5 Ecommerce Marketing Mistakes That Are Easy to Make

Ecommerce has become incredibly competitive. Not only are you competing with giants like Amazon, but there are between twelve and twenty-four million eCommerce websites active today. So, how do you get a leg up on the competition and achieve financial success? Aside from customer service and product quality, marketing is one of the most critical components of a successful eCommerce business.

But what marketing strategies are worth your time? Are you making some fatal mistakes that could be killing your revenue? Take a look at these five common e-commerce marketing mistakes and see if you’re accidentally shooting yourself in the foot.

If you don’t have an email campaign sequence set up, you’re missing out on a lot of potential conversions. Not only is it customer service common-sense, but it’s a way for you to market to people who have already purchased from you. It’s also a reliable method to reach those who abandoned their cart before purchasing.

Around 45% of cart abandonment emails are opened. That’s an insane open ratio. Out of the opens, 50% of the emails are clicked on, and 50% of those who click end up purchasing! There’s a lot of money to be made in emails, but many eCommerce businesses make the mistake of disregarding emails.

Also, when you create email campaigns, make sure to set everything up correctly. There’s nothing more embarrassing or worse for customer experience than getting an email addressed to the wrong name.

So many businesses, eCommerce, or otherwise fail to identify their target demographic. Like businessman and motivational speaker, Nido Qubein once said, “Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.” The reality is, you can’t target everyone all at the same time. You have to know what your ideal customer looks like, and market to them directly.

Once you know who you’re targeting, you can pour all your marketing efforts into reaching that one specific demographic. Knowing who your customers are, makes content creation, ad campaigns, and branding so much easier. It also protects you from overspending on paid marketing campaigns, and ultimately helps you better communicate with your potential customers.

Mistake #3: Not Optimizing Your Website

You must optimize your website for customer experience. From overall look to speed, to ease-of-use, if your website isn’t up to snuff, your revenue is going to suffer. One of the easiest mistakes to make is ignoring mobile optimization and assuming your customers all shop on a desktop.

Mobile and Ecommerce go hand and hand. Statistics show that 67.2% of digital sales happen on mobile, and beyond that, people who have a bad experience on a mobile site are 62% less likely to buy from that website. Additionally, the likelihood of a person leaving a mobile website increases by 32% if the page takes longer than one second to load.

So, failing to mobile-optimize your eCommerce business is a marketing mistake you don’t want to make.

Marketing isn’t an exact science. Any marketer will tell you that in order to be successful, you have to test to see the best results. Ecommerce business owners have a lot on their plates, so taking the time to test different marketing campaigns might seem like a waste of time. However, failing to test could result in overspending on ad campaigns, low conversions, and decreased potential.

Whether it’s a social media ad, landing page, email, or even web interface, always test several different versions. Set up analytics software so you can track results. Change up the words or visuals. Mix up your product descriptions. Setting up A/B split testing can dramatically increase revenue. Making the mistake of the set-it-and-forget-it marketing technique isn’t going to cut it.

It’s easy to get so invested in the eCommerce business that you take on too much. In a solopreneur or start-up environment, this is especially true. However, carrying more responsibility than you can realistically execute will destroy your marketing efforts.

According to an article by The Huffington Post, working too many results in increased health issues and more errors. When you try to take on all the backend and marketing by yourself, not only is it harmful to your well-being, but you aren’t doing your business any favors, either. In marketing, a minor mishap can lead to disastrous results. Things like, accidentally forgetting to set an ad budget, sending an email to the wrong list, or posting something to your social media that’s harmful to the business are all possible if you’re trying to wear too many hats.

If you avoid these five easy-to-make marketing mistakes, your eCommerce business will be in much better shape.  Just remember to:

1.       Focus on Email

2.       Know Your Target Customer

3.       Optimize Your Mobile Website

4.       Test and Test Some More

5.       Automate and Hire Help When You Can

Remember, it’s a competitive market out there, so don’t get caught up in simple mistakes. Keep pushing forward, focus on your marketing, and you’ll see your sales increase in no time.