According to an IBEF report, India’s e-commerce industry can surpass the US and become the second-largest in the world by 2034.
While the e-commerce boom is pretty much evident in India, running an online store successfully amid the ever-growing competition is no easy feat. On the one hand, you have established marketplaces like Amazon that are consistently pouring hundreds of crores to boost its presence in India, and on the other hand, you have a constant stream of new entrants to the industry.
While there are many different ways to boost your e-commerce business, a solid marketing strategy is something that could deliver lasting results. If you are working on your e-commerce marketing strategy, here are five tips that can help you drive more sales in 2021-
1. Get Going with SEO
According to a Wunderman Thompson Commerce report, more than 50% of online shoppers begin their product search on search engines like Google. Even if you have the best of products that you are selling at great prices, people won’t come to your store if they cannot find you in search results.
| One of the most effective ways to bring more traffic to your online store is still the good-old SEO or Search Engine Optimization. |
You can identify and target keywords/phrases so that when someone enters those keywords/phrases while performing a search, your online store or pages rank higher in the search results.
2. Use PPC for Quick Traffic Boost
SEO is a strategy to improve your organic rankings in search results. While it sure is very effective, the process is time-consuming as you’ll be competing with hundreds of other online stores. A faster alternative is to use PPC (Pay Per Click) ads. For instance, you can use Google Ads to advertise your products above the search results.
| While you work your way through establishing your store in SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Pages) through SEO, you can use PPC to get a quick boost in traffic. |
This could lead to more awareness and even improved sales.
3. Optimize for Voice Search
| In 2021, you can no longer avoid voice search optimization. According to an Oberlo report, around 34% of the mobile users in India now use voice search. |
With the rising popularity of voice assistants like Google Assistant, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, and Amazon Alexa, voice search is only expected to become more popular in the country.
You can modify your SEO strategy to ensure that you also optimize your website and product pages for voice search. For instance, you can optimize for long-tail keywords that are generally used in voice searches.
4. Be Active on Social Media
As per a Statista report, there are more than 400 million social media users in India in 2021.
If you are not active on popular social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, you’ll definitely lose a great opportunity to engage with your target consumers.
You can use these platforms to communicate with the customers, launch new products, announce promotions, and even offer customer support.
Moreover, platforms like Facebook now also allow social commerce where you can directly sell your products on Facebook without requiring the customer to visit your website.
5. Start Upselling
In most cases, it makes more financial sense to upsell products to a customer rather than finding new customers.
Upselling is the process of selling a more premium version of the product a customer is interested in purchasing from your online store. The upsell recommendation can be slightly more expensive so that it generates more revenue for you.
But ensure that you do consider the price range of the customer before upselling. For instance, someone who wants to spend Rs. 5,000 on a smartwatch would mostly not be interested in purchasing a smartwatch worth Rs. 20,000.
A recommendation of a better smartwatch in the range of Rs. 5,000-6,000 with better features or quality might encourage them to make the recommended purchase.
E-Commerce Marketing to Boost Your Online Store in 2021
While the e-commerce industry in India sure has great potential, it is very easy for an online store to get lost in the sea of e-commerce platforms that are rising with every passing day. And with marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart infusing more capital, things are only expected to become more competitive.
A solid e-commerce marketing strategy is something that can help you stand apart from the crowd. Use the tips discussed in this post to boost your online presence and grow your sales in 2021. Partnering with a reputed digital marketing company is another great way to get a headstart and achieve your digital goals.
