Online Marketing for Online Retail: 5 Best Practices

Online retail has spread across the globe like wildfire. The statistics predict approximately $5,542 billion worth of sales through retail eCommerce in the year 2022. However, the marketing techniques have evolved in tandem with the growth of online retail.
Online marketing, often referred to as digital marketing, aids retailers in directly connecting with the audience. It provides the perfect two-way street that empowers and benefits the customers as much as it does the store owners. The advancement of technology has further provided marketers with ample data, analytics, tools, and software. They help observe the customer’s online behaviour and buying patterns minutely and develop tailored marketing strategies.
The key to successful online marketing is setting small milestones that help you reach the goal in the big picture. Initially, you can take baby steps with short-term targets like an attainable number of leads in a week. Gradually, you can use the following best practices to scale the marketing techniques to achieve the desired growth of your online retail business.
Let’s have a look at the online marketing strategies that can help your business reach new heights in 2022.

1. Cater to Search Intent

Search intent is the primary element considered while devising SEO strategies. The reason is that it has become a staple ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm. Online retail businesses can use this factor to their advantage. You can include SEO strategies like searching for intent-heavy keywords that answer specific search queries.

To put it another way, ensure that your online marketing serves as a solution to the target users’ questions. This can be done by identifying the following factors:-

⦁ Why did the person conduct this search?

⦁ Do they wish to gain knowledge?

⦁ Are they looking to buy something?

⦁ Is it possible that they’re seeking a certain website?

This will help you align your content on the website, social media, and other channels to customers’ search intent. This way if people are looking for information, you give them just that through blog posts.
Google is obsessed with catering to user intent and you will have to follow suit to stay relevant in 2022. You can do this through keyword modifiers, matching metadata to the content, and formatting content SERP features.

2. Personalize Mobile Marketing

Online retail businesses have quickly realized the potential of reaching their target audience through smartphones. eCommerce is estimated to make up 45% of total online retail sales which roughly amounts to $418.9 billion.

You can use these numbers to your advantage through efficient mobile marketing techniques. Augmented Reality (AR) happens to be a hot trend in 2022, especially for personalization on mobile devices. All of this started with some social media filters and has now taken the shape of full-blown eCommerce marketing campaigns.

You can personalize the customers’ experience with your brand through this technology. For example, Etsy has implemented AR to help the users observe how the art or decor pieces fit in their desired spots.

With the correct data, augmented reality allows mobile marketers to provide a top-notch experience to potential customers. 90% of marketers believe that this kind of personalization significantly adds to business profitability.

Another advantage of augmented reality marketing’s interaction is that users can be engaged for longer periods of time. This can be beneficial in terms of improving brand recognition and monetization potential.

3. Produce Multiple Forms of Content

Content is the most important part of any and every online marketing strategy. However, eCommerce business marketers often find themselves in a conundrum when it comes to the volume of content to be produced.
The key here is to focus on the quality and diversification of content formats so as to keep up with the quantity that gets your store noticed by algorithms.

In 2022, challenge yourself and your team to think deeply about how your stories and data are presented. Consider whether you can provide detailed information about a niche matter through a podcast.
Alongside, you can also make an engaging video on topics like “what is the order fulfilment process” that gives them a sneak peek into your operations. Consumers want interactive, and interesting content on smartphones and across social networks.

You can implement this tactic by identifying and investing in the tools and people you’ll need to diversify your content.
If you only look at your own analytics data, you’ll only see what’s currently working and miss out on this undiscovered potential. Ask your audience if you’re not sure which content formats or platforms they prefer.

4. Post on Social Media at the Apt Time

Time is of utmost essence for social media marketers. If you want to maintain a noteworthy social media presence you must keep posting actively and be available to your followers at all times. This is because there are no fixed time slots for customers to reach out on social media.

This often makes it difficult for new and upcoming eCommerce stores to improve their reach and keep the community engaged. In addition to that, when you’re short on resources or part of a small team, staying on schedule might be difficult.

You need to adopt the practice of scheduling your social media posts in advance at the appropriate time. You can decide the perfect time based on two aspects. First, the slot where your target audience is the most active on social media. Next, is the availability of your team to communicate and engage with them.

There are several tips online that suggest you post late at night to reach a wider audience. But what good is posting at the “recommended” hour if your team isn’t available to communicate?

Instead, when you Tweet or post, make sure your social media or community managers are present and ready to respond to any product queries or issues. Your shoppers want prompt responses. In fact, 47% say that a best-in-class social brand is defined by excellent customer service.

5. Get In on the Metaverse Action

Metaverse has taken over the eCommerce realm in 2022 and is definitely here to stay. The final online marketing best practice for your online retail business revolves around capitalizing on this new technology to the fullest. eCommerce giants like Amazon are developing virtual experiences that mimic the real-life shopping experience.

Metaverse marketing also appears to be the next big thing as it appeals to Gen Z the most. You can begin planning for the future of your eCommerce store by experimenting with the marketing strategies in the metaverse. It widens the horizons and enables connection with the audience through virtual conferences, conventions, and other events.

Wrapping Up

Digital marketing has become the utmost necessity for every online retail business. The sheer number of eCommerce stores has definitely amped the competition and made it difficult to grab the target audience’s attention on the internet. However, integrating these best practices into your marketing strategies can make a huge difference in the outcome.