Over the past decade, buyers have increasingly become comfortable shopping online. When COVID-19 hit, consumers pivoted even further away from brick-and-mortar stores, leaning even more heavily into ecommerce.

Of course, we all expect this trend to continue. According to Nasdaq, 95% of all purchases will be through ecommerce by 2040.

In so many ways, it’s never been a better time to be in ecommerce. This is the era of the online store.

But with an increase in potential customers shopping online, there’s also been an increase in competition. According to eMarketer, the global ecommerce market is expected to total $4.89 trillion by the end of this year. Additionally, traditional companies are also pivoting by expanding their direct-to-consumer strategies, making the field even more cluttered.

That’s why you need to double-down (or maybe triple-down!?) on your ecommerce marketing efforts. Today, we’re sharing 2022’s best ecommerce marketing strategies so that you can position your brand to rise to the top.

2022’s Best Ecommerce Marketing Strategies

There’s so much you can do to increase sales and brand awareness, but these are the freshest and most compelling strategies that top ecommerce brands are leaning into.

It’s never been a better time to stand out from the noise. Add these strategies into your marketing plan ASAP. Here’s how:

Use Quizzes to Provide Personalized Recommendations and Collect Super-targeted Leads

Many online retailers are using introductory quizzes to not only provide personalized recommendations to prospective customers, but also collect super targeted leads. Online quizzes also present an opportunity to filter for your target audience.

These quizzes guide website visitors to find their best fit or favorite flavor so that you can recommend products that will best suit them. Not only does this help guarantee that customers will be satisfied, but it will also give them confidence that you understand what they need.

Take this example from ThirdLove, an online bra and underwear retailer. Their quiz, cheekily called “The Fitting Room,” helps customers determine which bra will be best for them.

But quizzes do more than help you provide personalized recommendations– they’re also an amazing tool for collecting leads. Customers will be happy to share their email addresses in exchange for quiz results. Once they do, you’ll have an opportunity to market to them even after they leave your site.

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Create Excitement with Product Drops and Flash Sales

Perhaps it was accidental. Ecommerce companies facing supply chain delays began to “drop” their products all at once. Rather than constantly have products available for purchase, some ecommerce companies generate buzz before launching new lines or releasing more products.

This has become an incredibly effective marketing strategy for online businesses.

For example, Happy Baby Carriers releases new colors and designs of their baby carriers a few times per year. The carriers are so beloved that customers collect the new colors and designs, waiting anxiously for new lines to “drop.” This results in a buying frenzy where customers share their purchases with each other in the brand’s Facebook Group.

Even if you readily have all products available, you can still generate buzz and excitement through flash sales. These fast-paced promotions encourage customers to buy at certain times, generating hype and helping you get products off of your shelves.

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Turn One-time Customers into Subscribers

One of the best ways to generate loyalty, create a connection with customers, and boost revenue is to convert one-time customers into subscribers. Rather than sell them a product once, you can sell them products on an ongoing basis.

This is a fast track way to increase customer lifetime value. Subscription businesses regularly grow revenue 5x faster than S&P 500 revenues, according to The Subscription Economy Index.

This strategy works particularly well for products that are consumable (like food and beverages) or those that get used and eventually need to be replaced (like cosmetics).

OLIPOP, a beverage company selling sodas that support digestive health, has a multi-faceted marketing strategy. Not only can customers find the sodas in retailers, but they can also visit OLIPOP’s website to buy product directly. By subscribing to receive soda on a regular basis, customers receive 15% off every order and free shipping.

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Lean into The Latest Online Advertising Strategies

PPC ads used to be limited. Not so anymore. In 2022, ecommerce companies have so many online advertising strategies at their disposal. Today’s ecommerce brands are seeing sweeping success in the following arenas:

Google Shopping
Facebook & Instagram Ads
Promoted Pins
Retargeting

While all these channels present a huge opportunity, it can also be overwhelming to suss out which ones will work best for your brand.

Before dumping your entire marketing budget into ads, we recommend having an extremely solid understanding of your metrics, and then running advertising tests. You should know your average customer lifetime value (CTV), as well as your average cost-per-acquistion (CPA). Your goal is always to improve your CTV and reduce your CPA.

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Leverage User-generated Content

Did you know that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they don’t know over branded content? Yep, according to Nielsen, it’s true!

More than ever before, customers can do marketing for you. They can create customer reviews for your products and share photos and videos on social media sites. But it’s on you to make sure you’re encouraging the creation of user-generated content, then making the most of it.

You’ll want to make sure that user-generated content enhances the user experience. It also needs to be a strategic part of your overall social media marketing plan, as a lot of user-generated content is created and shared on sites like Instagram and TikTok.

For example, American Eagle promotes real customers on its product pages. This not only helps customers see what the apparel might look like on their own bodies but also shows that other people are confident in the choice to buy from the brand.

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Find Savvy Ways to Convert Email Subscribers

Email marketing remains one of the absolute best ways to market and sell your products. According to Campaign Monitor, email generates $42 for every $1 spent, which represents a 4,200% return on investment. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not.

By doubling-down on email efforts…

As an ecommerce brand, you’re already using email, even if it’s only to send out shipping confirmations. Wherever you are, there is room to improve. In 2022, ecommerce brands are seeing astounding ROI from email by:

Recovering lost sales with an abandoned cart email flow
Making sure their email software can adequately support ecommerce efforts
Personalizing email campaigns based on demographics, past purchases, and other information
Pairing email campaigns with SMS campaigns
Increasing email sign ups by offering incentives, such as a promo code
Asking for and increasing the number of verified online reviews

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Partner With Those Who Have Influence

Influencer marketing has become the new normal. When ecommerce brands have new products, they partner with people who already have audiences. These influencers can promote, review, and share products (usually for a fee).

According to a study conducted by Mediakix, 89% of marketers say that influencer works just as well (maybe better!) than other marketing channels. Additionally, 71% say that the quality of customers is higher from influencers than other sources.

Although some brands are able to partner with famous stars like Kim Kardashian and Hilary Duff, you can get a lot of ROI from partnering with micro-influencers, bloggers, social media influencers, and many others.

For example, Jim Bean partnered with Nadina to promote their new Apple-flavored whiskey.

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Dedicate Time, Energy, and Resources to Search

According to Business Insider, 23.6% of ecommerce orders are directly tied to organic traffic. That means that Google has a huge influence on who finds you and buys from you. In order to attract new visitors, you’ll need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO).

When you do it right, organic search is a magic way to maximize ROI. By positioning your site to rank well when people make Google searches, you’ll have a plethora of traffic coming your way. That traffic represents the ability to reach more people and make more sales.

In order to maximize results in search, you’ll need to focus on:

Keyword research
Website architecture
On-page SEO
Technical SEO
Content Marketing/Content creation
Link building
… and potentially more.

Before you get overwhelmed, know that there is much you can do yourself to best position your site to perform well in search. For example, did you know that making sure your website has https:// impacts search? Simply making sure your website is technically set up to do well will go a long way.

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Create Helpful Content to Increase Confidence

In 2021, people expect a lot from the brands they buy from. They don’t want the relationship to be purely transactional. Instead, they want to feel a connection. One of the ways you can inspire connection and increase confidence in your brand is through the creation of original content.

This high-quality content will not only give buyers confidence and answer their questions, but it also has the potential to help you in organic search.

You should be creating:

Gift guides for major holidays
Articles that explain the benefits and value of your products/brand
How-to posts that explain how to get the most out of your offerings
Features and customer stories about happy buyers

For example, Peach & Lily, which sells Korean skincare products, provides a comprehensive guide to the 10-step Korean skincare routine. This guide helps customers understand not only the benefits of such a routine, but also how to use the products Peach & Lily sells.

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Try Out Advertising on Podcasts

If you listen to podcasts, you’ll often hear ads for various ecommerce products. Some products have become famous for their proliferation on these podcasts: Casper, ThirdLove, and MailChimp are a few.

Even if you don’t listen to podcasts, other people do. That’s why revenue from podcast advertising is expected to exceed $1 billion in revenue in 2021. And, according to NPR, 75% of listeners take action after hearing sponsored content.

If you decide to pursue podcast advertising, be sure to track your efforts. Most advertisers use some kind of promo code in their ad to direct listeners to a certain page on their site. For example, you might offer podcast listeners 15% off and ask them visit a specific page.

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Create or Improve Your Rewards Program

To further connect with customers, consider offering a rewards program that encourages them to keep up with purchases.

For example, each time customers buy from Sephora, they’re rewarded with 1 point for every dollar spent. Once they’ve spent $350, they become a VIB member, which gives them access to seasonal savings events, lower free shipping minimums, and exclusive gifts. When they spend $1000, they get access to even more perks.

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Further reading:

The Importance of Increasing Customer Loyalty and How to Do It

Lean Into SMS and Texting

SMS is emerging as a go-to play for many ecommerce companies. After all, according to Gartner, text messages have an average open rate of 98% (email only scores around a 20% average open rate).

For example, Farmgirl Flowers uses SMS to alert customers about new sales. They include jaw-dropping beautiful images of their products in the messages to further convince customers to buy. Even if customers don’t ultimately end up making a purchase, they’re reminded of the products that the brand has to offer. When it comes time to send flowers, they know where to go.

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Keep Tabs on The Latest Trends

No matter which ecommerce marketing strategies you choose to embrace this year, you need to keep tabs on the latest trends. What are other companies doing to edge ahead? How are they creatively leveraging new technologies and ideas to better serve their customers?

If you’re not abreast of the newest trends, you’ll miss out on plenty of opportunities. You’ll also lack an understanding of what your customers expect. For example, free shipping used to be rare. Now, customers not only want it, but expect it from the brands they love.

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Triple-down on Ecommerce Marketing in 2022

Consumers are more excited about buying directly from the brands they love than ever before. There are a tremendous number of easy-to-use tools to help you better reach your audience and create more revenue. It’s an exciting time to be in ecommerce.

In this competitive landscape, customers need to know who you. By embracing 2022’s best ecommerce marketing strategies, you’ll be well on your way to attracting and retaining the right customers.

2022’s Best Ecommerce Marketing Strategies

Use Quizzes to Provide Personalized Recommendations and Collect Super-targeted Leads

Create Excitement with Product Drops and Flash Sales

Turn One-time Customers into Subscribers

Lean into The Latest Online Advertising Strategies

Leverage User-generated Content

Find Savvy Ways to Convert Email Subscribers

Partner With Those Who Have Influence

Dedicate Time, Energy, and Resources to Search

Create Helpful Content to Increase Confidence

Try Out Advertising on Podcasts

Create or Improve Your Rewards Program

Lean Into SMS and Texting

Keep Tabs on The Latest Trends

Triple-down on Ecommerce Marketing in 2022

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