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Inbound Marketing for Ecommerce

While some forms of marketing march up and place their room key on the bar, inbound marketing takes…

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While some forms of marketing march up and place their room key on the bar, inbound marketing takes the subtle approach. It takes you out for a nice dinner, strikes up a thought provoking conversation, and kisses you goodnight on the cheek. The result? A long-term, valuable relationship that will eventually lead to... sales.

In this article I'm going to define inbound and outbound marketing. I'll give you the reasons that outbound marketing is on the decline, and I'll also give you 6 reasons you should consider using inbound marketing techniques for your ecommerce store.

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Simply put, inbound marketing is marketing that's focused on getting found by customers. It's the antithesis of the annoying telemarketer that calls you at precisely the worst possible moment. Inbound marketing doesn't aggressively steal your attention, it earns it by providing you with interesting and useful information. Inbound marketing waits for you to discover it, then it offers something valuable in exchange for a few moments of your time. Here are some examples of inbound marketing: 

  • Blogs
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • YouTube Videos
  • Webinars / Podcasts
  • White Papers
  • Infographics

What is Outbound Marketing?

Most people consider outbound marketing to be the more traditional and less technologically savvy way to acquire customers. It's where companies focus their marketing endeavors on actively finding customers. At times, it can be difficult to target properly, and oftentimes it's expensive. Here are some examples of outbound marketing:

  • Print Ads
  • Television / Radio Commercials
  • Telemarketing
  • E-mail Blasts
  • Trade Shows

The Problem With Outbound Marketing

Over the past few years there has been a steady decline in effectiveness of outbound marketing, especially when it comes to online companies. There has been a fundamental shift in consumer tolerance for "interruptive" advertising, and some consumers are starting to revolt. For example, according to a study by HubSpot, 84% of 25-34 year olds have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising. Here are some more reasons outbound marketing is becoming decreasingly relevant:


Inbound Marketing for Ecommerce

Inbound marketing is an effective way to attract potential customers to your online store and massage them until they turn into customers. For an ecommerce store to effectively use inbound marketing it starts with good content that's optimized for search and tempting for people to share.

By investing resources into inbound marketing, ecommerce merchants will see the following 6 benefits:

1. Become a Thought Leader

By creating and publishing thought provoking content on a regular basis, you'll quickly get your name out there as a thought leader. Shopify store Wingset has a blog that compliments their online store perfectly. They sell organic health products, and their blog is an emporium of articles dedicated to helpful information about nutrition and wellness. Thousands of people go their ecommerce store for content: DIY projects, recipes, warnings, and even some myth busters. They have become an authority in the wellness industry and people go to them for information, help, and advice. Sales always follow. 

2. Save Some Money

Have you seen the prices of print ads? Or even a display booth at a major trade show? For the most part, outbound marketing is expensive! How much does good content backed by a strong social presence cost? Start small and it won't cost much at all. Give yourself a reasonable goal like publishing one valuable blog post per week. Spend a few hours writing something that people in your industry will find interesting, then spend a few hours promoting it through your social networks. Although inbound marketing takes more effort than simply buying a newspaper ad, its costs run an impressive 61% less per lead than traditional marketing.

3. Target Self-Qualified Customers    

Do you think buying a giant roadside billboard for a month would be an effective way to promote your online store? I'll give you a hint and save you some money - it's not. The net ia too big and the vast majority of people looking at the advertisement aren't qualified. Same goes for cold-calling, buying email lists, and other forms of outbound marketing... they're all poorly targeted. With inbound marketing, you only approach people who self-qualify themselves. They show an interest in your content, so it's quite likely that they will be interested in the product you're selling.  

4. Increase Organic Search

It's no secret that Google loves fresh content. When you publish search optimized content on a regular basis that gets a bit of social media attention, your ranking will increase. Good search engine rankings are essential for a successful ecommerce store. You want to get your store on page one for as many of your terms as possible, because studies show that the second page of a Google search only receives 0.85% of the traffic. Furthermore, 61% of consumers use search engines to read about products before making a purchase. 

5. Boost Social Presence

It's been proven that prospective customers who are linked to your social media platforms show increased loyalty. Studies show that 41% of B2B companies have acquired a customer through Facebook, 42% through Twitter, and 57% through their company blog.  When you're promoting good content through your social networks, you'll naturally gain a larger social following. When it comes to your social presence, make sure all your guns are firing: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Pinterest, and all the others. 

6. Recover Abandoned Shopping Carts

Prospects sometimes abandon their shopping cart before a sale is closed. It can be for any number of reasons: high shipping prices, a long checkout process, or they simply get distracted by something else. With traditional marketing, you focus your efforts on acquiring people who have never been to your ecommerce store, or people who have already made a purchase - but that's leaving out a whole demographic of those who have almost made a purchase. With inbound marketing you can cultivate their interest over time by having an active blog, engaging social media sites, or by providing them with free resources via email marketing. You can also use a cart abandonment tool to identify those who have jumped ship and re-engage them. Shopify merchants can choose from Abandon App, Elasso, or Jilt to recover lost sales.

Basic Email Marketing for Ecommerce

Don't think email marketing works? Tell that to Groupon! They've made a pretty penny through marketing campaigns heavily based on…


Don't think email marketing works? Tell that to Groupon! They've made a pretty penny through marketing campaigns heavily based on sending out emails. A well designed email marketing campaign for your ecommerce storefront can increase sales. Period.  

Email marketing is a proven way engage your customers, increase sales, and promote your online store. BUT, an awesome campaign can only be successful if you implement the right strategies to build a strong client base. If planned and executed properly, email marketing is the cheapest method to retain existing customers and enroll new customers for repeat purchases. In this post I'm going to share 4 easy tips on how to execute an effective email marketing campaign for your ecommerce store. 

I don't have to tell you that oftentimes people visit an online store, but don't end up buying anything. It's a sad but true reality. Research shows that visitors can be converted into customers by building a long-lasting relationship with them through frequent contacts and constant follow-ups. Email marketing is an effective way of achieving this. This approach is called permission based marketing, and has an estimated response rate between 5% and 20%. Not bad at all. 

Here are 4 strategies to help you run a successful email marketing campaign:

1. Develop Strong Relationships

You should highlight how your email marketing has helped your existing clients by offering them the right products or services. This helps build enduring relationships and creates credibility among potential clients.

2. Accept Only Voluntary Subscriptions 

Always provide potential clients with a choice for subscribing to your emails and newsletters. Their decision for subscription should be a conscious one and stealthy methods of signing up clients should be avoided at all costs. All subscriptions should be based on confirmations from shoppers. You can automate the confirmation process through an auto responder by sending a standard acknowledgement message of the subscription to let the customer know that the subscription had been recorded.

3. Provide An Unsubscribe Option

Even if a client has voluntarily opted-in for your email marketing, the customer can decide not to receive any more email messages or newsletters from you after a certain period. You should respect such decisions and have the opt-out option at the bottom of every message and newsletter you send out. The ‘unsubscribe’ message should have a clear link and proper instructions for opting out of your email marketing campaign. When people see your ‘unsubscribe’ message, they are assured that they have the freedom to stop your messages anytime. This increases their confidence in dealing with you. 

4. Address Prospects by Name and Make the Email Personal 

One of the most effective ways to enhance the response rate to email marketing is to personalize your emails. This can be achieved if you address your prospects by their first name. If you don't have enough information on a client, avoid personal salutations and keep them general.

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