3 pillars of an effective communication strategy in e-commerce

Despite the fact that in the last year a lot of online shops were created (only in the first quarter of 2021 there were 2 thousand), online trade still has a huge potential for development. Already today, the e-commerce market, mainly as a result of the Sars-CoV-2 virus pandemic, has broken the magic barrier of 100 billion, and the high growth rate will continue in the coming years. However, even in the conditions of such a good economic situation, an offer consisting of high quality products at an attractive price is not enough to achieve business success. A well-thought-out communication strategy based on three strong pillars is necessary to reach the target group.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Website positioning has for years been the cornerstone of online marketing, especially in the e-commerce industry (search engine is the primary and largest source of traffic). It is the most effective way to make your online shop visible at the top of search results for queries related to your product range. Regular presence in the TOP3 (according to research conducted on various markets, the first three places get 90% of traffic) is a guarantee of a steady flow of new customers and stable income. And this cannot be overestimated in business. Moreover, a good exposure of the website in the Google results is also an advantage in the field of image. Such a shop inspires trust and attracts the attention of users.

Until recently, the iron set of activities in SEO was limited to optimizing the source code of the website, optimizing the content in terms of search engine guidelines and building a base of backlinks. However, nowadays this is no longer enough to break through to the top of the rankings. In 2021 it is also necessary to take care of the usability of the website. In May, a new ranking factor Core Web Vitals will be introduced, consisting of three indicators(LCP - Largest Contentful Paint, FID - First Input Delay, CLS - Cumulative Layout Shift). On their basis Google will evaluate the UX of the website. Each of them will concern a different aspect of the page: loading, interactivity and visual stability, along with value ranges (good, needing optimization and poor quality). Mountain View engineers have finally realized that user satisfaction depends not only on the quality of the content, but is the result of the entire experience of interacting with the site. The better these emotions and experiences are, the higher the sales.

Social Media

Social media, despite many criticisms that have been directed at them recently (accusations of censorship, content theft or excessive commercialization: a multitude of ads, information noise, etc.), are still very popular. Only in March this year, the browser version of Facebook was visited by over 21 million Polish users, Instagram by about 10 million and Twitter by 7.61 million. Recently created services in this area are also doing better and better, TikTok has just exceeded 3 million users. It even seems that the Sars-CoV-2 virus pandemic has revived this sector of the Internet somewhat.

Social media for many internet users is their only source of information about the world and brands. They live social media and don't (or very rarely) look elsewhere on the web. This is a large group and valuable in terms of consumption, so it cannot be ignored. Social media for online stores is not only a channel of marketing communication with customers, but also a place to promote your offer. Facebook has some of the largest advertising targeting possibilities among other services of this type. Thanks to this you can reach a precisely selected group of recipients with your message.

Content marketing

General information portals, or even trade portals, satisfy the information needs of internet users to a smaller and smaller extent (poor quality editorial content is only one of the reasons), which is why many of them look for interesting content on brand websites, corporate blogs or even online stores. Nowadays, users even expect valuable content from commercial entities, they count on companies to share with them valuable information and various interesting facts from the industry. This and the fatigue with traditional advertising formats makes content marketing currently the most effective marketing technique in terms of acquiring new clients and generating income.

The aim of content marketing is to build long-term relationships with customers, and not just to induce them to make a one-time purchase. Benefits of publishing valuable content:

• Increased sales - with valuable content, you can encourage new customers to buy faster and more effectively than with traditional formats.
• More website traffic - it is much easier to lure an Internet user to your company website with interesting content than with regular advertisements.
• Brand recognition - thanks to valuable content a brand has a chance to become known not only to a narrow group of experts.
• Desired brand image - valuable content is the best way to create the desired image (e.g. specialist in the industry).
• Brand trust - by sharing valuable knowledge with customers, companies gain their trust and this has a direct impact on their purchase loyalty.
• Good visibility in the search engine (SEO) - valuable content is the most effective way to appear at the top of the search rankings for phrases related to the product range of the store.

Summary

The digital revolution, as a result of the Sars-CoV-2 virus pandemic, has significantly accelerated. The result is a huge competition on the online trade market. Newly created online shops have to face brands that have already managed to secure a solid market position in recent years. However, before online entrepreneurs start experimenting with new advertising formats and searching for solutions to lower business costs (e.g. marketing automation), they should be present in the three most important areas of the Internet from the perspective of generating new customers.

Article prepared in cooperation with experts eStrategie.pl

Article by Partner