To be successful in the competitive ecommerce market, it’s important to have multiple touchpoints with potential customers. Your business may offer top-notch products or services, but simply having great offerings isn’t enough. Prospects need to be aware of your brand, be fully convinced of your product’s value, and have confidence in your authenticity through social proof and other factors. In essence, they need to understand how your product or service will benefit them and why it stands out from your competitors.
For a successful ecommerce business, it’s essential to have a comprehensive marketing strategy that targets growth and employs a multi-faceted approach to engage prospects and turn them into brand advocates. There are two main marketing options to achieve this — conducting marketing internally or working with an ecommerce marketing agency.
As a business owner, the decision to hire an ecommerce marketing agency can be a daunting one. It can be intimidating to take this step, and you may have doubts about whether the investment is worth it.
In our blog post, you will find everything you need to know to make your ecommerce agency hire a huge success.
What is an Ecommerce Marketing Agency?
An ecommerce marketing agency is a specialized team of experts who work with your business to achieve your goals and bring your vision to life. They solve complex problems and issues, and use their expertise in ecommerce to drive growth through quality content, promotions, customized campaigns, automation, and more. In short, they help ecommerce businesses grow by increasing sales and conversions.
They offer a wide range of services to help online store owners sell more products and increase their presence in search engine rankings. Most often, they manage to achieve this through the strategic use of creatives, technology, and marketing services. They also bring fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and technical know-how to the table that will help you achieve your goal.
Why Should You Hire an Ecommerce Marketing Agency?
Running an ecommerce business is no cakewalk. As a store owner, you need to focus on your products or services completely. Therefore, by handing over key tasks that can be expertly executed by an ecommerce agency, you will be able to lift the burden off your shoulders and completely focus on running your business.
An experienced ecommerce agency can boost your brand visibility across channels and drive sustained growth for your business. Here are some top reasons why you should hire one:
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Will Provide Experienced Marketers for Every Aspect of Your Ecommerce Strategy
Let’s state it loud and clear every aspect of ecommerce marketing requires a unique skill set and expertise. Expecting an employee skilled in one area of ecommerce marketing, such as content writing, to be effective in other areas like paid ad campaigns is unreasonable.
You wouldn’t hire a carpenter to do your plumbing work. So why would you put the entire success of your ecommerce marketing campaign on one person who might have other roles at your business?
If you lack expertise, resources, and time – and most people do – then an ecommerce marketing agency can help. An ecommerce marketing agency will be able to provide their expertise to help you with your marketing strategy.
They have dedicated skilled professionals to take care of every aspect of your ecommerce strategy, including ad campaigns, web design, SEO (search engine optimization), and much much more.
An ecommerce marketing agency has a team of experts who are well-versed in all aspects and equipped to tackle specific tasks.
Specialization is crucial, because specialized marketers deliver better results in their area of expertise. They are able to quickly identify and resolve problems, unlike an overstressed in-house marketer who may take days or even weeks to do something like keyword research.
In-house marketers may handle minor issues effectively, but may not have the expertise to tackle complex campaign optimization or technical issues that require extensive analysis.
An ecommerce marketing agency can offer solutions that new business owners often struggle to find, due to their extensive knowledge gained from working with multiple client accounts and diverse industries.
An experienced ecommerce marketing agency will have a clear understanding of what will be effective for your campaigns and what won’t. This experience can help you save money, especially on paid advertising campaigns on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Google.
Partnering with a knowledgeable and experienced ecommerce marketing agency can help set your marketing efforts on the right track.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency is More Efficient and Will Provide Faster Results
You can expect faster results by hiring an ecommerce marketing agency because their team comprises skilled professionals who can get going right away.
Remember, an ecommerce marketing agency already has a system in place that they’ve used to get results for other clients — a tried and tested system. You will be able to save precious time by working with a growth-focused ecommerce marketing agency.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Can Bring a Fresh Perspective to Your Ecommerce Business
An ecommerce marketing agency has experience working with a wide variety of clients. Based on their experience, they will be able to bring those best practices to your business.
It is quite natural for business owners to think that there cannot be anyone better than themselves to promote their brand, as they have developed the product themselves and no one can understand it better than they do. However, the success of a business depends on sales. If something is not selling or if you have reached a plateau in your sales, it is time to get to the drawing board again and seek an outside perspective — from someone who isn’t closely connected to your brand.
An ecommerce marketing agency will be able to offer fresh ideas by helping you identify flaws in messaging, how to better present your product or service or identify any blind spots in your marketing strategy that you may have not yet noticed.
It can be difficult for business owners to see other options available to them, other than what they’ve already been doing. An ecommerce marketing agency can be instrumental in offering essential outside perspectives, helping business owners to open up to new ideas and tactics.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Will Help You Stay on Top of New Digital Marketing Trends
It is important to stay relevant with today’s trends and technologies and an ideal ecommerce marketing agency will be able to improve your bottom line and grow your company with the help of their experts who have good knowledge of current trends, tools, and strategies.
For instance, the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend has boosted brand content viewership, leading to a notable rise in conversion rates for many businesses. Although you may not be familiar with its substantial impact on brand recognition, an ecommerce marketing agency recognizes the value of these trends and how products have gone viral due to this popular TikTok hashtag. This results in not just increased views but also potential sales.
Ecommerce marketing agencies can keep you ahead of digital marketing developments by providing the proper strategy for trending techniques and utilizing appropriate tools for your business. They can also develop a social plan to enhance your website’s SEO, thereby accelerating your brand building and online store growth.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Can Help You Save Money
Hiring a proper team for an ecommerce marketing department can be costly.
You’ll need to hire various individuals for specialist tasks, such as a digital marketer, SEO manager, social media manager, content marketing manager, and paid search manager, among others.
You’ll also have to provide salaries with benefits, vacation pay, and company perks for each member of the team. This could cost you upwards of $500,000 per year and that’s not including the fees for marketing software, the cost of training, and your actual marketing budget for paid campaigns.
An ecommerce marketing agency has a specialized marketing team and can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees. By hiring an agency, you can reduce the expenses associated with hiring full-time staff, as they bring the necessary knowledge and experience to the table.
You can eliminate additional expenses such as recurring costs of marketing tools subscriptions, healthcare costs for employees, salaries, recruitment costs, insurance, workers’ compensation, and payroll taxes.
Working with an ecommerce agency eliminates the need to worry about extra expenses, and provides access to a team of skilled specialists on a budget. As a result, an ecommerce marketing agency can deliver higher returns for a smaller yearly investment.
An ecommerce marketing agency provides access to a full team of experts, with monthly costs ranging from $2,000 to $17,000, depending on the desired deliverables. This is far more affordable compared to the cost of hiring an in-house team.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Has Access to Advanced Tools and Technologies
Running an ecommerce business can make it challenging to allocate time and resources towards training team members on effectively using new technologies.
Leading ecommerce marketing agencies have the latest tools and technology in the industry to create customized campaigns that effectively market their clients’ products and services.
By hiring such an agency, you gain access to the newest tools and data in the market and, more importantly, the expertise of the agency in knowing what will work best for your business to achieve your goals.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Will Implement an Exceptional Marketing Strategy
A reputable ecommerce marketing agency conducts thorough research on your target audience’s needs, preferences, and behavior, and also stays informed on industry trends and best practices. They have a clear understanding of the competition and the best marketing strategies within your industry, essential factors for a successful campaign.
Their team of experts carefully identifies competitors, marketing techniques, necessary content, and more based on current trends and patterns.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Tracks Metrics and Parameters to Determine a Campaign’s Success
Measuring the real ROI (Return On Investment) can be difficult. However, an ecommerce marketing agency will be able to measure the effectiveness of a campaign by tracking important metrics and parameters that directly indicate a campaign’s success rate.
Measurable results are important, as they give new insights about the campaign. Such insights are vital in order to guide the campaign in the right direction
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Has an Excellent SEO Team
It doesn’t matter how good your content is; it needs to be written with SEO in mind to reach potential customers, to generate leads and positive results. The SEO team of an ecommerce marketing agency understands that the nuances of search engines have their perks.
You must be aware of Google’s 200+ ranking factors. The SEO team will do everything necessary to align these factors to attract visitors, convert them into leads, and get your online store recognized – and promoted – by Google.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Has a Solid Creative Team
An ecommerce agency that has predominantly worked with several clients will understand how user experience plays a crucial role in decision-making and why first impression matters the most when a visitor lands on a website. Most often, people leave your landing page or website if it doesn’t speak to them.
In order to succeed in the online world, it’s essential to focus on the right elements, and a well-established ecommerce marketing agency should have a competent creative team that can help you improve and enhance your landing pages, ad designs, and website, resulting in increased traffic and conversion rates.
An experienced creative team can elevate your online store by understanding the nuances of various online advertising formats, such as retargeting ads, display ads, and social media. They can differentiate your store from competitors through the creation of unique designs and shopping experiences that effectively engage customers and drive sales.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Performs Regular Maintenance and Support
Online stores or websites need ongoing maintenance and support to deliver a positive user experience. The technical team of an ecommerce marketing agency provides regular maintenance and support, including security checks, to keep your ecommerce store secure and running smoothly.
An Ecommerce Marketing Agency Provides Agility
In today’s fast-paced competitive environment, constant adaptation is necessary for success in ecommerce. Ecommerce marketing agencies stay up to date with the latest developments and marketing techniques as part of their daily work and professional obligation.
Working with a marketing agency will bring agility and expertise to your ecommerce business and drive growth.
8 Telltale Signs It’s Time to Hire an Ecommerce Marketing Agency
Determining the best approach to marketing your business can be a complex decision, whether it be hiring an in-house team or outsourcing to a consultant or agency.
However, there are certain indicators that can help you determine the right time to bring on an ecommerce marketing agency for your business.
#1. You See a Decline or Stagnation in Sales
You may have done an excellent job of running your business successfully yourself. However, after a certain period of time, if you notice a drop in sales, it might be time for you to hire an ecommerce marketing agency.
An ecommerce marketing agency will audit your website to see if there are any user experience issues, and will also ramp up new marketing campaigns to reach more customers.
They will help you develop a marketing strategy that will ensure that your content reaches your target audience. Your marketing messaging will be on point reaching the right audience at the right time.
They will create an effective plan to integrate your sales process into marketing strategies that direct good leads to your sales team.
#2. You are Launching a New Product
Launching a new product should generate buzz and create excitement among the audience. This will help to a great extent in the initial sales.
You may be able to create a small buzz through your own marketing efforts; however, a good ecommerce marketing agency with a team of experts can generate a big buzz and make your launch even more successful.
#3. Your Business is Growing
As your business flourishes and expands, it’s crucial to have experts on board to keep pace with its growth.
As you establish a reputable brand, it’s essential to maintain that reputation of excellence and innovation. To do that, you’ll need more than just a website and simple ecommerce marketing strategy.
You’ll require a team of experts who are dedicated to creating innovative ideas for your business.
Due to the demanding nature of managing a growing business, business owners may not have the time to devote to learning and executing a complex ecommerce marketing strategy.
It’s more practical for them to focus on growing their business and managing finances, rather than taking on the added responsibility of ecommerce marketing.
#4. Your Content Becomes Outdated
As a business owner, you have a responsibility to continuously develop and refine your business to maintain its competitiveness, innovation, and relevancy.
Despite this, many business owners may prefer to remain with the traditional models they are familiar with. However, it’s crucial to adapt and evolve according to market trends, customer demands, and technological advancements to ensure business success and progress.
Old, stale content can harm your online presence by impacting your Google rankings and reducing engagement on social media. Consistent, fresh and unique content is vital, including daily social media posts and weekly website updates.
Hiring an ecommerce marketing agency can provide significant benefits by giving you access to a team of dedicated specialists focused on growth, optimization, and marketing goals. These experts help you steer clear of declining cycles and keep your business evolving.
#5. You Can’t Measure Social Engagement and Web Analytics
“What gets measured gets improved” – Peter Drucker (Austrian-American Consultant, Educator, and Author)
While running an ecommerce business, it is important to measure social engagement and website analytics. You should test, track, and analyze the results to find out what’s working and what’s not. If you are not able to do so, you should hire an ecommerce marketing agency as they have the analytics resources to help you.
They will regularly track and look at how leads come to you and take steps to identify which leads have the highest sales possibility. They will evaluate your metrics and develop a strategy that tailors to your business needs.
#6. You Lack the Necessary In-House Skills
Developing an ecommerce marketing strategy requires the consideration of a variety of elements. It requires detailed knowledge and skill set of SEO, paid ads, social media, graphic design, and website development skills to ensure the success of your business.
By hiring an ecommerce marketing agency and working with them, you get access to all the creative knowledge. Whether it is researching SEO and keyword terms to promote your brand, specializing in social media marketing, or designing an attractive landing page for your site, it will be completely handled by their team of skilled professionals.
A good ecommerce marketing agency will offer specialists in each field who will assess your company’s needs and build a personalized plan based on where your company has the potential for maximum growth.
#7. You Can’t Handle Everything Yourself
As a business owner, you may be an expert in handling your products or services; however, you may not be equally skilled in online marketing. You may end up adding a lot of pressure on yourself when you try to handle paid ads, social media, web updates, and email marketing along with your other business tasks.
Running an online business can take up a lot of time, and as a business owner, you may have a lot of tasks on your plate, making it difficult for you to focus and handle everything yourself. An effective solution to this problem is to outsource various tasks to an ecommerce marketing agency. By doing this, you will be able to focus on running your business while the agency handles your marketing strategy.
Remember, when you try to manage everything yourself, it can be exhausting. So switch your focus to your strengths and reach out to an agency to reduce your workload and burden.
#8. You Struggle With Making Long-Term Plans
Long-term planning is crucial for running a successful business as it helps in determining concrete processes and actions that are needed to achieve strategic goals. It is important to frame and implement marketing strategies by keeping long-term revenue and brand-building goals in mind.
An ecommerce marketing agency will focus on setting priorities, aligning resources, and handling unexpected changes, thereby enabling you to think months or even years in advance.
How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Marketing Agency
Remember, not all ecommerce marketing agencies are created equal. There may be several ecommerce marketing agencies out there; however, not every agency can actually deliver on what they promise.
Here are a few tips that will help you find an agency that can take your business to the next level.
Determine Your Goals, Budget, and Timeline
When selecting an agency to partner with, consider aligning their expertise with your specific objectives. These objectives could include increasing ecommerce store traffic, boosting monthly sales, raising brand recognition, enhancing user experience, etc. Ensure that the agency’s goals align with your overall business goals.
For instance, if your aim is to improve your website’s organic traffic, consider an agency with proven expertise in SEO tactics. Conduct thorough research and choose the agency that best fits your needs and budget.
In addition to setting your goal, it’s important to clearly define your target audience. Be specific about what you want to achieve and who you’re trying to reach. With this information, you can establish your budget, timeline, and desired outcomes. This will assist you in eliminating agencies that are beyond your budget or unable to demonstrate similar results to what you’re seeking.
A good ecommerce marketing agency can be expensive, making budget a key consideration when choosing one. Be clear about your budget and desired timeline for results. The extent of work, delivery timeline, and project complexity can impact your budget. Many agencies are flexible and can adjust their services to fit within your budget.
Do Background Research
Although ecommerce marketing agencies may appear similar, they are not. Some agencies have the potential to revolutionize your business while others may not deliver the desired outcomes. It’s important to thoroughly evaluate and select the right agency for your needs.
Conducting background research is crucial to validate the credibility of an ecommerce marketing agency. Research their past work and check for customer reviews. Verify if they have achieved success with similar projects. Background research will give you insight into their approach to crafting ecommerce marketing campaigns.
Some agencies offer case studies and demonstrated results for businesses similar to yours. Case studies provide a more comprehensive view of an ecommerce marketing agency’s performance. They offer comparative data, customer testimonials, and reviews. You can also witness the effectiveness of their services and the outcomes they achieved.
Reach out to companies the agency has previously collaborated with and gather their feedback. Speaking with them will give you a better understanding of the agency’s operations and the team you may potentially be working with.
Evaluating an agency’s history will assist you in determining if they have previous experience working with businesses similar to yours and if they would be a good fit for collaboration.
An ecommerce marketing agency with a diverse background working with clients across industries can bring a fresh perspective and generate tailored campaigns and effective sales strategies for your specific audience.
Learn What Services They Offer
Ecommerce marketing agencies may either specialize in certain services or offer a comprehensive range of solutions for your ecommerce business.
It’s beneficial to consider working with a full-service ecommerce marketing agency, as they are equipped to handle all your marketing needs and can streamline your processes.
With a one-stop-shop solution, you can simplify reporting, link various campaigns, and make adjustments based on results. Having all your marketing records managed by a single agency can also improve your overall marketing efficiency.
You Should Be Comfortable With Their Communication and Reporting Structure
It is essential to consider an ecommerce marketing agency’s approach to communication and reporting when choosing one to work with. Marketing is a dynamic process and results can vary, so having a transparent and open line of communication is critical to ensuring a successful partnership. Be wary of agencies that make unrealistic promises and focus on clear reporting to keep your marketing efforts on track
When selecting a marketing agency for your ecommerce business, it’s important to consider their communication and reporting process and make sure it aligns with your preferences. To simplify this, make sure to clearly outline the statistics and metrics you want included in your reports.
Find Out What Technologies and Tools They Use
Having knowledge of the tools and technologies used by an ecommerce marketing agency is essential, as utilizing appropriate tools can boost the efficiency and outcomes of a marketing campaign.
When choosing an ecommerce marketing agency for SEO, make sure they have access to tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc. for tracking trends and keywords. Similarly, for email marketing campaigns, confirm that they use tools like MailChimp or Campaign Monitor.
It’s common for successful ecommerce marketing agencies to utilize Google Analytics for reporting and data analysis, as well as design and development tools for campaign creation.
Knowing about the tools and technologies an ecommerce marketing agency uses can distinguish between a mediocre agency and a well-established one.
Check for Fair and Economical Pricing
Many business owners make the mistake of choosing an ecommerce marketing agency based solely on the low prices of their services. While cost is a consideration, it’s important to keep in mind that a cheaper agency may end up costing you more in the long run due to the need to correct mistakes.
Instead of searching for the lowest prices, aim for fair pricing that reflects the quality and credibility of the work you expect. A higher-priced ecommerce marketing agency that is willing to invest more effort into crafting successful campaigns can often be a better choice.
Having a clear idea of your campaign goals and requirements will help you make informed decisions when choosing an ecommerce marketing agency.
Interview the Agency That You Have Chosen
Once you have selected an ecommerce marketing agency that meets your criteria, it’s important to schedule an interview to learn more about them and gauge the potential of a partnership.
You can conduct an interview with the chosen ecommerce marketing agency to gain a better understanding of their work and capabilities. By asking relevant questions, you can assess if they are the right fit for your business needs.
- Will the work be completed entirely by the ecommerce marketing agency or will it be contracted to external individuals or entities?
- What will the team look like?
- How will communication with the assigned team member be maintained and how often will meetings be scheduled to discuss and plan the campaign?
- Can you explain the process that will be followed and outline the workflow?
- How will the success of the campaign be monitored and evaluated?
Final Thoughts
As a business owner, you may have many business-critical decisions that need your attention. So, hiring an agency will be a wise decision. Partnering up with an ecommerce marketing agency can be a boon for your business. However, if you’re planning to hire some random ecommerce marketing agency without doing proper background research, you could end up losing money, putting your business at risk.
Taking your time to choose the right ecommerce marketing agency is essential to ensure the success of your business. Rushing the decision can lead to negative consequences, so it’s important to carefully research and evaluate potential partners. An effective ecommerce marketing agency can drive significant growth for your business and broaden your reach to new customers.
Ecommerce Marketing Agency – FAQs
Digital marketing is a marketing technique used to promote a brand’s offerings (products or services) through online channels such as search engines, social media, email and more. The ultimate aim of ecommerce digital marketing is to attract customers, nurture them, and encourage them to take action, such as making a purchase or subscribing
Online marketing in ecommerce refers to the use of various digital marketing strategies and techniques to promote and sell products or services online through electronic commerce (ecommerce) platforms. This can include tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content marketing, affiliate marketing, and other online advertising methods.
a. Marketing agency costs vary widely based on location, expertise, and services offered.
b. Hourly rates can range from $50 to $250+ per hour, while monthly retainers start at $2000/month and go upto $70,000/month
c. Project-based fees for specific marketing projects can vary greatly and may range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars or more.
An ecommerce agency is an external or outsourced team that offers a comprehensive range of digital marketing services, such as SEO, social media marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and content marketing, to online merchants to help them increase their sales and boost their brand awareness.
