Digital marketing on the rise for ecommerce stores

The number of online stores investing in digital marketing has never been greater, according to figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau. 

The survey, carried out by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), found that ad spending on the Internet and for mobile phones, rose 12.6% to £2.6 billion when compared to the same point in 2011. 

A specific breakdown of the figures found that:

• Mobile advertising is up 132% to £181.5 million
• Video advertising is up 43% to £69.8 million
• Social media banner advertisements are up 36% to £134.2 million
• Paid advertising is up 15.9% to £1.527 billion, accounting for 59% of all digital advertisement spending

So what does this mean for your ecommere store?

Well, the first obvious thing you should take from this is that if you aren't really putting in the time to develop a strong digital marketing campaign, you may want to do so in an attempt to not only help boost your brand and sales, but to also keep up with your competitors as these increased figures indicate that many online stores are making use of this digital marketing platform. 

Where to start?

Although paid advertising makes up around 59% of all digital advertisement spending, you may want to try other avenues before delving into channels such as retargeting and adwords. As pretty much 99.9% of all businesses have some form of social media presence, social media banner advertisements may be the way to go to begin with as not only will it allow you to increase traffic and sales for your online store, it will also allow you to build up a greater social media presence and increase any social commerce your business may have.

Once you have developed strong marketing engagement through these channels, you may then look to branch out and take advantage of other channels such as mobile marketing and other paid advertising as mentioned above. There are a number of different things you can do to help effectively market your business, both for free and paid. Read 'Marketing tools for the big, the small and the just getting started' to find out a variety of marketing techniques, both digital and non-digital, that you can incorporate into your marketing strategy.

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The Pros and Cons of SMS Marketing

Exploring different marketing avenues is always key to maximising the coverage and awareness your business will gain. Similar to email marketing, text message marketing (SMS) is a great way to reach a large audience instantly and depending on your SMS distribution agency it could be very cost effective. However, unlike all marketing campaigns, there are things you should do and things you shouldn't.

When deciding on the type of text message marketing, there are two types; 'Broadcast' and 'Narrowcast.' 'Broadcast' involves sending out messages to the general public whereas, 'Narrowcast' involves sending out messages to a small, targeted audience. 

If you are looking to reach a whole new audience then the 'Broadcast' option would be the way to go. However, if you are looking to create repeat business and advertise your current offers and sales to your existing customers, 'Narrowcast' is for you.

Positives

• Can be cost effective marketing - Employing a mobile phone agency to send out the text messages on your behalf can by much cheaper than printing and distributing other forms of advertising, such as flyers.
• Easy to create - Requires no HTML, no images, you simply put the text you want the user to read and how they can access your store. 
• High reliability - Unlike email marketing, SMS marketing is not subject to filters. SMS marketing ensures your message will be delivered to the customer and will not be subject to being filtered out as spam or junk. 
• Ecologically friendly - Unlike leaflets and flyers, there is no use of resources such as paper or plastics. SMS is green source of marketing!
• Seemingly limitless market growth - With the number of mobile users growing at a rapid rate each year, the number of customers you are able to reach is endless. 

Negatives

• Users think it's spam - Some of the users will think that the text message is just spam and will delete it without looking at it. 
• No title - Unlike emails, you cannot have a subject title to draw the audience in. It simply displays the text in the message straight away
• Limited space - The information you can include in a text message is limited to a specific number of characters. While this makes your message more direct, it can result in you having to leave out other information.

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Using QR Codes to Advertise Your Business

According to a study carried out by the Internet Advertising Bureau, over £203 million was spent on mobile advertising in 2011, more than double that of the previous year. One of the causes of this significant increase is the ever growing use of QR codes.

What Are They?

QR codes are a form of mobile marketing that allow you to direct users to your site without having to provide any links or text. They are basically a more advanced type of barcode.

The huge difference between the two is that a barcode is a one-dimensional code that holds up to 20 numerical digits, whereas, QR codes are two-dimensional and can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters. This means they can hold significantly larger amounts of data.

How Do They Work?

When coming across a QR code either in a magazine, flyer or other from of advetisement, the user would then use QR reader app on their smartphone to scan the image. Many smartphones now offer these QR readers to users for free. The code would then instantly advertise your business or product by sending the user an email or text or directing them to your website in their mobile browser.

(http://mashable.com/2012/05/19/mobile-marketing-infographic-smartphones/)

How Can They Help Your Business?

Originally used to track auto parts, they have now become an ever growing part of advertising with 50% of all smartphone owners using them. Out of this 50% percent, 18% then go on to make a purchase on the store. This shows the significant amount of traffic and sales QR codes can generate for your business. 

With QR codes becoming an increasing part of advertising, it is believed that around 48% of businesses will invest in the technology within 2012. This demonstrates the importance to look at QR codes as a possible advertising tool when marketing your online ecommerce store.


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