What is the Difference Between E-commerce & Digital Marketing and Why Should You Care?
People often ask me what’s the difference between e-commerce and digital marketing. I’m always stunned by this question. To me, the answer has always seemed obvious and intuitive. Until I actually thought about it.
When I got my marketer’s cap off and looked at e-commerce and digital marketing side by side, I understood why they may be confusing to people.
All the misinformation on the topic flowing around the Web doesn’t help, either. Today, I’m here to set the record straight once and for all. So let’s see what’s the difference between e-commerce and digital marketing.
What is e-commerce?
E-commerce took commerce into the brave new digital world.
E-commerce is commerce through an online store. Everything you buy on a website, order via email, or another form of electronic communication is part of e-commerce.
In many ways, it’s quicker, easier, and more enjoyable than traditional shopping. It doesn’t require you to go anywhere. It takes the load off arranging transportation if you don’t have a car. And it’s far more efficient.
Online retailers offer many benefits over their brick-and-mortar counterparts. This isn’t to say e-commerce is not without its faults. You have to wait for delivery. You can’t examine the goods before you buy them. The process of returning something is arduous. But overall, retail websites offer a better experience, especially to younger people.
Benefits of e-commerce
According to Statista, millennials are the biggest group of online shoppers. As Gen Z begins entering the workforce, this trend is likely to continue.
After all, as I established earlier, e-commerce offers lots of benefits:
- Retail websites are open 24/7. Some even offer 24/7 customer support.
- You can save money. Running an e-commerce website is substantially cheaper than having a brick-and-mortar store. This reduces prices.
- Easy retail comparisons. Because all the other retail websites are just a few clicks away, it’s easy to make comparisons. Brands, quality, reviews, prices – you name it. Getting the best bang for your buck.
- You save time. Buying whatever you want with a few clicks is quick and easy. It sure beats driving to the store, picking what you want, standing in line at the checkout counter, and driving back.
- It’s much easier to find what you want. Type the name of the item in a search engine. You get the top retail websites that sell it. It’s that simple. You can even order internationally.
- It’s super convenient. Especially when the retailer offers free shipping.
This isn’t to say brick-and-mortar stores are without benefits. You can physically examine the goods before purchase. You don’t have to wait for shipping. And some people genuinely enjoy the experience of shopping at a physical location. So it’s a matter of preference. But all in all, many prefer e-commerce, which is why it’s a rapidly growing industry.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing took marketing into the online world in the same way e-commerce did for shopping (which is the first similarity between the two). Digital marketing has the same goals and objectives as traditional marketing, but it uses different methods to achieve those goals.
If you’re marketing using SEO, PPC ads, email, social media marketing, or any other form of electronic communication, you’re using digital marketing.
Examples of digital marketing
Here are some more examples of digital marketing:
- SEO – search engine optimization. It’s a method of optimizing your content so people can find it through it search engines. Using this method is organic, meaning you don’t have to pay for each visit to your site.
- PPC – pay-per-click ads. As the name suggests, you pay search engines to show your content to people. As long as you pay, your content appears on the results page.
- SMM – social media marketing. The act of promoting your business on relevant social media channels. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter – whatever seems relevant to your brand.
- Email – email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing. It seems to have lost some steam over the past several years since every marketer and their dog is using it (almost all unsuccessfully). But it still works and it’s still pretty good (given you can string more than two words together in a coherent manner).
- Affiliate marketing – promoting other companies’ products and services on your platform. The pay you receive is proportional to the traffic you send the receiver’s way. It works if your website is performing well.
These are just some examples, but you get the gist. You can use digital marketing for both traditional retail and e-commerce.
Digital marketing benefits
Digital marketing offers some benefits over traditional marketing. Some of the tools and tactics you can use are sniper rifle fire as opposed to shotgun blasts:
- Lower cost – digital marketing offers you a great bang for your buck. If you know what you’re doing, you can do a lot with very few resources.
- Measurability – this has always been a thorn in the side of marketers. How do you measure the effect of a billboard? By jumping through a lot of hoops, that’s how. You have to be creative and slick. You need to outsmart the system. Measuring the performance of a website? There are a few different ways to go about it, and none of them take more than 60 seconds.
- Personalization – if you’re selling running shoes, you want to target people who are interested in running. With social media and content marketing, you can easily do that. Instead of burning through your marketing budget and never hitting the mark.
- Higher ROI – because of the points above, you get a better return on investment through digital marketing.
This doesn’t mean digital marketing is without its cons. The low cost of doing it means you have a lot of competition. So you need to do it better than everyone else (I can help you with that). You need better e-commerce strategies than your competition. It takes time, effort, and dedication.
And because it’s cheaper than traditional marketing, people don’t trust it as easily.
Finally, it looks easy but it isn’t. Underestimate digital marketing and you can waste a lot of time and money.
Where does the confusion between digital marketing and e-commerce come from?
Here’s an example. Your website can be both a tool for digital marketing and e-commerce. The same goes for email – you can use email for marketing or direct sales. You can even use social media to sell products.
So where’s the difference?
Let’s say you have a breathtaking and technically brilliant e-commerce website. This means you have great web design, front-end development, kickass copy, and excellent images. You have systems for checkout and payment methods. Where does digital marketing end and e-commerce begin?
It’s simple. E-commerce is your sales process. That’s it. Anything you do beyond the sales process is marketing.
In other words, when I order a pair of running shoes from your store, the process of ordering and delivery is e-commerce. However, the way you get me to your website and the way you get me to trust your brand, that’s digital marketing.
Why is it important to know the difference between e-commerce and digital marketing?
E-commerce and digital marketing work together to breathe life into your business. They are complementary processes. Digital marketing brings attention to your brand. E-commerce allows you to actually sell.
The distinction between the two is important because being good at one does not necessarily mean you’re good at the other. You may be great at digital marketing and bringing a ton of visitors to your website. But if you can’t sell your goods to save your life, what good is that?
At the same time, you may have a nearly flawless sales process, but if 3 people a month visit your site, that wouldn’t make you fat stacks of cash, would it?
A balance between the two is important. You need to pay attention to both and knowing the difference allows you to pinpoint problems.
Imagine you brought a thousand people to your site this week. And no one bought anything. Where’s the problem? Digital marketing or e-commerce? Turns out your checkout button is broken and no one can buy anything. Clearly, it’s an e-commerce problem. One you need to fix immediately.
Conclusion
E-commerce and digital marketing are related processes. E-commerce usually begins where digital marketing ends. It’s important to understand the difference between the two so you can properly focus your resources and fix problems should they arise.
Now go check out your e-commerce business with this new knowledge and see where you can improve.
Till next time.
I help small business owners find their brand voice and put their products in front of the right audience. On my blog, I tell stories about marketing, psychology, business, branding, and more.
Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate
Get started in the high-growth fields of digital marketing and e-commerce with a professional certificate from Google. Learn to manage digital marketing campaigns, attract and engage customers, and sell products online.
- No relevant experience required
- 100% remote, online learning
- Under 10 hours of study a week*
- Overview
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- Overview
- Success stories
- Certificate details
- Path to jobs
- FAQs
Get a job in digital marketing or e-commerce, with help from Google
Learn the fundamentals of digital marketing and e-commerce in order to gain the skills needed to land an entry-level job.
Learn online
Fast and flexible, the digital marketing & e-commerce curriculum is hosted on Coursera, one of the world’s leading online learning platforms, so you can learn at the pace that’s right for you.
Qualify for in-demand jobs with a Google Career Certificate in digital marketing and e-commerce
Digital marketing involves using email, social media, search engines, display advertising, and other online channels to attract customers, encourage them to make purchases, and keep them coming back. E-commerce involves using online platforms to sell products and services, which includes designing online stores, crafting product listings, conducting market research, and analyzing store performance.
- Marketing Coordinator
- Search Engine Optimization Specialist
- Paid Search Specialist
- Email Marketing Specialist
- E-commerce Associate
- Media Planner
Learn more about the certificate
Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate
This certificate is endorsed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF).
You’ll learn about:
- Developing digital marketing and e-commerce strategies
- Attracting and engaging customers through digital marketing channels like search, social media, and email
- Measuring marketing analytics and sharing insights
- Building e-commerce stores, analysing e-commerce performance, and growing customer loyalty
Get started on Coursera
See full curriculum
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Foundations of digital marketing and e-commerce
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Attract and engage customers through digital marketing
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Marketing analytics and measurement
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Build, launch, and manage e-commerce stores
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Develop and maintain customer loyalty online
Preview the certificate material
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DIGITAL MARKETING & E-COMMERCE CERTIFICATEThe foundations of digital marketing
Discover what it takes to build a successful career in digital marketing and e-commerce. Learn about how people interact with brands and how online tools like social media, display advertising, and email can attract and engage customers.
The full certificate program includes:
- • Hands-on activities
- • Quizzes and assignments
- • Regular assessments
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Get on the fast track to in-demand jobs in technology, retail, finance, energy, and more.
Complete the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate at your own pace.
Improve your interview technique and resume with access to career resources.
Get your foot in the door with top employers through the Google employer consortium.
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Become a participating employer to connect with skilled candidates and grow your talent pipeline by completing the interest form. It is easy and free.
More opportunities for everyone
Education and technology are keys to opportunity, but so are equity and access.
To support access to the Google Career Certificates, we’ve provided a Google.org grant to NPower Canada to deliver Google Career Certificate programs and deploy 5,000 scholarships.
These scholarships are distributed through NPower Canada, in collaboration with youth and workforce development non-profits like AIM CROIT, Indspire, Maison de l’amitié, Pathways to Education, Toronto Public Library, and the YMCA, focusing on Canadians from underserved communities.
Since 2021, NPower Canada has guided scholarship recipients through the program, providing ongoing wraparound support and the skills needed to be job-ready upon completion. Apply for a scholarship here.
Frequently asked questions
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What is digital marketing and e-commerce?
Digital marketing is about connecting people and brands online. People with careers in this field use display advertising, email, search engines, and other online channels to attract and engage customers, encourage them to make purchases, and build customer loyalty.
E-commerce refers to the trading of goods and services over the internet. E-commerce uses online platforms to buy and sell products and services, which includes designing an online store, crafting product listings, conducting market research, fulfilling orders, and analyzing store performance.
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Why start a career in digital marketing and e-commerce?
Digital marketing and e-commerce professionals have exciting careers at the crossroads of technology, people and business. As more people spend more time online, knowing how to find, communicate and sell to customers are in-demand skills.
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Who is the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce program for?
You! No previous experience or knowledge of specific tools is required in order to succeed in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate. All you need is curiosity about reaching and engaging with customers online.
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Why enroll in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate?
The Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate focuses on the skills that employers are seeking, including email marketing, designing and running an online store, social media marketing, and marketing analytics.
After you graduate from the program, you’ll have access to career resources and be connected directly with employers hiring for entry-level jobs in digital marketing and e-commerce.
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How much is the Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Certificate?
Google Career Certificates cost US$49 per month on Coursera after an initial 7-day free trial period. All Google Career Certificates are completely self-paced. At about 10 hours of study per week, many learners complete a Google Career Certificate in three to six months.
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What tools and platforms are taught in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce curriculum?
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What is the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium? Can it help me find project management jobs?
The Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium consists of different companies like Deloitte, KPMG, Loblaw, Mosaic, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Groupe, Shopify, TELUS, Unilever, and of course, Google. These companies span multiple sectors and are committed to considering Google Career Certificate graduates for jobs. Upon completion of a Google Career Certificate, you will gain access to an exclusive job platform where you can easily apply to opportunities from employers with open jobs.
*Complete in 6 months, under 10 hours per week.
1Lightcast Q1 2022 Data Set (Jan 2021 to Aug 2022)
With nearly every marketing operation now taking place online, it can be tough to distinguish between the various types of digital marketing people use today.
For example, take ecommerce marketing — what is it and how does it compare to practices like social media, content, search engine, and email marketing?
Ecommerce marketing and digital marketing are not mutually exclusive. Ecommerce websites can use all of the above digital channels to promote a product and grow their business.
This ecommerce marketing guide will explore all of the digital media available today.
What is ecommerce marketing?
Ecommerce marketing is the act of driving awareness and action toward a business that sells its product or service electronically.
Ecommerce marketers can use social media, digital content, search engines, and email campaigns to attract visitors and facilitate purchases online.
Before we dive into more detail about what ecommerce marketing is and how to implement a strategy of your own, let’s review the definition of ecommerce advertising and advertising’s parity with marketing for an ecommerce business.
Ecommerce Advertising
In similar fashion to the way advertising falls beneath the umbrella of marketing, ecommerce advertising falls beneath ecommerce marketing — and when used in tandem, you have the ability to more effectively reach your audience members to boost conversions and improve brand awareness.
As mentioned in our definition above, ecommerce marketing is about driving awareness and action towards your product or service.
Meanwhile, ecommerce advertising includes the methods through which you actually promote your product. In terms of online or ecommerce marketing and selling, these ads may come in the form of display ads, banner ads, or rich media ads.
The main takeaway here is that ecommerce advertising is a highly-effective method to implement while developing your ecommerce marketing strategy to focus your product or service promotion.
Now, let’s get back to our in-depth discussion about ecommerce marketing.
Types of Ecommerce Marketing
To give you a sense of what an ecommerce marketing strategy looks like, here are some common marketing channels and how you’d use them to build an online store.
Social Media Marketing
Brands, publishers, contractors, and growing businesses all launch pages on today’s most popular social networks to connect with their audience and post content that the audience is interested in.
As an ecommerce marketer, you can do the same thing, but the campaigns you run might look a bit different, and not every social network is a good fit for your needs.
Ecommerce websites are highly visual — you have to show off the product, after all — so your success on social media depends on your use of imagery to drive attention and traffic to your product pages.
Content Marketing
When you hear «content marketing» you might think of blogging and video marketing — content that is meant to improve your website’s ranking in search engines and answer questions related to your industry. But if you’re selling a product online, do you really need articles and videos to generate transactions? You sure do.
Here are some ways to use content to market your ecommerce store.
Optimize your product page copy.
Optimize your product pages for short, product-driven keywords that include the name of the product. If you sell wedding dresses, for example, a Google search for «brown bridesmaid dress» is more likely to produce product pages like yours if you’ve included that term on the page.
Also, make sure that your page titles, headers, and image alt text focus on the right keywords so search engines know to return your ecommerce store for the right query.
Write relevant blog posts.
Create guest posts for external websites.
You’ll need to search for sites that rank for keywords related to your product. Sometimes you won’t even need to create an entire post. If a site already has a relatable post, offer to expand on it by providing additional context, like a video or infographic with a link to your site.
Put product-related videos on YouTube.
This is also a great option for tutorial videos that show current customers how to use your product — these videos can show people how best to use your product, increasing customer satisfaction and building long-term relationships with website visitors.
Include a keyword-driven FAQ section on your website.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) includes both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising. While SEO relies on your knowledge of Google’s ranking algorithm to optimize content, SEM can involve pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, display campaigns, or product-specific ad campaigns (think Google Shopping), which allow you to pay for top spots on search engine results pages.
On Google, PPC campaigns guarantee that potential buyers will see a link to your page when they enter search terms that match the terms of your campaign. But because you’re paying Google each time a person clicks on your result, the payoff to you should be high.
This is why ecommerce marketers often register with Google AdWords and promote their product pages through PPC campaigns. The campaign puts searchers right in front of the business’s product when they click on a paid result, increasing the likelihood that the searcher will make a purchase before leaving the business’s website.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, and believe it or not, it holds specific value in the world of ecommerce marketing.
The best part about email marketing? It can be automated. Automation means that you can set up a successful drip campaign to subscribers that are segmented by interest or stage in the buyer’s journey and let your email campaign do its magic. It’s one less marketing tactic that you need to worry about on your long list of tasks.
Here are two ways an ecommerce marketer might use email marketing.
1. Post-Purchase Follow Up
Some best practices for this type of email are to ask them to write a review of your product and/or read original content on how to use your product (those YouTube videos you created would be perfect here).
2. The Abandoned Shopping Cart
If a website visitor fails to complete a transaction while they’re in your shopping cart, consider sending a polite email to remind them to complete the checkout process, offer assistance, or recommend other related products to get their mind back on you and their browser back to your ecommerce store.
Influencer Marketing
Influencers build communities of people that know, like, and trust them. It is, therefore, easy for them to garner attention around your online product through a recommendation, or “sponsored post.”
Affiliate Marketing
81% of brands employ affiliate marketing, and ecommerce sites are particularly good candidates. Affiliates are people or businesses that help sell your product online for a commission.
Unlike most social media influencers, affiliates generate interest in products via old fashioned (yet effective) marketing tactics. They often use paid advertising, content marketing, and other means to drive traffic to your their pages on your product — it’s like having a team market for you.
Local Marketing
This is an often-overlooked tactic for ecommerce businesses, but local marketing allows you to double down on the areas where most of your prospects are (if you have a large population of them in one area) and allows you to offer incentives to your potential customer base.
Here’s how: use tracking cookies to determine where your prospects are located. Then, offer discounted (or free) shipping to potential customers in the areas where you have warehouses or shipping facilities. The incentive might be just what you need to gain a new customer.
- Use personalization.
- Capitalize on user-generated content (UGC).
- Build a loyalty program.
- Invest in live chat.
- Cater to the shopping cart.
- Implement a responsive website design.
There are countless ecommerce marketing tactics that you can employ to drive visitors to your online store beyond the traditional methods that we reviewed above. Let’s get into some more creative ways you can market your ecommerce business.
1. Use personalization.
Companies that use personalization are seeing revenue increases ranging from 6-10%. What is this magic bullet?
Personalization is finding ways to cater to individuals within the marketing materials that you already have; it is tailoring your outputs to reflect the unique needs of your consumer.
Personalization can move people along their buyer’s journey faster — instead of searching for what they need, you put it right in front of them, making it easy for them to take your desired action, that is, make a purchase.
2. Capitalize on user-generated content (UGC).
Here are some effective ways to drive UGC:
- Competitions, where customers enter to win by displaying your product in some way
- Review platforms, where customers share feedback about your product
- Social media hashtags, where users submit content using a branded hashtag
3. Build a loyalty program.
A loyal customer is a long-term customer, and who doesn’t want repeat business? A loyalty program provides an incentive for a customer to continue doing business with you through relevant offers and discounts. While building a customer loyalty program takes some planning and work, it pays off in repeat business, UGC, referrals, and retention.
There are a couple of things to consider as an ecommerce business when building out a loyalty program. For one, consider diversifying the ways in which customers can show loyalty, whether it be through repeat purchases, mentions on social media, or sharing your content. Also, think about how you will pay off their loyalty, be it through points, discount codes, or exclusive perks.
Generate Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM)
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools out here. It’s based on the premise that people want advice from others like them. As buyers becoming more skeptical of marketing tactics from companies, the need for word-of-mouth marketing in your business becomes more apparent.
While you can make this to happen organically by providing a great customer experience, you can also encourage, and even create, forms of WOMM that are equally as effective.
Reviews
Remember how I just said that prospects trust companies less and less? Well, customer reviews help mitigate that mistrust because they come from people who are not invested in the success of your company — instead, they’re an authentic and oftentimes brutally honest review of your product and how it worked out for them.
Referral Marketing
When customers solicit their friends, family members, and co-workers to buy from you, that is a referral. Sure, this may happen naturally if they really enjoy your product, but you can ensure that it happens more frequently through a referral program.
Simply ask your customers to refer others in exchange for something of value (e.g. discount, money, free gift) that you can offer to either your new customer, your existing customer, or both. Dropbox does a good job of this — they offer additional cloud storage space when you refer a friend to sign up.
Testimonials
Being that you have an ecommerce store, some topics you might want to focus on for your testimonial interviews would be ease of the buying process, the level of customer support, and frictionless delivery and setup methods.
Case Studies
Case studies allow you to promote customers’ successes in a way that pushes prospects over the edge. They are meant to relate to your buyer persona, so you should interview customers that most closely represent your target audience. Case study best practice is to show a customer’s life before your product and how it has drastically improved since.
4. Invest in live chat.
Chatbots — you’ve heard about them, right? Well, they’re one of two ways to employ a live chat strategy. Depending on your business size, you can have a live person available to chat with potential customers who visit your store.
5. Cater to the shopping cart.
We discussed the reasons why people abandon their shopping cart above, and a lot of it has to do with trust in your business, in the product, or in the delivery system. You want to give customers every reason to want to buy from you without hesitation by confronting their objections head on.
Some ways to mitigate shopping cart abandonment are:
- Money-back guarantees
- A clear and simple return policy
- Superior delivery options
- Immediate access to customer support
If you’re using WooCommerce to run your online shop, take a look at HubSpot for WooCommerce to add abandoned cart sequences into your marketing program.
6. Implement a responsive website design.
No matter which aspect of your ecommerce strategy you’re working on, it should include a responsive design. Your ecommerce marketing tactics will be viewable and easily maneuverable via any device (e.g. laptop, smartphone, iPad or tablet).
Ecommerce Marketing Strategy
Now that you know the ins and outs of ecommerce marketing, let’s put it all together and review some tips for building a successful marketing plan for your online store.
Set goals based on industry benchmarks.
Depending on your industry, location, business size, and a multitude of other factors, there are some standards you can use to measure your goals against — those standards are industry benchmarks.
Consider goals like website visits, click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer acquisition cost and compare those to other ecommerce business in your field.
Break down your strategy into small tactics.
We recommend that you focus on a couple key strategies first that you believe will have the most ROI — and are the most accessible to you — and create action items for each.
This may sound oversimplified — that’s because it should be. You don’t want to get lost in chasing the next “great ecommerce strategy” without executing on one thoroughly and allowing it to work for you.
Delight your new and long-term customers.
Marketing doesn’t stop after a sale is made. Once someone becomes your customer, you should continue to engage, nurture, and delight them.
Ready, Set, Sell
Ecommerce businesses have several marketing tools at their disposal. Using digital and inbound marketing just the right way, you can create campaigns that are designed to help your online store attract customers and grow better.
The line between marketing and digital marketing has blurred. Offline marketing was once considered «traditional» compared to online or digital marketing. However, with many tactics living in the digital sphere, marketing changes as fast as technology does.
Traditional marketing, which ranges from radio ads to billboards and magazine spreads, simply adjusted to the new era. Radio ads became podcast sponsorships, billboards turned into web banners, and magazine spreads changed from ink on paper to pixels on a screen.
The benefits of this digital transformation are countless. The ability to target the right audience and engage them into action – subscribe, consume, or buy, are just a few examples.
Digital Marketing Specialties Are Endless
Inevitably, as with any constantly evolving field, specializations change. Today, being a digital marketer is only the beginning. Once you are familiar with the basics, you can find your specialty and niche.
Based on your interests and strengths, you can develop niche specialties like SEO, content strategy, or performance marketing. Within those specialties, you can become an expert in SEO for real estate platforms, a pharmaceutical content strategist, or an e-commerce performance marketer. Each specialty requires knowledge of different platforms and tools and familiarity with various technologies.
Where do I start?
With so much information and learning opportunities available online, candidates can gain in-demand skills and gain experience even without a formal education.
Deciding where to start can be difficult. While any updated knowledge that comes from a reliable source is valuable, a helpful rule of thumb is to look for an accredited source. Having a brand name behind the course or certificate not only promises a nice detail to add to your resume but also that the knowledge and skills you learn will be valuable and, hopefully, profitable.
Get A Certificate
A good place to start is the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate. This certification does not require any previous experience, and with less than 10 hours of learning a week, you can become job-ready for a role in one of the most in-demand industries. In fact, this certificate is endorsed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF).
This is also one of the few courses out there that don’t just teach you digital marketing, it also provides you with the tools to specialize in e-commerce marketing management.
Why should you specialize in e-commerce marketing?
According to Fit Small Business, as of 2022 over 263 million American consumers shop online. That’s 80% of the population. It would be safe to assume that some of those shoppers are finding their way to online stores simply because they know what they are looking for, but in most cases, the funnel starts way before.
In 2021 alone, retail e-commerce sales were worth about 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide and this figure is expected to reach 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025.
E-commerce marketing can be considered a combination of marketing and sales. You’re not only advertising and engaging with potential customers, but you’re also encouraging them to make a purchase. As a digital marketer specializing in e-commerce, you will conduct marketing research, analyze traffic, and set up email marketing campaigns. In addition, you’ll design online stores, write product descriptions, and track store performance, to optimize conversion.
Working in e-commerce means you’ll be doing everything from driving traffic to online stores to converting that traffic into paying customers and retaining them using inbound marketing methodologies – attracting, engaging, and delighting people to grow a business that provides value and builds trust.
One of the distinguishing factors of the Google certificate in digital marketing and e-commerce is that it sets you up for your job search. Once you complete the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate, you will have the opportunity to connect with over 150 employers that are currently hiring. More details can be found here.
Девять техник маркетинга в электронной торговле, приводящие к успеху
6 мин
Начиная с рекламы PPC( pay-per-click), применяемой в интернете, в которой рекламодатель размещает ее на сайтах и платит их владельцам за нажатие пользователем на размещенный баннер, до блогов, и от поисковой оптимизации до аналитики, маркетинг в екоммерсе — это разнообразный, широкий, комплексный инструмент. И цель маркетолога состоит в том, чтобы найти те средства, техники и тактику, которые помогут получить прибыль.
В нашей статье мы хотим поделиться теми знаниями, которые помогут вам сформировать верную тактику в отношении продвижения электронной торговли и приведут вас к успеху.
Мы продолжаем публиковать полезные материалы которые помогут вам в построение эффективного маркетинга, так как маркетинг это единственная вещь которую вы не можете нам аусторсить.
Эта простенькая статья в которой перечисленны основные виды маркетинга, очень полезна, чтобы ответить себе на вопрос «Всё ли я делаю для своего бизнеса?». Скажем по другому, если вы не используете хоть одну из «техник» перечисленных в этой «капитанской» статье то нужно срочно начинать что-то делать. 🙂
С уважением команда фулфилмент-оператора «Ямбокс»
(Ямбокс — превращаем ваш интернет магазин в компьютерную игру)
1. Контент маркетинг
Умение писать – это, по сути, и есть умение общаться в режиме онлайн. Каждое описание продукта в электронной коммерции, каждое сообщение в блоге, каждая статья с советом, каждая страничка о вас, каждый видео – ролик являют собой контент маркетинг. Создание и распространение полезной для потребителя информации поможет вам «прокачать» маркетинг в екоммерс. Если же к данному инструменту не относиться со всей серьезностью, то ваши материалы смогут вызвать лишь улыбку покупателя.
Следующий пример не оставит никаких сомнений. Это реальное сообщение было отправлено тысячам подписчиков в поддержку проведения одной из «Горячих суббот»( название распродажи).
«Если вы ждете лучшее время года, весну, то ваше терпение будет вознаграждено! В __________(название ритейлера удалено) орячая суббота( в оригинале в слове «горячая» пропущена первая буква «г») В субботу в эти выходные и только один день вы сможете получить огромные скидки! „
Проверить ваш текст и откорректировать ошибки и пропуски – необходимое условие для успешного маркетинга.
2. Анализ данных, аналитика
Успешные маркетологи проверяют факты и статистику, чтобы принимать правильные решения о том, каким образом инвестировать в маркетинг и в продвижение. Эта способность рассматривать факты и понимать значения статистики называется анализом данных. Это важно для современного маркетинга в электронной коммерции.
Выявлены три тенденции:
- По данным опроса, проведенного в конце 2015 году в США, компании планируют увеличить свои инвестиции в маркетинговой аналитики на 73 процента в течение следующих трех лет;
- Анализ данных влияет на многие области маркетинга, в том числе на привлечение клиентов, маркетинг-микс, удержание клиентов, социальные медиа, сегментации и стратегии продвижения;
- Маркетинг организации не столь эффективно работают при обработке данных, нежели от них ожидают.
Только те маркетологи, которые могут более эффективно использовать и понимать данные, добьются успеха.
3. Тестирование и сбор данных
Близко относящейся по содержанию к анализу, является способность собирать факты и статистические данные об эффективности маркетинга вашей компании.
Этот маркетинговый навык включает умение правильно настроить Google Analytics или аналогичные платформы, оптимизируя их для вашего бизнеса электронной коммерции с конкретными, содержательными отчетами. Это умение включает в себя понимание того, как тестировать платформы, такие как, например, Optimizely, или аналогичные. Оно также включает в себя возможность подбирать данные из каждого пакета программного обеспечения, который использует ваш бизнес, например, данные о продажах, отчеты по электронной почте или управление заказами.
В этом примере измерение или сбор информации о том, когда респонденты приняли участие в конкурсе, позволяют легко увидеть влияние, которое оказал email маркетинг. Таким образом, мониторинг смог привести к принятию наиболее оптимальных решений в будущем.
Если вы в состоянии собрать полезную информацию о том, как работает ваш маркетинг, вы скорее примете правильные решения на основе этой информации.
4. Дизайн
Графический и веб-дизайн – это основы интернет-маркетинга. Способ публикации рекламы, статьи или даже страницы с детальным изображением продаваемого товара может оказать значительное влияние на то, каким образом воспринимается маркетинговое сообщение или даже сам продукт.
Рекламные кампании в части повышения значимости брендов направлены на стимуляцию покупок услуг или продуктов. Одним из важнейших факторов, побуждающих клиента совершить покупку, является доверие. Бренды получают оценку покупателей таким образом, когда покупатели условно обозначают для себя в уме: этот бренд являет собой качество и роскошь для меня, а вот этот – комфорт и надежность.
Независимо от того, что именно для вашего клиента в его системе ценностей является самым главным, ваш бренд будет лишь условно обозначать те или иные черты, которыми его наделит покупатель у себя в голове. Каждая частичка креативности, которую вы внесете – сообщения в блоге, брошюры, Google PPC( pay-per-click), участие в отраслевых выставках – всегда что-то из перечисленного сможет рассказать о вашем бренде.
Если дизайн менее чем профессиональный и лишь совмещен с основной идеей бренда, это может обесценить как годы вашей работы, так и хорошие впечатления клиентов. В противоположность этому, хороший дизайн говорит о многом, к примеру, о профессионализме самой компании, качестве и позиционирование на рынке.
Как и вашим сайтом, вашими рекламными объявлениями и фирменными материалами необходимо заниматься со всей серьезностью для достижения успехов в вашем бизнесе екоммерс.
5. Развитие
Например, умение написать код, может быть огромным преимуществом для маркетологов. Это умение может заключаться в понимании HTML и CSS, с помощью чего вы улучшите показатели своей работы по публикациям статей в WordPress( одна из систем управления сайтом). Или это может быть умением разрабатывать свои собственные маркетинговые инструменты и отчеты.
По некоторым оценкам, половина всех вакансий в области цифрового маркетинга требует, по крайней мере, некоторых технических знаний. Это действительно так, потому что большая часть того, что делается в Интернете, требует, по крайней мере, понимания кодирования.
Учитесь кодить и вы получите больший контроль над маркетингом. С большим контролем ваши шансы на успех повышаются.
6. Реклама
Реклама в екоммерс должна быть спланирована, полна креативности, окупаема и выверена. Она должна поступать по многим каналам, используя множество форм средств массовой информации, включая pay-per-click рекламу в поисковых системах и сайтах социальных медиа, медийную рекламу, скрытую рекламу, мобильную, видео ролики и так далее.
Эффективный маркетолог понимает, как работает реклама и стремится с помощью нее максимально увеличить продажи.
Управление рекламой является маркетинговым навыком высокого класса, который может потребовать длительного времени для изучения и еще более длительного — для освоения. Но это того стоит, потому что реклама может увеличить объем продаж и прибыль.
7. Email маркетинг
С помощью адреса электронной почты вас можно лего вычислить на просторах Интернета. Это, в некоторой степени, ваше цифровое имя, и email маркетинг может быть одним из лучших способов для нахождения новых клиентов. Вы можете общаться непосредственно с потребителями, которые знают вашу компанию и заинтересованы в вашей продукции.
На самом деле, исследование, проведенное Ассоциацией директ маркетинга обнаружило, что очень многие считают email маркетинг наиболее эффективным инструментом маркетинга.
Исследование Ассоциации директ маркетинга показало, что многие маркетологи уверены в увеличении прибыли компании именно с помощью email маркетинга.
8. Автоматизация маркетинга
Автоматизация маркетинга может снизить расходы на маркетинг, повысить коэффициент конверсии, увеличить среднюю стоимость заказа, а так же в некоторых случаях даже улучшить впечатление покупателя.
Автоматизация маркетинга связана с управлением процессами и последовательностью управляемых действий на таких платформах автоматизации, как Marketo, Infusionsoft или MailChimp.
Найдите средства автоматизации, подходящие для вашей компании, и освойте их.
9. Поисковая оптимизация.
Поисковая оптимизация — это процесс, при котором делают все возможное, чтобы веб-страницы вашего сайта как мжно легче и быстрее находились в поисковых системах. Идея заключается в том, что если Google, Bing и другие поисковые системы могут легко найти и каталогизировать то, что находится на вашей странице, то они же могут так же легко высветить ваш сайт на соответствующих страницах результатов поиска.
Цель SEO не обмануть поисковые системы поддельными содержание сайта или наполнением ключевыми словами, а скорее, чтобы помочь поисковым системам находить и понимать ваш контент.
И совершенно естественно, что SEO поможет сделать ваш сайт легко находимым для клиента, что, опять же, приведет к успешным результатам проводимого маркетинга.
С уважением команда фулфилмент-оператора «Ямбокс»
(Ямбокс — превращаем ваш интернет магазин в компьютерную игру)
E-commerce or electronic commerce refers to any business transaction conducted online. The most frequently used example is online shopping, which is buying and selling goods online or via any internet devices. E-commerce can also be depicted by other activities like online auctions, payment gateways, online ticketing and internet banking. It is a fast-growing business (nearly 23% every year). eCommerce is the fastest-growing retail market projected to hit $4.135 trillion in sales in 2020. Mobile commerce or m-commerce is a new venture that is a fast-growing new avenue in e-commerce. It primarily focuses on expanding the market and influence of smartphones and millennial’s comfort of shopping online. In 2018, m-commerce enjoyed a 39.1% increase in sales. There are different models of e-commerce which includes B2B (business to business), B2C(business to consumer) and C2C(consumer to consumer). The best example of E-commerce is the online transaction that you make on Flipkart.
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