7 Ecommerce Marketing Secrets SMEs Can Learn from Large Companies

eCommerce marketing techniques are not just for large companies like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, or McDonald’s. The reality is that not only can your SME use the same eCommerce marketing strategies if you currently aren’t, but you are also missing out on easy ways to grow your business. Your status as an SME can feel differentiating. However, the size of your company does not dictate what marketing strategies you can and can’t prioritise. Ecommerce marketing grows any size business if you use the right strategies. Check out these seven eCommerce marketing secrets you can use to grow your SME.

1. Nail your product page! What’s a product page? It is the web page where your product or service exists on the internet. A good product webpage will contain many elements. When it comes to successful eCommerce, the two critical aspects are the title and the meta description. Both are crucial for SEO or search engine optimisation. Good titles and meta descriptions will contain buzzwords that are likely to appear in an internet search by a customer. For example, if your product is highly durable work shoes, you want to include words like durability, toughness, boots, and waterproof in your title and meta description. Using these descriptive words will drive up your product webpage to the top of an internet search, which makes it likely your customers will see your product page before your competitors.

2. Invest in high-quality product shots. A picture is worth a thousand words. All the fancy marketing copy you add on your product pages will mean nothing if the product shot is subpar. People scan web pages more than they read. Your customers will automatically look at the pictures of your products. If they are low quality, blurry, cheesy, or generally look bad, people will not want to buy your products. The best thing you can do for your product page is to invest in multiple high-quality product shots. If you want to get fancy, you could investigate in some 3D views. These are more expensive, but they give customers an almost in-person glimpse of your products.

3. Don’t underestimate a good wordsmith. Product pictures play an important in eCommerce marketing. However, they draw in the customers, and the copywriting seals the deal. A well-crafted sentence is like an eCommerce salesperson. They tell your customers everything they need to know about your products and do it in an emotionally appealing manner. What this is called in the marketing world is conversion. It is when a person purchases on your site. Good copywriting will be optimised for conversions, which means a copywriter will A/B test different versions of writing to see what customers respond to the most. The ultimate goal is finding the version that has the highest conversion rate or the one that makes the most sales. When working with an external agency, make sure they are A/B testing the copywriting for your product pages.

4. Answer all those FAQs! Customers read reviews about your products. Those reviews will drive them to your FAQ or frequently asked questions page. They’ll want an adequate answer before they buy your product, so make sure you provide one. You should try to answer every FAQ you can think a customer might ask. A good practice is to continually update your FAQs page. So, if you have several customers asking the same question, put it on your FAQ page. You’ll keep customers engaged and demonstrate real-time product benefits through your FAQ page. Answering the topline customer questions will also save you money on your customer service department.

5. Don’t be afraid to emphasise scarcity. Economics 101: a product that is scarce or more unavailable is more valuable. If you are running low on inventory in a product, do not be afraid to advertise it. Scarcity drives sales up because customers who see the product are almost gone to add extra artificial value to the product. So, they are more likely to buy it right then and there because they believe if they come back later it might be gone. Amazon does a fantastic job at using scarcity. When you are shopping on Amazon, ever notice the “only four left in stock” announcement? If so, you probably remember feeling rushed to buy the product. The same rules apply to your SME. You should display a low stock warning on your product page to convey a sense of urgency and push for more conversions.

6. Take advantage of abandoned cart email marketing sequences. You may be asking, “What are abandoned carts?” No, we aren’t talking about that shopping cart you see on the road miles away from its store. These abandoned carts are in your online store. By definition, we mean when a customer adds a product to their online shopping cart and then leaves your site, thus cancelling the purchase. If you think that’s the end of the possible sale, you are wrong. Many large and small companies utilise email marketing to follow up on those abandoned carts. They are usually in a sequence. So, each of these builds on the message of the previous one. They have proven to successfully re-invest a customer in a sale. When using these, make sure your branding is consistent. You want to match the same feeling your online store gave your customers. These are also most impactful when they remind the customer of what they were buying. For example, try saying, “Dylan, your eco-flex durable boots are waiting for you!” This messaging reminds your customers what they were thinking of buying and encourages them to return to the site and complete the conversion.

7. The most impactful tool in your eCommerce toolbelt is customer testimonials. People listen to people. If you flood your product webpage with positive reviews and raving customer testimonials, your sales will undoubtingly increase. Other customers are trusted messengers, so utilise them. You should include the reviews under the product description on your product web pages. The reality is that many customers take product reviews into their final buying decision. If they see positive reviews under the item they are considering buying, they will feel much more comfortable pulling the trigger, knowing that many others did and don’t regret it. As a bonus, you can advertise positive product reviews on search engines. So, when your customer searches for something like your product, a positive review of yours can appear on their browser. There is no real downside to implementing customer reviews and testimonials on your product page. They will certainly boost your eCommerce sales.

These are seven eCommerce marketing strategies you can easily implement on your product pages. If your SME is not actively using these, you are unfortunately behind the curve, and your eCommerce sales are probably suffering. You could be saying, “Well, I am using some of these, so I must be doing okay, right?” The answer is maybe. Your eCommerce sales might seem good. However, you must ask yourself what would they look like if you implemented all these marketing strategies on your product pages? How much would your sales grow? That’s where the final eCommerce marketing secret comes into play.

You must regularly perform multivariate tests on your product pages. Remember when we talked about A/B testing your copywriting? Well, multivariate testing is essentially the same thing. It involves testing your product web pages on their ability to produce conversions. However, these tests are called multivariate because they test all the different combinations of marketing strategies you are using or not using to see which would produce the best conversion results for your SME. Multivariate testing is essential if you want to continually grow your eCommerce sales. It will tell you consistently what is working on your product pages and what isn’t. Thus, helping you design and adapt your web pages on a need-by-need basis.

Remember that you do not need to be a giant company to justify using these eCommerce marketing strategies. All companies can benefit from implementing many of these into what they are already doing. Do not be intimidated by them either. Many of these are not complicated to build into your business. You can find a consultant or full-time employee that can help you. If the costs are a concern for you and your SME, consider these strategies as an investment. When they boost your eCommerce sales, you will see an increase in overall profits. Statistically, the ROI on many of these eCommerce marketing strategies is high. You just need to take the plunge and find out which of them you want to start using if not all of them.