by John Larkin
John runs the blog here at eCommerceLift and is a verified Shopify Expert. Interested in an initial growth consultation? Click here
7 years ago
8 Critical Marketing Questions Store Owners Should be Asking Themselves
Be honest with yourself. How often do you actually reassess and revaluate your eCommerce stores marketing? Bi-annually? Annually? Never? Well you are not alone as so many eCommerce store owners never really reconsider or re-evaluate their brands marketing. Although you may be thinking “hey, we are doing okay”, the truth is you may in fact be stifling your stores growth by not keeping an eye on your marketing strategies. To tackle this blasé marketing, here at PropelAd we have made a list of 10 questions every merchant should be asking themselves about their stores marketing.
What is my business actually selling?
When you establish your business you probably have a clear idea of who you want to be and what you are selling. However, this evolves and changes over time and what your business actually sells isn’t always in sync with your marketing.
It is essential that you ask yourself what my business is actually selling. Looking at your top sellers and what your customers gravitate towards is something that merchants should continuously do and tailor their marketing efforts towards this so that they are not wasting marketing efforts on products that aren’t representative of their company.
What is my USP?
Just like your products will evolve, your unique selling point will also. With competitors emerging, customer’s behaviors and interests changing what your USP was may have changed dramatically. Where you believe your niche is may not actually be the case at all. Consequently, it’s imperative that you examine your position in the market as it may have dramatically changed.
Re-evaluating this aspect of your business and what your USP actually is will give you a clearer idea of how to market you brand and change it for the better. It will make your marketing more clear and potentially make you realize where your business should be.
Who are my customers really?
It’s likely you have an idea in your head of who your customers are but is that really accurate? In fact, eCommerce customers as well as brands are ever changing. Your brands marketing could be trying to aim at a customer that has no interest in your brand and ignoring the audience that actually yearns for it.
To fix this do some consumer research. Observe your audience and see who they actually are instead of going off old ideas and information about who you think they are or want them to be. This will enable to you to tailor your content towards your actual target market and effectively connect with the right audience.
What is my business actually selling?
When you establish your business you probably have a clear idea of who you want to be and what you are selling. However, this evolves and changes over time and what your business actually sells isn’t always in sync with your marketing.
It is essential that you ask yourself what my business is actually selling. Looking at your top sellers and what your customers gravitate towards is something that merchants should continuously do and tailor their marketing efforts towards this so that they are not wasting marketing efforts on products that aren’t representative of their company.
What is my USP?
Just like your products will evolve, your unique selling point will also. With competitors emerging, customer’s behaviors and interests changing what your USP was may have changed dramatically. Where you believe your niche is may not actually be the case at all. Consequently, it’s imperative that you examine your position in the market as it may have dramatically changed.
Re-evaluating this aspect of your business and what your USP actually is will give you a clearer idea of how to market you brand and change it for the better. It will make your marketing more clear and potentially make you realize where your business should be.
Who are my customers really?
It’s likely you have an idea in your head of who your customers are but is that really accurate? In fact, eCommerce customers as well as brands are ever changing. Your brands marketing could be trying to aim at a customer that has no interest in your brand and ignoring the audience that actually yearns for it.
To fix this do some consumer research. Observe your audience and see who they actually are instead of going off old ideas and information about who you think they are or want them to be. This will enable to you to tailor your content towards your actual target market and effectively connect with the right audience.
Are all my marketing strategies suited to my brand?
With your new, enlighten understanding of your product, customer and business you should re-examine whether your current marketing strategies actually fit with your brand. From content creation to social media advertising to promotions, it’s critical to assess whether these forms of marketing are actually working for your store.
By simply looking at what brings you the most engagement you will see what is just costing you time and money and what is actually working for your store. This will give you a clear guide of what you should continue doing and what can go by the way side.
What new marketing strategies could I use?
In the online eCommerce world things move fast. There is a new social media network, advertising app or gadget that could revolutionise your business. If you are remaining stagnant and not reconsidering your marketing then it’s possible that these new marketing chances will pass you by.
Keep an eye open in for new and innovative marketing trends that could transform or add to your brands marketing strategies will help you delight customers.
How are people getting to my website?
Tracking how customers are finding you should always be a top marketing priority for merchants. So often though it is ignored as they are content with people just getting there at all. Observing whether your traffic comes from your blog, social media, organic search or ads is a great indicator of where you are getting traffic and where you should be focusing your marketing efforts. It also can point out what you are doing wrong and what you should do to improve it to get more customers finding your store.
Are they converting to customers?
It’s not enough to know how customers are getting to you; merchants also need to know where they are losing them. Calculating the percentage of visitors that convert to customers can be a helpful figure to see the success of your stores website. It can also help you see where they are dropping off and open your eyes to your websites faults.
eCommerce stores can be plagued with customers not converting from numerous places from their website. Problems such as complicated checkouts to boring, unnecessary pages, merchants need to work out why customers aren’t converting and work on fixing these errors to reduce these numbers and grow as a business.
Is my marketing budget realistic?
When brands initially begin, they suggest a marketing budget and stick to it. They ignore the fact that their business has grown but remain with that tiny marketing budget they first set. But as your store grows, your marketing budget should too grow. Not investing in marketing will only get you so far as there are only a small number of opportunities that can come out of a limited budget.
Having a realistic budget to invest in marketing is the only way your store will flourish and reach an audience of significant size. You may reach a certain level of success on your original budget but to go above and beyond your minimum audience merchants must ask themselves “is my budget realistic?”.
It’s easy to forget or push back thinking about marketing for your eCommerce store. However, remember that marketing is the only part of your business that actually grows your store and makes it a success. Therefore ignoring it can be fatal to your business but if you regularly ask yourself these questions you can stay on top of your marketing strategy and build a successful, flourishing brand.
With your new, enlighten understanding of your product, customer and business you should re-examine whether your current marketing strategies actually fit with your brand. From content creation to social media advertising to promotions, it’s critical to assess whether these forms of marketing are actually working for your store.
By simply looking at what brings you the most engagement you will see what is just costing you time and money and what is actually working for your store. This will give you a clear guide of what you should continue doing and what can go by the way side.
What new marketing strategies could I use?
In the online eCommerce world things move fast. There is a new social media network, advertising app or gadget that could revolutionise your business. If you are remaining stagnant and not reconsidering your marketing then it’s possible that these new marketing chances will pass you by.
Keep an eye open in for new and innovative marketing trends that could transform or add to your brands marketing strategies will help you delight customers.
How are people getting to my website?
Tracking how customers are finding you should always be a top marketing priority for merchants. So often though it is ignored as they are content with people just getting there at all. Observing whether your traffic comes from your blog, social media, organic search or ads is a great indicator of where you are getting traffic and where you should be focusing your marketing efforts. It also can point out what you are doing wrong and what you should do to improve it to get more customers finding your store.
Are they converting to customers?
It’s not enough to know how customers are getting to you; merchants also need to know where they are losing them. Calculating the percentage of visitors that convert to customers can be a helpful figure to see the success of your stores website. It can also help you see where they are dropping off and open your eyes to your websites faults.
eCommerce stores can be plagued with customers not converting from numerous places from their website. Problems such as complicated checkouts to boring, unnecessary pages, merchants need to work out why customers aren’t converting and work on fixing these errors to reduce these numbers and grow as a business.
Is my marketing budget realistic?
When brands initially begin, they suggest a marketing budget and stick to it. They ignore the fact that their business has grown but remain with that tiny marketing budget they first set. But as your store grows, your marketing budget should too grow. Not investing in marketing will only get you so far as there are only a small number of opportunities that can come out of a limited budget.
Having a realistic budget to invest in marketing is the only way your store will flourish and reach an audience of significant size. You may reach a certain level of success on your original budget but to go above and beyond your minimum audience merchants must ask themselves “is my budget realistic?”.
It’s easy to forget or push back thinking about marketing for your eCommerce store. However, remember that marketing is the only part of your business that actually grows your store and makes it a success. Therefore ignoring it can be fatal to your business but if you regularly ask yourself these questions you can stay on top of your marketing strategy and build a successful, flourishing brand.
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