Digital Marketing Strategy for eCommerce Online Stores

What is a Digital Marketing Strategy and Why is it Important to Have One?

A digital marketing strategy is a blueprint detailing the specific digital marketing channel tactics and action plans required to achieve the set objectives and key performance indicators for a business.

Parts of a digital marketing plan include:

• Analysis of performance of various digital marketing campaigns
• Market research and competitive analysis
• Defining digital marketing objectives, KPIs, and metrics
• Specific digital marketing channel plans (SEO/SEM, Social Media, Content Marketing, Display Advertising, Email)
• Digital marketing analytics and optimisation plan

Without a documented digital marketing strategy, marketers would be prone to implementing digital marketing campaigns that fall short of achieving objectives, akin to firing bullets in the dark.

It is easy to get carried away and launching trending marketing campaigns such as influencer marketing, video marketing, and programmatic advertising with little understanding of how these will impact return on investment. This often results in overspending of marketing budgets and underachieving set KPIs.

Take for example Instagrammar @Arii who reportedly failed to sell 36 T-shirts to her huge fanbase of 2.6 million followers.

Digital Marketing Channel Strategies for eCommerce Online Stores

Before discussing the following digital marketing channel-specific strategies, it is paramount to first highlight the importance of having a robust eCommerce website. Having a website that is effective in converting visitors into paying customers is one of the first steps eCommerce business owners should take note of if they want to see good returns on marketing spend.

A poor-converting website can be destructive to an entire marketing campaign, especially since the cost of acquiring a customer can get very expensive in competitive markets. If a website has a conversion rate of 1% (i.e. 1 in 100 visitors make a purchase of $100), the cost of acquiring one visitor (CPA) cannot exceed $1.00 (i.e. $100 ÷ 100 visitors). Doubling the conversion rate to 2% would enable an increase in CPA to $2.00. In competitive markets, it is common to expect a minimum cost per click of $1.50 to $2.00, which in this scenario is dangerously close to turning a marketing campaign unprofitable.

Chomel, a leading fashion and accessories retailer in Singapore, is a good example of a conversion-optimized eCommerce website.

The main navigation menu is well-organized into main product categories with drop-down menus for the sub-product categories, enabling the user to get a clear sense of all products offered at a glance.

The shipping information and rates are transparent as well, clearly stating the shipping rates of DHL Express for orders above and below $100 – $150. Building trust and displaying transparency are important factors that drive conversions.

Items that have been sold out are marked and made obvious to encourage a sense of urgency.

The checkout page includes a link to the refund policy, privacy policy, and terms of service pages. The site is also HTTPS secure to protect user data.

Once the website is optimised for conversions, only then should marketers implement the following digital marketing strategies.

Search Engine Optimisation

Googling the search term “buy diamond ring online” brings up the paid and organic search engine results pages with Bluenile.com ranking number one on the organic search results.

Organic search is one of the highest ROI channels of digital marketing, at 49% compared to paid search, email, and social media.

To rank on top of Google in the long term, an eCommerce website needs to have the following attributes:

• Good on-page optimisation (keyword-optimised, eCommerce structured data markup, optimal page loading speeds, mobile-friendliness, and more)
• Sufficient off-page SEO signals (A decent number of quality and relevant backlinks)
• E.A.T. or expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness

Good on-page optimisation

Blue Nile has all its pages well optimised in terms of inserting their target keyword search terms into the

Key takeaways

What may work for one online store may not always work for another. The important takeaway is to always test different digital marketing channels and measure results, then optimize for the best returns.

Having a website that is effective in converting visitors into paying customers is one of the first steps eCommerce business owners should take note of if they want to see good returns on marketing spend.

If you’re struggling with hiring an in-house web designer, you may want to outsource the project to established agencies that offer e-commerce web design services.

Check out the following agencies:

• Lemonade-IT
• Web Imp
• iFoundries

Interested to learn more

At Equinet Academy, we offer 6 core modules of Digital Marketing to prepare you for the implementation of digital strategies. By completing these 6 modules, you will then become a full-fledged Certified Digital Marketing Strategist. Find out more on the Certified Digital Marketing (CDMS) Programme.

Do also check out our array of digital marketing courses taught in-person in Singapore or online.