Marketing & Advertising
The marketing of an ecommerce business is paramount to its success. Our coverage includes insights on email marketing, content marketing, pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest — affiliate marketing, video advertising, and much more.
Content Marketing | Email Marketing | Google Ads | Influencer Marketing | Social Media-
Social Media
Facebook Lead Ads Lowered CPA, Boosted Results
November 14, 2021 • Armando Roggio
When your marketing plan requires newsletter signups, event registrations, and resource downloads, Facebook lead ads may be a powerful tool at an attractive cost-per-acquisition. I have been a fan of this ad form for some time, but recently I tested it for a software-as-a-service company.
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Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for December 2021
November 10, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Content marketing is a constant flow of planning and producing. And topics, even for search engine optimization, may be hard to find. So for December 2021 content, consider industry forecasts, helpful holiday how-to articles, New Year's resolutions, and a couple of uncommon holidays.
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Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing, Part 8: Analyzing Performance
November 7, 2021 • Joe Sinkwitz
You’ve made it to the end of my series on influencer marketing. To date, I've defined influencer marketing and addressed why merchants should use it. I've explained how to set goals, how to pick the right channels, and more. In this final, "Part 8" installment, I'll describe a process to analyze performance.
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Google Ads
How Content Drives Low-cost Ad Conversions
November 5, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Content marketing is often associated with search engine optimization since the two disciplines can work hand in glove. But there can be a strong affinity between content marketing and advertising, too.
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Marketing & Advertising
How Brands Succeed on Reddit
November 2, 2021 • Kaleena Stroud
Social platforms are key marketing channels for ecommerce sellers. Among those channels is Reddit, which is chock-full of reviews that attract shoppers. I addressed last month the benefits of Reddit to online sellers.
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Marketing & Advertising
Is Affiliate Marketing the Next Big Thing?
November 1, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce trends, the burgeoning creator economy, and marketing tech are invigorating affiliate promotion, boosting the effectiveness of an already powerful digital marketing channel. Affiliate marketing is not new. It has been around since the earliest days of the commercial internet.
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Google Ads
4 Reasons to Use Dynamic Search Ads
October 27, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Dynamic search ads access your website content and deploy artificial intelligence to generate headlines, bids, and targeted search terms automatically. These easy-to-employ text ads are the Swiss Army knife of digital promotion: They work well in many situations.
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Marketing & Advertising
15 Popular Pinterest Accounts (for Marketing Inspiration)
October 25, 2021 • Sig Ueland
High-traffic accounts on Pinterest use influencers and brands to engage followers and drive monthly views. Here is a list of 15 of the most popular. There are curated topical style boards, product tags to shop, rich pins with product information, video pins, and more.
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Marketing & Advertising
Digital Creators Need Email Marketing
October 20, 2021 • Armando Roggio
A list of engaged email subscribers is among the best promotional tools for creators who sell digital products. For many of those creators, it could also be a path toward earning a living. The creator economy has a problem.
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Marketing & Advertising
My 3 Rules for Social Media Success
October 19, 2021 • Carolyn Mara
Roughly 4.2 billion people worldwide use social media. In 2021, all ecommerce businesses should attempt to connect with prospects on those platforms. This is my first post to help merchants utilize social media for brand awareness and sales.
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Email Marketing
Navigating Email Marketing without Open Rates
October 19, 2021 • Carolyn Nye
Apple rolled out iOS 15 on Sept. 20, 2021. The release provides users of iOS devices — iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch — the ability to load remote content privately, blocking the sender's ability to track opens. I've addressed iOS 15 twice.
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Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing, Part 7: Your First Campaign
October 13, 2021 • Joe Sinkwitz
You've hired your first influencer and have received a draft of her initial promotion, a review of your product for her social media followers. This is "Part 7" of my influencer marketing series.
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Google Ads
Google Ads Promotion Extensions Can Boost Holiday Sales
October 12, 2021 • Armando Roggio
The Google Ads promotion extension attaches a clickable discount offer to search ads and could boost sales for some merchants this Christmas season. Click-through rates and conversion rates vary greatly from one business or one ad to the next. Thus one cannot say definitively that using a promotion extension would drive more traffic or sales.
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Google Ads
Google Ads Updates Search Terms Report, Keyword Match, More
October 10, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads released a slew of updates in September to provide advertisers more clarity into ad auctions, performance metrics, and more. This transparency is welcome, especially as the holiday season is around the corner.
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Business
5 Content Marketing Ideas for November 2021
October 5, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Comparisons, top 10 lists, customer stories, an old mystery, and Thanksgiving leftovers are all topics that could influence your company's content marketing in November 2021. Content marketing is the act of creating, publishing, and promoting content with the express purpose of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers.
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Marketing & Advertising
6 TikTok Tools for Shopping
October 4, 2021 • Sig Ueland
TikTok is the latest social media platform to focus on ecommerce. TikTok unveiled its shopping platform at its inaugural World event, with new tools to help brands and merchants sell to TikTok's users. The release is a culmination of recent efforts to integrate shopping into TikTok.
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Social Media
Facebook Could Dominate Ecommerce
October 4, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Facebook is among the top social media networks in the world. It is also a leading advertising and communication platform. And it could soon dominate ecommerce.
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Influencer Marketing
PPE Provider Thrives on Influencers (and Hollywood)
October 1, 2021 • Eric Bandholz
Roman Zrazhevskiy's company, Mira Safety, sells protective gas masks. It launched in 2018. The masks protect against tear gas, chemicals, and, yes, viruses. Still, reaching prospects was a challenge.
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Marketing & Advertising
5 Ways Reddit Helps an Ecommerce Brand
September 27, 2021 • Kaleena Stroud
Reddit is among the most visited sites worldwide. I addressed Reddit and Quora last month, explaining the dos and don'ts for marketers. Reddit has a strict no-self-promotion policy. Still, it offers a venue to further a brand and establish expertise.
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Email Marketing
A Perfect Storm for 2021 Holiday Email Marketing
September 19, 2021 • Carolyn Nye
Labor shortages, pent-up consumer demand, and supply chain disruptions could dramatically impact retailers this holiday season. Those developments, coupled with privacy changes on Apple's new iOS 15, mean email marketers face a perfect storm of uncertainty.
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Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing Part 6: Pitching
September 15, 2021 • Joe Sinkwitz
Prospective influencers likely know little about your company or its products. They're not necessarily interested in promoting. You have to pitch them. Welcome to "Part 6" of my influencer marketing series.
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Google Ads
3 Optimizations for Google Shopping Campaigns
September 13, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
The benefits of Google Shopping are compelling. Advertisers consistently experience strong revenue, traffic, and return on ad spend while often paying less per click than standard search campaigns. Still, the performance of Google Shopping ads, like all ads, could plateau. Thus continuous optimizations are key to sustaining results.
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Social Media
21 New Social Media Tools for Merchants in 2021
September 12, 2021 • Sig Ueland
New and updated social media tools can enhance an ecommerce business. Here is a list of new social media tools and platform updates in 2021. There are tools for shopping, influencer marketing, live streaming, payments, dynamic advertising, and more.
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Marketing & Advertising
Privacy Changes to Streaming Ads Are Coming
September 6, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Connected television, a rising star in the targeted, programmatic advertising industry, will soon be impacted by new privacy measures. Connected television is often called CTV or OTT. The latter stands for "over the top" and is reminiscent of cable boxes or Roku devices that sat over the top of televisions.
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Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for October 2021
September 1, 2021 • Armando Roggio
In October 2021, your content marketing could feature product-focused tutorials, storytelling, and annual observances, such as a little holiday called Halloween. Content is an integral part of ecommerce marketing.
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Email Marketing
5 Ways Apple’s Email Privacy Impacts Marketing
August 30, 2021 • Armando Roggio
As early as September 2021, Apple's mobile email apps may hide a recipient's internet protocol address, making it difficult or impossible to measure open rates and track user behavior.
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Marketing & Advertising
Quora and Reddit: Dos and Don’ts for Ecommerce Marketers
August 29, 2021 • Kaleena Stroud
Quora and Reddit provide opportunities for merchants to engage with prospects while demonstrating expertise. I'll offer tips for using both platforms in this post.
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Marketing & Advertising
How to Start a Successful Podcast for Ecommerce
August 22, 2021 • Armando Roggio
A podcast can help with customer acquisition and retention. It can provide reusable content. And it's one of the simplest ways to launch content marketing. As with any marketing effort, podcasting is a process to be planned and executed, starting with clear objectives.
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Email Marketing
The Essentials of High-performing Emails
August 19, 2021 • Carolyn Nye
Creative content is the cornerstone of a successful email campaign, driving opens, clicks, and purchases. In this post, I'll review the essential creative components of high-performing campaigns.
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Social Media
Shopper Privacy Could Boost Contextual Ad Targeting
August 19, 2021 • Armando Roggio
Consumer privacy concerns could prompt advertisers to find alternatives to tracking-and-behavior-based ads, giving contextual targeting a boost. Contextual targeting is not new, although it's becoming more sophisticated. It is based on a tried and true concept: Place your ad next to relevant content.