Almost every business owner would have read an article about “consumer centricity”, especially in the digital space. Putting your customer first is essential in a consumer age, but how do you make sure that the average digital shopper knows who you are?
One approach to driving eCommerce sales is to use what’s called the “Everywhere” strategy.
The Digital Consumer Journey
Although there are many differences between traditional commerce and eCommerce, arguably the most valuable to modern brands is the fact that your store isn’t in a fixed space.
In the past, you would have to use spray-and-pray traditional advertising like flyers and print ads to try and increase traffic to your shop – and then hope your pricing and product was competitive enough to persuade the consumer to part with their hard-earned money.
Now, everything is different. From programmatic media buying to geo-located Facebook ads to native advertising on Outbrain, you can isolate the ideal individual for your brand, show them a personal message, make them a unique offer, and track their whole purchase journey – bearing in mind that they can make that purchase on their phone while sitting on their couch.
Every digital channel and touchpoint is an opportunity to get your message out there, and you should.
The Everywhere Strategy
The Everywhere strategy, as the name suggests, is to put your product or service into the lives of your ideal consumer to the point where they feel like you’re everywhere, without being obtrusive.
As much as this sounds like an invasion of privacy, the average digital consumer – and entrepreneur – doesn’t realize how many digital touchpoints they engage with on a normal day.
Think about it: most people wake up, check their email, log in and catch up on social media, and read the news on their favorite website, all before they get to the office.
The trick for brands is to understand their consumers’ digital consumption habits and making sure that relevant messaging is portrayed at the right time to drive awareness and traffic to an eCommerce-enabled website.
Choose Your Channels
Before conducting expensive market research, think about your target consumer and the ways they interact with digital content.
Generally, these are the channels most people use:
- Social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube
- Email: Hubspot, Aweber
- Websites
- Applications and games
You need to use a combination of all of these that suits your customers’ habits. If you’re selling surfboards, for example, you might use banners on weather websites and some beautiful Instagram content to push people towards your primary eCommerce platform.
Of course, market segmentation on digital platforms allows you to target multiple markets. You may, for example, write an article on the health benefits of surfing and publish it on a healthy lifestyle blog, accompanied by an influencer campaign on Twitter.
Constant Improvement
Try various approaches and use the analytics available to refine your messaging and targeting until you are speaking the right language.
Be present in your consumers’ lives and use the right channels and you are almost guaranteed to get greater traffic to your eCommerce ecosystem.