eCommerce

Top 6 Marketing Investment Strategies for Online Sellers

Want to grow your online store? Focus on these six proven marketing strategies that help you reach customers, boost sales, and maximize your budget:

Paid Ads: Platforms like Google Ads (800% ROI) and Facebook (low $0.35 CPC) deliver targeted traffic.
Influencer Marketing: Micro-influencers (10K-100K followers) offer high engagement and drive direct purchases.
SEO: 43% of eCommerce traffic comes from search engines. Optimize keywords, content, and site speed.
eCommerce Tools: Use apps like Klaviyo (email marketing) and TikTok Shop for streamlined operations.
Email Campaigns: Personalize emails for 6x higher transaction rates with automation and mobile-friendly designs.
Content Marketing: Create engaging blogs, videos, and social posts tailored to platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Quick Comparison of Strategies

Strategy	Key Benefit	Best For
Paid Ads	Immediate traffic boost	All business sizes
Influencer Marketing	High trust and engagement	Niche or broad audiences
SEO	Long-term organic growth	Sustainable traffic
eCommerce Tools	Streamlined processes	Operational efficiency
Email Campaigns	Repeat customer retention	Building loyalty
Content Marketing	Brand visibility & authority	Social & search traffic

Start by identifying your audience, choosing the right platforms, and tracking results to refine your strategy. These approaches work for businesses of all sizes and budgets!

5 NEW Ecommerce Marketing Strategies for 2025

1. Paid Advertising Methods

Paid advertising plays a major role in eCommerce growth, offering clear results and scalable options. With B2C companies typically allocating 14.2% of their revenue to advertising, it’s essential to know how to effectively distribute your budget.

Platform Performance Highlights
Google Ads stands out with an impressive average ROI of 800% on its Search Network. It’s particularly effective for search ads, shopping ads, and display campaigns targeting high-intent buyers ^[3]. On the other hand, Facebook, with its massive 2.8 billion monthly users and a low average CPC of $0.35, is great for demographic targeting and increasing brand visibility. In fact, 78% of American consumers report discovering products through Facebook ads.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how popular platforms compare:

Platform	Average CPC	Best For	Key Benefit
Google Ads	$1-$2	Search targeting	Reaching intent-driven users
Facebook Ads	$0.35-$0.50	Brand awareness	Targeting specific demographics
Amazon PPC	$0.75-$1.20	Product sales	Engaging ready-to-buy shoppers
TikTok Ads	$10 per CPM	Gen Z audiences	High potential for viral content

Choosing the Right Strategy
Your advertising approach should match your business stage:

Startups: Focus on building brand awareness.
Small businesses: Spread efforts across multiple platforms to test effectiveness.
Established brands: Invest in maintaining steady growth.

Selecting the right platform depends on your audience and goals. For example, Instagram’s shopping features encourage purchases, with 92% of users making a purchase after seeing products on the app ^[2]. Amazon PPC is perfect for capturing shoppers ready to buy, while TikTok’s video-driven format excels at engaging younger users.

While paid advertising offers quick results, partnering with influencers can further boost your brand’s reach and credibility.

Influencer marketing has become a major strategy for online sellers, with the global industry now worth $16.4 billion. It’s a key tactic in boosting eCommerce growth alongside other marketing efforts.

Understanding Influencer Tiers and Costs

The type of influencer you choose depends on your budget and goals. Nano influencers are great for reaching local audiences, while mega influencers offer massive exposure.

Influencer Tier	Follower Range	Cost Per Post	Best For
Nano	1K-10K	$10-$100	Local audiences, high engagement
Micro	10K-100K	$100-$500	Niche markets, personal connections
Mid-tier	100K-500K	$500-$5,000	Brand visibility, broader audience
Macro	500K-1M	$5,000-$10,000	National campaigns
Mega	1M+	$10,000+	Large-scale exposure

Why Micro-Influencers Are Worth It

Micro-influencers, known for their strong engagement, can deliver real results. They often see up to 85% higher engagement rates compared to larger influencers. In fact, 74% of micro-influencers drive direct purchases, and 80% of consumers act on their recommendations.

Planning Your Campaign for Success

To get the most out of influencer partnerships, focus on these essentials:

Understand your customer Lifetime Value (LTV): This helps you decide how much to invest in influencers.
Pick the right platform: Go where your audience spends their time. For example, CLCKR’s campaign with micro-influencers resulted in 68,872 impressions and a CPM of $12 by targeting the right platforms.

"Social Cat has been a great platform for us to find micro influencers to enhance our influencer programme and get our product out there." - Nicola Devereux, Product Marketing Manager at CLCKR

Tracking Results

Measure success by monitoring engagement, click-through rates, conversions, and overall ROI.

Tools for Managing Influencer Campaigns

Many eCommerce platforms offer tools to simplify influencer collaborations. For example, Shopify Collabs makes managing influencer partnerships easier with built-in features.

While influencers can boost your brand’s credibility, don’t forget to focus on improving your search engine rankings for sustained online visibility.

3. Search Engine Rankings

SEO accounts for 43% of all eCommerce traffic and contributes to 23.6% of orders, making it a key driver for online growth.

The Building Blocks of SEO

Did you know that the top organic search result gets 10 times more clicks than the result in the tenth position? To climb the rankings, focus on these core areas:

SEO Component	Purpose	Impact on Rankings
Keyword Research	Attracts targeted traffic	High
Technical SEO	Ensures your site can be crawled	Critical
Content Quality	Aligns with user intent	High
Mobile Optimization	Boosts rankings	High

Crafting a Winning Keyword Strategy

Tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush are great for pinpointing keywords that matter. For example, Everyday Yoga ranks on page one for "women's yoga pants", a term with 49,500 monthly searches. This shows how the right keywords can make a big difference.

Technical SEO Must-Haves

Here are some essentials for technical optimization:

Pages that load in 1 second convert at 39%, compared to just 22% for 5-second loads.
Mobile-first, responsive design is non-negotiable.
HTTPS is a must for secure browsing.
Keep your page structure simple - no more than three clicks to reach any page.

Creating Content That Drives Sales

Detailed product descriptions (1,000+ words) packed with relevant keywords can work wonders. Take Ruggable, for example - they bring in over 1 million monthly visitors through SEO, outperforming their paid traffic efforts by a ratio of 10:1.

"SEO isn't a one-off project; the results aren't immediate either. But it remains a long-term strategy to drive quality leads to your site and build website credibility."

Boosting Visibility with Structured Data

Schema markup helps your site stand out by enabling rich snippets, which can lead to higher click-through rates.

Tracking SEO Performance

Keep an eye on these key metrics to measure your success:

Growth in organic traffic
Keyword rankings
Organic conversions
Technical issues flagged in coverage reports

Search volume can spike up to four times during peak seasons, so timing your efforts is critical. Combining SEO with paid ads or influencer campaigns can help you maintain visibility and maximize your marketing ROI. While SEO lays the foundation for long-term success, using eCommerce tools can further enhance your visibility and streamline your operations.

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4. eCommerce Platform Tools

Using the right tools on your eCommerce platform can help ensure your marketing efforts deliver measurable results.

Shopify's Marketing Tools

Shopify offers a range of tools to boost store performance. Here are a few examples:

Tool	Purpose	Starting Price
ReConvert	Post-purchase upsells	$4.99/month
Klaviyo	Email marketing across platforms	Free up to 250 contacts
ReelUp	Shoppable videos	Free up to 100 views
Loox	Product reviews	$9.99/month

"With ReConvert, we can generate a personalized thank you page, an excellent opportunity to showcase helpful product suggestions to newly purchased customers."

TikTok Shop Integration

TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop makes social commerce easier by enabling in-app purchases. Features like Video Shopping, Catalog Listing, and Live Shopping Ads are particularly appealing to younger audiences.

Amazon Marketing Solutions

Amazon provides tools to help sellers improve their marketplace presence, including:

Inventory Management: Keep track of stock and automate reordering.
Customer Service Tools: Respond to inquiries quickly and maintain positive reviews.
Marketing Analytics: Analyze campaign performance and ROI.

Cross-Platform Integration

Klaviyo is a standout app for Shopify users, offering seamless email marketing integration.

"Klaviyo has been our most important Shopify app since we began using their service five years ago."

Performance Tracking

Track how well your tools are working by monitoring engagement, conversions, and ROI. While these tools help streamline operations, building strong customer relationships - like through email campaigns - can make your marketing even more effective.

5. Customer Email Programs

Did you know personalized email campaigns based on customer behavior can lead to 6x higher transaction rates compared to generic newsletters? For online sellers, email marketing isn't just an option - it's a must.

Building an Effective Email Strategy

Here’s a snapshot of effective email campaigns, when to send them, and what kind of engagement you can expect:

Email Campaign Type	Best Time to Send	Average Open Rate
Welcome Series	Right after signup	50-60%
Abandoned Cart	Within 24 hours	45%
Post-Purchase Follow-up	2-3 days after delivery	35%
Re-engagement	30-60 days after inactivity	12%

Automation Essentials

Automation tools are your best friend when it comes to email marketing. Use them to:

Welcome new customers: Introduce your brand, showcase products, and offer discounts.
Follow up after purchases: Share care tips, request reviews, or suggest complementary items.
Win back inactive users: Send targeted campaigns to re-engage them.

On average, win-back campaigns across industries see open rates of 21.33% - a solid way to reconnect with your audience.

Mobile Optimization

Since most emails are opened on mobile devices, design them with mobile users in mind. Use:

Responsive layouts that adjust to different screen sizes.
Clear spacing for readability.
Touch-friendly buttons for easy navigation.

A seamless mobile experience keeps readers engaged and encourages action.

Testing and Optimization

Refining your campaigns is all about testing and learning. Use A/B testing to experiment with:

Subject lines
Send times
Call-to-action buttons (CTAs)
Content length

Keep a close eye on metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. To avoid landing in spam folders, regularly clean your email list by removing inactive subscribers and maintaining a strong sender reputation.

Combine your email efforts with other strategies like paid ads or influencer collaborations to boost repeat purchases and extend customer lifetime value. And while email builds direct connections, don’t forget that engaging content on social media and blogs can amplify your brand’s reach even further.

Combining content marketing with strategies like paid ads and SEO can amplify your brand's visibility and boost sales. By 2025, social commerce is expected to hit a staggering $6 trillion in global revenue, making it a key opportunity for online businesses.

Tailoring Content to Each Platform

Each platform plays a unique role in your content strategy. Here's a quick breakdown:

Platform	Ideal Use Case
Instagram	Highlighting products and visual storytelling
TikTok	Building brand recognition through viral videos
Facebook	Fostering communities and maintaining customer connections
Blog	Establishing authority through SEO and informative articles

Proven Content Strategies

ZAGG's blog is a great example of how effective content can deliver results. By sharing industry-relevant articles that are easy to share and weaving in subtle product promotions, they’ve achieved a 172% ROI. Their blog also drives 10% of site traffic, with 60% of those visitors being new.

Features like TikTok Shop make it easy for users, especially younger audiences, to shop directly within the app. This seamless integration shortens the journey from discovering a product to making a purchase.

Tracking Your Results

To refine your strategy, focus on metrics like engagement rates, clicks, conversions, and audience growth. For instance, TikTok micro-influencers boast engagement rates as high as 18%, far outpacing Instagram's 3.86%.

Smart Content Distribution

L'Oréal's approach shows the power of distributing personalized content across multiple platforms. This strategy has helped them achieve measurable business outcomes and connect with diverse audiences.

And here's something to keep in mind: 78% of people prefer learning about businesses through articles rather than ads. So, aim to create content that informs and entertains while subtly showcasing your brand and products.

The Power of Video

Video content continues to shine, with 87% of marketers reporting it delivers strong returns. Focus on creating videos that match the platform’s style, engage your audience, and are backed by performance insights.

Conclusion

Approaches to implementation depend on your business size and available budget. Here's a breakdown:

Small Business Implementation ($0-5K monthly budget)

Focus on creating organic social media content and optimizing for SEO.
Use free tools available on platforms like TikTok Shop.
Allocate funds to basic email marketing automation.

For example, Everyday Yoga achieved first-page rankings on Google by targeting long-tail keywords and optimizing their product pages. This highlights how strategic SEO can drive results. As your business grows, you can explore more advanced strategies and investments.

Mid-Size Business Scaling ($5K-20K monthly budget)

Strategy	Budget Allocation
Paid Advertising	40%
Influencer Marketing	25%
Platform Tools	20%
Content Creation	15%

Mid-size businesses can benefit from TikTok's retail return on ad spend (ROAS), which often surpasses traditional media. Creative, audience-specific short-form video ads can be a game-changer for this budget range.

Enterprise-Level Integration ($20K+ monthly budget)

Larger businesses should focus on integrating all channels effectively:

Invest in premium platform features and advanced tools.
Use sophisticated analytics and tracking systems for deeper insights.

With platforms like TikTok Shop, where 84% of users find shopping convenient and accessible, enterprise-level businesses can achieve higher returns by leveraging these tools. Regardless of scale, success depends on thoughtful planning and adaptability.

Key Implementation Tips

To get the most out of your marketing efforts:

Track performance metrics and adjust strategies based on data.
Prioritize platforms where your audience is most active.
Keep brand messaging consistent across all channels.

Risk Management

Managing risks is critical for protecting your investments and ensuring growth. Here's how to stay prepared:

Keep 20% of your budget flexible for unexpected opportunities.
Regularly refine your strategy based on performance insights.

The goal is to strike a balance between driving immediate sales and building long-term brand equity, all while staying adaptable to market changes. Flexibility and data-driven decisions are your best tools for success.

FAQs

Which marketing is best for a Shopify store?

For Shopify store owners, selecting the right marketing strategies can make a huge difference in driving sales and staying ahead in the competitive eCommerce space.

Strategy	Ideal For
TikTok Shop Integration	Boosting sales with 1.6-2x higher ROAS
Product Reviews	Establishing trust with real customer feedback
Marketing Automation	Streamlining customer interactions and scaling efforts
Loyalty Programs	Encouraging repeat purchases and increasing customer value

Why TikTok Matters: TikTok Shop has emerged as a powerful tool for Shopify sellers. During Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023, it brought in over 5 million new customers ^[1]. With 84% of users finding TikTok easy to shop on ^[1], it’s a platform that Shopify merchants can’t afford to ignore.

Blending Strategies for Better Results: To see the best outcomes, combine TikTok's retail potential with other marketing approaches. Use automated email campaigns to nurture leads, loyalty programs to retain customers, and SEO to drive steady organic traffic.

When planning your strategy, keep these priorities in mind:

Main Priority: Take advantage of TikTok’s proven retail strengths.
Supportive Tactics: Add automated emails and loyalty programs to the mix.
Sustained Growth: Work on SEO to ensure a steady flow of organic traffic over time.