When we think about eCommerce, we think of convenience and affordability. These days, buying goods online is neither new nor rare for us, and this industry is getting even larger. However, apart from saving you time and money as a buyer, eCommerce can also become a great source of income for you, especially while in college.
This field opens plenty of great opportunities for young people. First of all, starting a venture like this is easy thanks to popular online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, etc. Secondly, this business requires a fairly low initial investment. Yet, it can grow into a large and stable source of income.
Finally, eCommerce is great for students as it can be easily combined with college life. We know how much you might have on your plate now – lectures, exams, loads of homework, etc. All these things are nearly impossible to combine with a full-time job. However, when you sell online, you are your own boss. All you need is to reliably write my dissertation by your side to cover your back when things get too tough, and you are busy and to help you keep your grades up. The rest of the time, you will be able to manage your own schedule to juggle both your business and academic commitments.
Now, what about marketing your venture? While getting started is easy, promoting your products can get tricky. Read on, and we will tell you everything you need to know about eCommerce marketing to get your business noticed!
eCommerce Marketing: Definition and Types
eCommerce marketing is the art of spreading awareness and driving action toward a company that sells products or services online. It can be done through digital content, social media, search engine optimization, and other forms of digital campaigns that encourage your target customers to buy from you.
Another important term that falls under the same umbrella is eCommerce advertising. Unlike marketing as a whole, which aims to reach your audience, build brand awareness, and drive conversions, advertising strives to actually promote a product or service you sell. This involves creating a banner, display, social media, and other ads that emphasize your product and showcase its benefits to prospects.
When used in tandem, these two tactics are basically all you need to drive customers and sales.
To give you a sense of what’s in a good strategy, let’s take a quick look at the major types of marketing used for online stores:
Social media marketing
This type involves building an active social media presence. It enables businesses to extend their outreach, build a better connection with their audience, and show off their products.
Content marketing
This type implies delivering high-quality content to inform, engage, and convert prospects. It can include running a blog, publishing guest blog posts, posting videos on YouTube, etc.
Search engine marketing
This type of promotion is used to get your business noticed by bringing it to the first line in search engine results pages. It involves optimizing your website, content, and campaigns to relevant search engine algorithms.
Email marketing
Though it might feel rather outdated, this type of advertising is still powerful. It implies creating mailing lists and getting your prospects through the sales pipeline with the help of carefully planned email campaigns.
Influencer marketing
This type implies partnering with popular influencers to promote your products and services. It works especially well with younger audiences since they now trust recommendations from influencers more than those from celebrities.
Affiliate marketing
This type of promotion uses existing customers to drive new sales. Affiliates promote your product or service and earn a commission for every sale they attract.
Local marketing
This type is often overlooked for eCommerce. But that’s in vain. Although you won’t have a physical store to advertise, you can use local tactics to tap into the right audiences based on their locations.
4 eCommerce Marketing Tips for Young Entrepreneurs
Now that you know more about this type of promotion and what it involves, let’s move on to the most exciting part!
So how can you promote your own business? As a student entrepreneur, you might not have a huge budget or lots of experience. However, there are a few tips that will help you get on the right track.
Get to Know Your Audience
To get started, you need a good product and a solid understanding of the audience that might be interested in buying it. Before you launch any campaigns, be sure to research your potential buyers. Figure out who they are and what they need. Study their buying patterns and primary motivators to know how to grab their attention.
Personalize
According to HubSpot, personalization can boost revenue by 6-10%. It helps build a stronger bond with your prospects and gives them the best buyer’s journey possible. To do this, use smart content and product displays based on every user’s interests, use prospect’s names when sending emails, and leverage other personalization practices.
Leverage WOOMM
WOOMM is short for word-of-mouth marketing. Today, it’s one of the cheapest and most organic ways to spread awareness and generate sales. The organic way to utilize WOOMM is to create excellent buyer experiences that will encourage consumers to share a word about you. However, you can also leverage alternative tactics, such as testimonials, reviews, case studies, referrals, etc.
Take Care of Your Website
Even if you are selling on Amazon, you will need a website sooner or later. A website is a powerful tool to get your business noticed beyond the chosen marketplace. But to get all the perks, you must take good care of it. Craft a website that’s responsive and user-friendly. And most importantly, don’t forget to optimize it for SEO.
The Bottom Line
Now you know more about eCommerce marketing and how to use it right. Of course, these are just the basics, and there are plenty of other great tactics that can help. But you will get there! For now, use the knowledge from this guide to jump-start your online store and win the first buyers with ease!
