Marketing Mistakes: 7 Common Issues for E-Commerce

ICON_PLACEHOLDEREstimated reading time: 5 minutes

E-commerce is an extremely useful way for businesses to compete in the twenty-first century. But for any e-commerce website to be successful, it is necessary to avoid certain costly mistakes. You need content that is good quality and fresh. Your site needs to be optimized for SEO. You must consider who your user is and what they’re looking for. The list goes on. Read on to find out how to avoid seven common e-commerce content marketing mistakes.

Content mistakes really hurt you

The quality of your content matters, and so does keeping things fresh. Are you under the impression that blog posts are the only type of content available for marketing? Because it seems like a lot of e-commerce businesses are. “Mix things up so that you can appeal to all the different interests that exist in your customer base. Produce some whitepapers where you can really go in-depth and show off your knowledge and expertise. Create fun content such as gifs, short videos, infographics, and podcasts to ensure that you keep people interested and looking for more from your brand,” advises Gerardo Flores, content writer at EssayRoo. One of the most important content writing tasks you’ll ever do is your product descriptions, so make them a priority. Remember to focus on benefits, rather than specs, and use images and videos.

Not using email marketing

Email might seem a bit antiquated at this point, and it’s tempting to disregard it in favor of more cutting-edge methods of communication. But when it comes to automated marketing, email is an incredibly useful and efficient tool. An automated email is perfect for keeping your brand at the top of your customer’s mind for when they are ready to make a purchase online. Without this kind of frequent, regular communication, it’s much easier for people to forget about your brand and what it has to offer. There is a ton of competition out there on the internet. You can optimize this strategy by going the extra mile and personalizing your messages. Address your recipients by name and segment your list so that people at all stages in the buyer’s journey are receiving tailored messages. People appreciate receiving an email that is relevant and feels as if it was written just for them, and that builds loyalty.

Failing at SEO

SEO can make or break your e-commerce business. It won’t matter how great your product or content is if people don’t find you in the search results. It’s important that you create unique, original product descriptions. Any duplication will harm your site’s SEO. Remember to include alt text when you’re including images. A lot of e-commerce marketers don’t, and it hurts their SEO. You should feature customer reviews. Not only are they good for your credibility, but they also create original content, and that will improve your SEO. Don’t forget your keywords. Spend some time with tools such as Google Analytics and you may find some surprising and helpful data about the search words your customers are using.

Forgetting about existing customers

“In your quest to attract new business, don’t forget about your existing clientele. Remember that these are people who already like what you’ve got to offer, so they’re likely to keep coming back, as long as you make them feel wanted,” recommends Gloria Fairchild, content writer at UKWritings. Make strengthening relationships with your existing customers a priority. There are a lot of ways you can do this. Show them some love by sharing exclusive product content that they will find relevant. Invest in a loyalty rewards program that will both show your appreciation for their business, and increase their motivation to keep coming back. Create customer appreciation offers and events that people will love. Your best strategy is to focus on building ongoing relationships with existing clients, while also attracting new ones.

Not optimizing for mobile users

How does your site perform on mobile platforms? If you haven’t posed this question to yourself, it’s time to get down to it. Mobile is a huge part of e-commerce content marketing and it’s only going to increase in importance. A ton of your customers is researching and purchasing products on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Ensure your links and buttons are tappable. Install click to call features. Be sure all your forms are simple and have a pre-fill function. Not optimizing for mobile users will translate into your business falling behind in an intensely competitive arena.

Forgetting about international users

The internet really is a global marketplace. It’s easy to forget, but your clients are not all necessarily going to be English speakers. People from all over the world will be accessing your e-commerce website, and this fact should be taken into consideration. Invest in a translation service so that speakers of many languages can peruse and purchase from your online store. Ensure that prices and shipping costs can be displayed in different kinds of currency, and set up your store to receive these currencies as payment options. Have your customer service department reflect the fact that your customers will be coming from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Not A/B testing

Okay, so you’ve made some changes and you’re feeling pretty confident The job is done, right? Wrong. You need to A/B test your website to see what people prefer. This kind of testing is great for optimizing your design, content, and user experience. Don’t assume you know what your users like, gather the data and use it to improve their experience. Experiment with aspects such as your checkout process, the placement of your call-to-action, and the wording you use in your copywriting. The quality of your writing matters. Ensure everything is well-written and grammatically perfect by using services such as BoomEssays and Academized.

Conclusion

To be successful at content marketing, you must understand your customers, have a plan, and invest in optimizing for SEO and mobile. There is no one secret to maintaining an effective e-commerce website. Success comes through experimentation and responding to your customers’ needs and wants.