5 Marketing Mistakes Every E-commerce Business Should Avoid

With the winter retail period in full swing, businesses are all vying for a slice of consumer spending. Across all markets and niches, the competition is fierce: Statista figures show the UK e-commerce market is the most developed in Europe, but with a recession looming and cost of living crisis biting, the discretionary income consumers have to hand is dropping.

Many businesses will answer these challenges with increased marketing activity, but it’s crucial that they invest smartly. If you own an online store and want to be successful in 2023, here are five key mistakes you need to avoid.

Cutting a campaign short

Whether it’s paid or organic, you need to allow your marketing campaigns time to blossom before you pull the ripcord. Results are rarely immediate, and in the case of channels like content, can take up to six months to yield results, so it’s crucial you give your campaigns a good amount of time to find their footing and start delivering.

Not using clients as brand ambassadors

Your customers are a huge asset, but have you ever considered using them as ambassadors for your brand? By collecting reviews and showing them front and centre in your marketing, you can use their kind and positive words to increase your authority in the eyes of prospective customers. Additionally, by providing free extras like stickers within your packaging, you can get your logo and brand out into the world at a very low cost.

Using abstract metrics to measure success

It’s important that the metrics you use to determine the success of your marketing campaigns are the right ones. If you don’t choose the correct metrics, or zero in on minor or abstract ones, then you won’t have a clear view of your campaigns and their effectiveness. As such, make sure you do your research into what constitutes success for your chosen activity before you begin.

Lack of consistency

Whatever message your business wants to put out to its customers, it should be consistent across all channels. For instance, it’s crucial that your booklets and other printed media provided in your packages have the same visual and textual identity as your website. That way, your brand has an identity that’s in concert with itself, allowing customers to identify it easier and reducing the risk of confusing them.

Analysis paralysis

There is a lot of information at business owners’ fingertips these days – you could say too much. As such, it’s important to not wade through more data than you need to, or collect data for too long, before you make a decision.

If you don’t, you’ll get paralysed, so embrace a lack of available information and act – you can learn from your decisions, after all, whereas some opportunities won’t come around again.

Marketing for e-commerce can be complex but avoiding these five pitfalls will put you in good stead. What are your thoughts on the top marketing mistakes to avoid? Let us know your thoughts.