If you’re thinking about starting an e-commerce business, now is a great time. But if you are beginning, or even if you’ve been in the game for years and years, it’s essential to know that your strategy might change depending on how the economy is doing. For instance, if the economy is in a recession, then you will have to learn ecommerce marketing during a downturn.
Identify The People Who Are Most Likely To Buy
It’s time to get specific. You know your target market; you know what they like and dislike about your brand and products, but how can you use this information to identify who is most likely to buy from you? There are a few ways:
- Use data from previous purchases. If someone has already purchased from your site, then there’s a good chance they will make another purchase (especially if they were satisfied with their last purchase).
- Look at similar customers’ behavior on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter–you’ll see some commonalities between different types of buyers within each demographic group that could help guide future marketing efforts.
Offer A Variety Of Payment Options.
Offering a variety of payment options is a simple way to increase sales.
Credit cards are the most popular form of payment, but they’re not the only ones.
You can also accept other payment conditions, such as PayPal or Venmo, gift cards, and checks in person at your store. Even cash will work if you’re selling something cheap.
The pros and cons of each payment option are:
- Credit cards – Pros: Your customers don’t have to carry cash around with them; they can use their credit card anywhere in the world; it’s easy for you because you have one transaction per sale instead of multiple ones (like cash). Cons: Customers may be embarrassed about having low credit scores, so they don’t want anyone else to know what their score is; some companies charge fees on top of what they charge merchants when they process transactions through them (which means less profit), not all types/kinds/brands/models etcetera will accept all types/kinds/brands/models etcetera so sometimes people won’t be able to buy things online even though there isn’t anything wrong with either party involved here.
Get Creative With Your Emails.
Email marketing is still a powerful tool. It’s not going anywhere, and there are ways you can use it to promote your social media, blog, and products.
Use social media to promote your emails: Use Facebook ads or Instagram posts to drive traffic back to your website’s email list sign-up page. Suppose someone signs up for an email list via a post on Facebook or Instagram. In that case, they may be less likely than other subscribers (who signed up directly from their inbox) when it comes time for a sale or promotion — so make sure these new subscribers feel like part of the community.
Use email marketing as another way of promoting social media: Email gives you another opportunity to reach out directly with news about what’s happening at [company name] without having them miss out if they aren’t following along closely enough online themselves (or even just because they’re busy).
Create A Sense Of Urgency.
The downturn is a great time to create a sense of urgency in your marketing because people are more likely to make impulsive purchases when they feel like they need something now rather than later. You can offer discounts or other incentives that expire after a specific time (e.g., “20% off if you buy today”). You can also use language that emphasizes how limited the product is (“Limited Time Only.”).
Look For Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd.
Here are some tactics that you can use to make your e-commerce brand more memorable:
- Offer free shipping. This will help you attract new customers, and it makes sense for most businesses since they’re already paying for shipping costs anyway.
- Offer a money-back guarantee or free returns on all items purchased from your site (or at least on certain products). Suppose you’re selling electronics or other high-value items. In that case, this might not be feasible, but if you sell clothing or other merchandise where it’s easy to return items in good condition without any damage, offering this type of guarantee could be an excellent boon for customer loyalty.
- Include gift wrapping in your order so that every item arrives ready to give without any additional effort required by the recipient–it’s one less thing for them to worry about when giving gifts.
Generate online buzz and excitement around your brand.
Generate online buzz and excitement around your brand. The best way to do this is through social media, but you can also use email marketing and paid advertising. Create a content marketing strategy that builds awareness of your company through blog posts or videos on YouTube. Try influencer marketing if you have the budget for it.
Understand the Downturn’s Impact on Your Industry
The first step to effective e-commerce marketing during a downturn is to understand the downturn’s impact on your industry.
- What is the downturn, and how will it affect your industry? Regarding business cycles, some industries are more affected than others. Suppose you’re in an industry that’s expected to grow during this period (for example, healthcare). In that case, you can use this information as leverage for marketing campaigns aimed at attracting new customers or gaining loyal ones who may have been attracted by other companies’ promotions in previous years but haven’t made any purchases yet because of economic factors such as job loss or lack of disposable income due to decreased wages or increased tax burden.
- How does this information affect my customers and prospects? Many consumers have less disposable income now than before 2008; therefore, even though they still want quality products at reasonable prices–and maybe even more so now–they may need more time to afford them.
- What challenges do these changes present when marketing my business online? A decrease in consumer spending means fewer people will be looking online for products like yours; however, if those same individuals were previously interested enough in what you offer but couldn’t afford it back then either because they didn’t have enough money saved up yet (like many college students), then perhaps now would be better than ever before.
Conduct a SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool. It helps you identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
A SWOT analysis will help you create a content strategy by determining who your target audience is and how they want to be reached. You’ll also be able to use this data to develop a marketing budget based on the needs of your business during an economic downturn. Finally, it can guide you through creating an action plan for moving forward with e-commerce marketing during this period–and beyond.
Review Your Marketing Budget
In addition to assessing your current marketing budget, it’s essential to understand how much money you must spend. How much of your revenue is being funneled into marketing? Are there areas of opportunity for growth in this area?
It’s also worth considering what kind of return on investment (ROI) other companies in your industry are getting from their investments in digital advertising. You can use this information as a benchmark when planning out your campaigns and deciding where best to allocate resources.
Create A Content Strategy And Plan Of Action
The first step in creating a successful content marketing strategy is to define the problem. What do you want to accomplish? Are there any specific goals that need to be met, such as increasing conversion rates or improving customer retention?
If so, it’s time to start setting some concrete goals for your brand’s marketing efforts–and don’t worry about other people’s goals. Be ambitious but realistic; remember that these are just guidelines, and they can always change as time passes. An example of an e-commerce fitness store might look something like this:
- In three months, increase traffic from Facebook ads by 50% (from 2K visits per month)
- In six months, we want our customers to spend more money per order than before by 10%
Review Third-Party Data Sources And Analyze Data Regularly
You should also be reviewing third-party data sources and analyzing your data regularly. This will help you determine how well your marketing strategies work and allow you to adjust as needed. For example, if one campaign performs better than another, it might be worth allocating more resources to the more successful campaign.
E-Commerce Marketers Can Use Their Knowledge Of The Downturn To Create More Effective Campaigns.
As an e-commerce marketer, you have a unique advantage in the downturn. You know that consumers are looking for deals and discounts.
You also understand that they are more likely to buy from companies that offer value-added services like free shipping or price matching.
This knowledge can help you create more effective campaigns than your competitors, who have less experience with these marketing strategies.
Here are some additional tips:
- Use the downturn as an opportunity to be creative with your marketing efforts. Don’t be afraid to try something new. If a customer sees an advertisement on TV or hears about a product through word-of-mouth, it might spark their interest enough for them to purchase during this time (when prices are lower). So even though there may not be many new customers coming into stores right now because they’re afraid of spending money during challenging economic times, existing customers still need attention, so they don’t stop shopping altogether. That’s where creativity comes into play.
In Summary
Understanding what’s happening in the economy can be an excellent opportunity to market your e-commerce business. In a downturn, people are more likely than usual to shop online. You need to know how best to reach them and give them what they want–which is why marketers like you need to keep up with current events so that they can make informed decisions about their marketing strategies.