Your Ecommerce Marketing Guide With Strategies and Examples

What is ecommerce marketing? 

Ecommerce marketing is the set of strategies and activities businesses use to attract visitors to an online store, encourage them to make purchases, and build lasting customer relationships.

Different types of channels used in ecommerce marketing

• Search engines: Platforms like Google or Bing, where businesses use SEO or paid search ads to increase visibility.
• Social media platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and others that allow both organic engagement and advertising.
• Email: Direct communication with customers through newsletters, promotions, and personalized messages.
• Online marketplaces: Platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy where businesses can list and sell products.
• Mobile apps: Branded shopping apps or third-party apps that reach customers on their phones.
• Messaging apps: While messaging apps often fall under social media, they play a distinct role. WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and SMS are used for direct outreach and customer service.

How to create an ecommerce marketing strategy in 5 steps

1. Define your target audience

When you’re just starting out, it’s tempting to think your product can appeal to everyone. The problem is, trying to reach everyone usually means reaching no one. Figuring out exactly who your ideal customers are makes the rest of your marketing much easier.

Try this first:

• Picture the people who would really want your product and define their age, interests, and shopping habits.
• Check out brands that sell similar things to what you sell and see which group of customers is interacting with their content.
• Create 1–2 simple customer personas to guide your decisions.

2. Pick your marketing channels

Once you know who you’re talking to, it’s easier to figure out where to find them. You don’t need to be everywhere at once. Pick one or two channels to start so you can focus your energy where it counts.

Here’s how to start:

• Think about where your audience hangs out online, like Instagram, TikTok, email, or search engines
• Choose 1–2 channels to focus on first
• Keep in mind that each channel will have its own goals

3. Set channel-specific goals

Now that you’ve picked your channels, it’s time to set goals that make sense for each one. Success looks different depending on the platform, so being specific helps you know if your efforts are working.

Here are some examples of goals for each channel:

• Instagram: Get 500 followers and 100 link clicks to your product page in a month
• Email: Build a list of 100 subscribers and hit a 20% open rate on your first newsletter
• Google Ads: Drive 200 clicks to your website at a cost per click of around $1.50
• Break these into smaller weekly or daily targets so it doesn’t feel overwhelming

4. Figure out your key messages and offers

Once your goals are clear, think about what you’re actually going to say. Your product alone won’t convince people to buy; it’s about showing why it matters to them. And each channel might need a slightly different approach.

To get started:

• Highlight the benefits of your product that really matter to your audience
• Keep the core message consistent, but tweak the format for each channel
• Make small offers or promotions that fit each platform, like Instagram giveaways, email discounts,and ad-specific bundles.

5. Track, rest, and adjust

Even with clear goals and messaging, you won’t know what works unless you measure it. Tracking from day one helps you see what’s working, what’s not, and where to tweak your approach.

Here’s what to do:

• Use analytics tools for each channel—Instagram Insights, Google Analytics, and email metrics.
• Try small experiments, like different images, headlines, or offers, to see what clicks with your audience
• Check results regularly and adjust your strategy based on what each channel achieves

4 key tactics to optimize your email marketing 

1. Run a video campaign with creators

A super popular tactic in ecommerce marketing is teaming up with influencers to reach their audience. Essentially, you hire an influencer to showcase your product in a natural and positive manner.

Kate from IrresistibleMe shared how their hair extensions brand did it: “We sent products to a tight group of creators, gave each a unique code/UTM, and then boosted the top five posts as paid.”

This approach is said to help them drive traffic straight to product pages with special, limited-time offers. “Over six weeks we saw about a 38% lift in revenue from paid social, 18% lower CAC, and 24% new-to-brand customers,” she said.

Here’s how you can try it in your own ecommerce business:

• Pick a small group of creators whose audience matches your ideal customers.
• Send them products so they can make authentic short videos or demos
• Give each creator a unique discount code or UTM link to track results
• Boost the posts that perform best with paid ads.

2. Create a multi-channel abandoned cart campaign

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One of the most effective tactics in ecommerce marketing is running a targeted campaign for people who’ve abandoned their carts. The idea is to reach these potential customers across several channels to remind them about the products they left behind. 

Sheraz Ali from  HARO Links Builder shared their experience when marketing a home fitness equipment company: “ I combined strategic email segmentation with targeted Facebook ads and influencer marketing, targeting only customers who had abandoned a cart within the past 24 hours.”

The results speak for themselves. “The campaign yielded $847,000 in revenue recapture and a 4.7x return on ad spend for the duration,” they said.

Here’s how you can use this tactic for your own store:

• Segment your email list to identify people who have abandoned carts recently

• Send personalized emails reminding them of the items they left behind

• Use targeted social media ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram to re-engage them

3. Optimize product pages for conversion

A simple yet most powerful ecommerce marketing tactic is optimizing your product pages to make buying easy and compelling. 

A marketer shared how they approached this for their online store: “On the product page one of the biggest changes we made was to simplify the layout and anchor our value proposition above the fold. We replaced generic feature lists with benefit-focused copy tied to customer identity.”

Here’s how you can apply these ideas to your own ecommerce site:

• Simplify your product page layout so key info appears instantly when they enter the page
• Replace feature-heavy copy with benefits that resonate with your customers’ identity
• A/B test call-to-action buttons to see which wording drives more clicks
• Show dynamic shipping estimates based on the visitor’s location

4. Add authentic customer reviews

The next thing you can do to boost trust and conversions is to feature real customer reviews directly on your product pages. You can start doing this by:

• Integrating a review software to collect and display reviews on your product pages
• Prompting customers to provide comprehensive reviews, including their experiences and product usage details
• Positioning the review section near the product details to ensure visibility

Matthew from Ignite Digital revealed, “This blend of optimized content and social proof helped them achieve a 298% organic traffic boost in 12 months and significantly improve their conversion rate.

Challenges when doing ecommerce marketing

Running ecommerce marketing can feel exciting, but it comes with its fair share of hurdles, especially for small brands starting out. Understanding these challenges can help you plan smarter and avoid common pitfalls.

1. Standing out from competitors

The ecommerce space is crowded. Getting noticed among bigger brands or similar products can be tough.

• Highlight your unique value proposition clearly in all marketing materials.
• Use consistent branding, colors, and tone to make your content recognizable.
• Create content that tells a story or shows your product in real-life use.

2. Managing multiple channels

Marketing often requires juggling social media, email, paid ads, SEO, and more. Small teams can get overwhelmed quickly.

• Focus on 1–2 channels where your audience is most active first.
• Plan a simple content calendar to stay consistent without burning out.
• Repurpose content across channels instead of creating everything from scratch.

3. Creating consistent, engaging content

Content drives engagement and sales, but producing it consistently is a common struggle.

• Mix the formats like product posts, tips, behind-the-scenes, and customer stories.
• Batch-create content in advance to maintain consistency.
• Use simple design tools like Canva to keep visuals polished.

4. Measuring results and ROI

It’s easy to spend money on campaigns without knowing what’s working. Tracking and analyzing performance can be complicated.

• Track metrics per channel like clicks, sales, engagement, and conversions.
• Run small experiments (A/B testing subject lines, ads, or posts).
• Adjust campaigns based on results instead of guessing what works.

Final thoughts

Now you know the best ecommerce marketing tactics to try and take actionable steps to get started. The next step is putting them into practice.

Use the tips and strategies mentioned above to pick the tactics that fit your brand, audience, and goals, and start implementing them today!

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