The Definition of Strategy
A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim for the company. This is where you focus all your efforts to obtain the goals you need to succeed. This could be long term or short term goals.
So with an eCommerce strategy, all you want to achieve is someone making a transaction on your website.
Having an email list is not a strategy just as much as having a hammer to build a house isn’t a plan of action.
Another big one I see all the time is a chatbox. The chatbox is just as productive as a Walmart greeter. All slumped over and said, “Welcome to Walmart” if that. Most of the time it’s just a blank stare. Only when there is a defined strategy will that chatbox be effective.
Having marketing tools isn’t a strategy, it’s how you will use them to reach your desired outcome, which in this case is an e-commerce purchase.
People have changed how they decide to make a purchase. The delivery is the only thing that has changed, not the message. Meaning the tools used are different.
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What Successful Strategies Look Like
We will take a look at a few companies, and I’ll give examples of where they started and where they are now and what made them successful. These are a few manufactures that have had successful E-commerce Strategies
Coke a Cola – Started with one drink, now has 3,800
Nike – Started with a track running shoe, Now sells all running shoes and clothing.
Google – started as Online directory – Owns multiple companies, phone lines, youtube and much
more.
Amazon-Started selling music videos, now they sell everything.
What did they do differently than everyone else?
They all had the same approach believe it or not. The method was one product, one customer. They knew who their customer was and had one product to offer to those customers. They didn’t offer a million things. They just focused on a single product and made it the best they could. When marketing, they knew who their customers were and didn’t waste money marketing to people who weren’t their ideal customers. They were focused on one thing. Once that product sold itself, they moved on to another product.
If you look at any significant brand, it’s the same approach. Simple right? Now you need to let go of FOMO ( fear of missing out) and get focused. I’ll tell you how you can make the same approach as the rest of the successful bands.
How to build your Ecommerce Strategy
To start, don’t even think about e-commerce. Just think of the strategy.
- Start with one product
- Identify your customer
- Find those customers
- Market to only them
- Influence those people to make a purchase
Answer those questions before you move on to your eCommerce side of the strategy. Just because everything is online nowadays doesn’t change where those people hang out and socialize. Online gives you more options and is easier to get to those said people. Now you need to decide what marketing tools you want to use to reach your customers. It’s just that, reach them, and nothing more. Facebook ads aren’t going to convince someone to buy your product. You can only influence their decision to make a purchase. A giant email list won’t make any purchase either. It will just reach your customer. Most people just expect others to buy their products with no effort, and that isn’t a strategy.
1. Start With One Product
Starting with one product will help you isolate and focus. Once you start throwing many products in, it can get overwhelming, and all products don’t get the attention they need to be successful.
Coke a Cola doesn’t market their other flavors like they do the original.
You’ll be able to come up with way more marketing plans for one product vs. 10. You can redefine your message and fine-tune the product if it has any unforced issues.
2. Identify Your Customer
This is a simple but most important step as it determines all your marketing efforts. Boil it down to as detailed as possible. You want the customer to see the product and say that’s for me without any additional influence. Chances are they are a group of people. Find that group and make sure your product will work for that group.
3. Finding Those Customers
Being on the internet has made this step so much easier than it used to be. This is where marketing tools come into place. That’s why so many people focus on this but skip step number 2. Without knowing your customer, step 3 will cost you a fortune. Make sure your message is for the customer and market that message.
Some Marketing tools are:
+An email list
+SEO
+Social Media (ads)
+Blogs
+PPC
+SEM
+Youtube Ads
+Content writing
+Sales funnels
+Amazon
+eBay
Once you know where your customers are what tools can you use to reach those people? That’s what you should be asking yourself instead of trying them to see if they work.
Only go to this step if you have step 2 locked down.
4. Market to Only Those Customers
You now know what type of customer is the best fit for your product. You have found them and are ready to use the marketing tools that best fit your needs to market to your target audience—that simple. If you have followed steps 1-3, this will be a walk in the park. If your marketing efforts are at zero ROI, chances are you are missing one of the first three steps, or it could be the last step. This should only be completed once you have everything else planned.
5. Influence Those People To Make A Purchase
You want to influence customers to buy from you. Inspire them with your ads or Blogs. What you say to those customers will determine if they buy from you. Remember, marketing is just making them aware and will not guarantee a sale. Knowing your ideal customer will tell you what you should say to them. That’s why step 1 and 2 are an essential part of the strategy. Make sure your message will reach home with what you are selling. Don’t have them in analytics mod. Make sure a five-year-old will understand your message. If they can’t, the message is too complicated.
Successful eCommerce Marketing
This is not rocket science people. There are plenty of brands that have taken this approach and been successful. You can’t make any product successful, but by knowing your product and target audience, you have a chance to change your product to something that is without wasting marketing dollars. Follow these necessary 5 steps for a successful eCommerce Strategy. I wish you the best of success
Leave a comment on your thoughts.
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Caleb Grant
Caleb Grant is the founder of Blanc Ideas, a digital marketing firm founded in 2015. For the past 5 years, he has been deeply involved with the business owners and is shifting the way his clients think about their online presence as not only a cost-effective platform to reach their audience but also a system engineered to drive measurable business-oriented results.
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