If you run an online e-commerce business, you know how different digital marketing this past year has been than years before, and very likely for years to come! Retailers across many industries saw huge increases in sales and revenue, with brick and mortar locations closed and customers less likely to brave going outside. Now that stores are opening back up, customers are shopping in person again, how can you ensure your business continues to do well after COVID?
Utilize Your Data
If you’ve used a service like Google Analytics, you’ve been able to collect important data on your transactions and website visitors. Say you found that during the peak of pandemic shopping, 85% of your visitors were women from Texas. Even if the numbers after COVID start to become more sporadic and spare, having this kind of knowledge can make a big impact on how you create campaigns and decide on your digital marketing.
If you used Google Ads for this kind of information, you can see more information about your users from the “Audience Insights” tab. Better yet, going forward you can use this information by applying these audiences to your campaigns. Transitioning from the sales we saw in COVID to what we’re more used to still depends on having high quality insights into your top performing audiences.
Things to Note: iOS14 Update
Utilizing your existing data is especially important now, as the iOS 14 update will make it more difficult to collect information going forward, with prompts for users to opt out. This makes it more difficult for marketers to deliver relevant information and promotions to users, but with a change in strategy this shouldn’t affect how your current customers reach your business.
2. Communicate With Your Customers
If you also offer in person services or in store products, now is the perfect time to let your customers know you are back in business and ready to open. If you are savvy with digital marketing and advertise on Google, you may consider running a display campaign targeting past buyers and visitors with a graphic that specifically lets users know you’re open again. In addition, you may want to run a campaign targeting local users.
3. Performance Analysis: Don’t Fret
If you’re looking at performance year over year, you’re bound to be a bit disappointed. Retailers in almost every industry were seeing hugely inflated ROAS during this period. Thus, trying to replicate that same performance just isn’t feasible. Instead, look to find consistency going forward. With so much uncertainty, it’s important to manage expectations and understand the market as it is currently. Many businesses will choose to fret over matching past performances. However, if your business can focus on what to plan for the future instead, you’ll be in a much better position to succeed.
4. Promotions
Another factor that makes the e-commerce world post pandemic so different is what we do to compete. Some retailers will drop off, some will enter the market. In any case, offering new promotions especially as the summer months arrive is important to differentiate your business.
5. Website Updates
Summer is usually a slower period for sales. That makes it a great time to work on updated landing pages and websites. Consider conducting on audit on your website for performance metrics like bounce rates and page speeds. This will help to better enhance your websites performance in the future. When e-commerce sales peak in the fall and winter, you’ll be happy you made these adjustments!
Conclusion:
Overall, the pandemic has changed e-commerce forever. However, there’s many great things you can do to stay competitive and succeed. By focusing on your customers and their experience on your website, you’ll have much happier customers. In addition, by maximizing your digital marketing & SEO efforts, you can reach tons of new users. As always, at Angelytix Consulting we are prepared to help your business grow. Check out what marketing work we can do for you here!