Last month, we looked at the first integral part of eCommerce success; content marketing. This week we will delve into the realm of digital advertising. Many people don’t realise just how many ways there are to reach consumers online, so here are some great ways to inform your audience about your brand.

Facebook and Instagram ads
These ads are optimised to reach an audience that is most relevant to your brand. They can be filtered by age, location and other demographic inputs. Ads can also be designed to be static, video, carousel and more to generate more clicks. Social media ads focus on targeting the right audience and using a call to action. For example getting them to sign up now, or buy, shop or get a quote.

Google ads
Google ads are where advertisers pay to display brief advertisements. These can be for services or product listings. These ads can then be seen by users in Google search results and on non-search websites, mobile apps, and videos in the Google Display Network.

Google ads are optimised to reach your target audience. When users search for what you are selling, Google knows to promote your brand. This means that genuinely interested consumers will be connected with your business.

Email direct marketing
Each EDM that you send to your list of contacts can be personalised and relevant to your target audience. This can help to foster customer relationships and create a genuine love for your brand. EDMs also have the ability to provide in-depth details on the brand to enhance brand recognition and provide excitement around promotions and new releases to drive traffic to your website. They can also reach customers at various stages of their purchase experience; advertising before browsing, reminders when products are in a cart and follow-ups after purchase.

Influencer marketing
Every industry has key leaders that your audience looks up to. Influencer marketing aims to reach consumers in their research stage of purchasing. Their endorsement of your product can further consumer trust and loyalty.

Influencer Shani Grimmond @shanigrimmond promotes sponsored fashion to her niche market through IGTV

How to contact influencers?
Research popular posts for your niche market. There are many online tools such as Realtime by bit.ly which can help to pull data from many social networks to view by topic.

Once you have this background information, it is time to contact influencers. This can be done through PR agencies, or you can reach out yourself. If you choose to contact influencers yourself, it is important to remember that there should be some benefit in the deal for them. You may also want to get involved in their brand by commenting on their blog and Instagram posts prior to reaching out.

Don’t forget to read last months blog post on content marketing to complete your equation to eCommerce success.