Best Practices for Marketing Your E-Commerce Business in the Digital Space 

There is only one proven constant in all our years of development and that is change. If we do not adapt we are left behind, and if you want to succeed in anything then you need to constantly be changing. Business thrives on that code, having consistently adapted to every change in the physical and digital world. 

E-commerce is one of the biggest changes, and it has created a whole new level of business that no company can survive without. It has transformed how businesses sell products and engage with their customers. 

If you want your business to thrive then this guide will help you explore the top strategies for marketing your e-commerce business effectively and achieving long-term success. 

1. Optimize Your Website for SEO 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the foundation of a strong online presence. Ensuring your e-commerce website ranks high on search engines can lead to increased organic traffic and higher conversions. Your business needs to be where your audiences are. SEO allows your business to appear in front of several persons at once–you won’t need to fight for the ideal geo conquest.

Consider these best practices: 

• Use relevant keywords for your product/service. Utilize relatable keywords that your target market is most likely to use, even going so far as to consider their jargon or slang. 
• Optimize product descriptions with long-tail keywords and high-quality images. The more words you use to describe your product the better the chance that your market finds your product. The more visually appealing your product is the more likely it will gain interest. 
• Improve website speed and mobile responsiveness to enhance user experience; contrary to the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady will not win you this race. 
• Implement structured data to help search engines understand your content better and match you with your customers. 

For instance, if you were, say, a local skincare brand that specializes in using all organic ingredients, you can optimize your website for keywords like “best organic skincare products in the Philippines” to attract more search traffic. 

2. Leverage Social Media Marketing 

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok are powerful tools for engaging with potential customers. The constant flow of traffic scrolling through your digital advertisements creates potential for sales and new customers. 

To succeed, you can:

• Create visually appealing and relatable content that is likely to catch your target market’s attention. 
• Utilize Meta’s (Facebook and Instagram) e-commerce platforms to make purchasing seamless. The easier the transaction is for a customer the more likely he is to complete his purchase. Convenience is key. 
• Engage with followers through comments, live streams, and interactive stories to keep the traffic consistent. Keep things interesting and their attention stays on your business. 
• Run targeted ads to reach specific demographics based on interests and behaviors. Social media algorithms almost seem to be reading people’s minds, so make the most of it. 

An online bakery, for example, could gain attention by posting reels of how they make their products. Showing how savory your products are and how well they are made can increase brand visibility and customer engagement. You can even adapt meme formats! Catch their attention, and their desire is likely to follow. 

3. Utilize Email Marketing for Customer Retention 

Despite the many changes that have come with e-commerce, email has yet to be surpassed and remains one of the most effective ways to nurture leads and retain customers. Taking care of your customers creates brand loyalty, and shows them that the business cares and only wants the best for them. Email marketing and quick customer service are the best ways to do this. 

Some best practices you can employ are to:

• Segment email lists based on customer behavior and preferences. In all forms and channels, the business must go to where its target market is most likely to be. Where are customer behavior and preferences regularly leading them? 
• Send personalized product recommendations and exclusive discounts. Make customers feel special to gain their loyalty and preference.
• Automate cart abandonment emails to recover lost sales but don’t be aggressive about it. In all aspects show the customer that you care about them. Word the email to not be abrasive but concerned, and always offer to help them. 

You can send email reminders to customers who left items in their cart, offering a limited-time discount to encourage checkout or other options based on the items that are in the cart. 

4. Implement Influencer and Affiliate Marketing 

Collaborating with influencers and affiliate marketers can help expand your reach and credibility. Key opinion leaders or influencers and affiliate marketers have put a lot of time and effort in establishing their personal brands and have accumulated customers, followers, and fans in the thousands and millions. Their followers trust their brand, so to get one of these influencers to vouch for a business allows the business to tap into a larger market share and create value and trust that it would have otherwise taken longer to establish on its own.

• Partner with influencers who align with your brand values. If you get an influencer to be loyal to your brand, you gain the loyalty of their followers as well. 
• Encourage authentic product reviews and testimonials. Make sure to never word your statements negatively. For example do not say a product is cheap, instead you say budget friendly. Customers see products as a partial reflection of themselves and look at influencers as who they aspire to be, so market the products in a way that customers will see it positively. 
• Offer affiliates commissions, bonuses, and deals as incentive to drive sales. Take care of them well and their following will become the businesses’. 

A local fashion brand can work with TikTok influencers to showcase their clothing line, generating buzz and increasing sales. The influencer then essentially becomes the businesses’ brand ambassador and creates a larger market share for the business. 

5. Run Paid Advertising Campaigns 

Paid advertising, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, can drive targeted traffic to your website and increase sales. It is a strategy where a business pays to have their product shown to their target market using the database of the website which the target market frequents. This is also known as pay per click advertising.

Don’t forget to:

• Use retargeting ads to re-engage website visitors who didn’t complete a purchase. It comes out as a gentle reminder to your customer rather than being upfront about it. 
• Create lookalike audiences based on existing customers to find new potential buyers. Know your customer base, then tweak that profile and target them to gain a larger market share. 
• Optimize ad creatives with compelling visuals and strong CTAs (call to action). As stated above, customers see part of themselves in the products they buy. Appeal to the way they see themselves and match the product to their lifestyle. 

An online gadget store can run Google Shopping Ads for keywords like “best smartphones under PHP 10,000” to attract ready-to-buy customers. You are aiming for a target market that is on a budget, so portray the product in an image relatable to the “hard working” class of people. Provide a quality product and the image that the customer can be proud of. 

6. Enhance Customer Experience and Trust 

A positive customer experience leads to higher retention rates and word-of-mouth referrals. The classic rule of any business is to take care of your customers and they will take care of you. You want a customer to feel good about whatever they purchased. Your business goal is not only to make money, but to create value. Give the customers an image they can live up to by purchasing your products and make them feel good about it. 

You can offer your customers:

• Multiple payment options, including cash on delivery (COD), e-wallets or cashless payments, and credit cards. Make it as convenient as possible for the customer to purchase your product. 
• Provide fast and reliable shipping with real-time tracking. Show the customers that you are doing everything within your power to get them what they purchased. 
• Implement live chat support to assist customers instantly. There are AI programs that can do this or a business can outsource to BPOs for more detailed services and products. 
• Showcase customer reviews and ratings to build trust. Encourage customers to share their opinion of your product so that other potential customers will be more confident to purchase as well. 

An e-commerce furniture store in the Philippines can offer free delivery within Metro Manila to encourage more purchases. Regularly updating the customer as to what time the product is most likely to arrive and if there are any delays will increase their trust of your business. 

7. Utilize Data Analytics for Continuous Improvement 

Tracking and analyzing marketing efforts allow businesses to optimize campaigns and improve ROI. In the end it’s all about the numbers. Having the data show where customers reacted positively will allow a business to focus efforts and budgets on strategies that work and avoid the ones that don’t. The business will be able to optimize it’s work force and assets in the most productive and efficient way which will make and save money in the long run. 

• Use Google Analytics to monitor website traffic and user behavior. 
• Track conversion rates and identify areas for improvement. 
• A/B test marketing campaigns to determine what resonates best with your audience. 

Related: Refining Your Brand’s Marketing Strategy? Data Reporting is Key

A beauty e-commerce brand can analyze data to see which products are most popular and create bundles to increase average order value. It can also show which advertising campaign garnered the most views and increased sales. 

Putting It All Into Practice

Marketing an e-commerce business in the digital space requires a strategic approach, leveraging SEO, social media, email marketing, influencer collaborations, paid ads, and data analytics. By implementing these best practices, businesses in the Philippines can build a strong online presence, attract more customers, and drive long-term success in the competitive digital marketplace. 

A reliable public relations and digital marketing agency can help you execute a strategy with the expertise, time, and consistent effort required to make it a success. Outsourcing this part of your business can help you focus efforts and manpower on other endeavors to help you grow. Contact NGP-IMC and let’s grow your e-commerce business today.