Rachel Andrea Go Fractional CMO for B2B eCommerce Companies

Is email marketing the best option for your online store? 8 Alternative eCommerce marketing channels

Rachel Andrea Go /

The average email open rate is 18%, and the average click-through rate is just 2.6%. That means if you send out an exciting new product release or sale to 1,000 people, you’ll get just 178 opens and 26 clicks.

Email marketing statistics are plummeting due to overcrowded inboxes, overprotective spam filters, and collective inbox exhaustion.

If email is no longer getting the results you need, you want to diversify your communication channels, and you’re looking to enhance your customer experience, here are eight alternative eCommerce marketing channels for you.

The importance of multi-channel eCommerce marketing

Email marketing statistics are lackluster compared to 10 years ago, but it’s still a beneficial form of communication for purchase confirmations, cart abandonment messages, and newsletter content.

Although email marketing isn’t dead, single-channel marketing is.

Shopify’s statistics show that multi-channel marketing increases eCommerce revenue by 38%, 120%, and 190% with each additional channel.

Customers use multiple communication channels every day. They check their emails at work, go on Facebook at lunch, text their partner on a commute, or post on Reddit in the evening.

Implementing a multi-channel eCommerce marketing strategy increases your brand visibility, empowers choice for your customers, and builds relationships with them to encourage repeat purchases.

Multi-channel marketing enhances your brand in many ways, including:

  • Increase visibility: The more places you reach out to your customers, the more chance you have of your message being seen and acted on.
  • Provide choice: The more channels you market on, the more control you give you customers over where and when they engage with your message.
  • Build relationships: By adopting multiple marketing channels, you can find the best channels for building long-term relationships with your customers.

However, the common alternatives to email marketing are growing old and rusty. Search ads can be competitive and expensive, and marketplace ads require a hefty budget.

Rather than spend an arm and a leg on ads to supplement your marketing channels, here are a few alternative options to help you stand out and generate results.

8 Alternative eCommerce marketing channels

1) SMS

SMS messages are an easy, but powerful way to enhance your customer messaging while breaking through the short-attention spans of modern consumers.

SMS marketing is great for eCommerce sellers, because:

Tip: If you have an international audience, consider sending texts through online messaging services, like Viber and Whatsapp.

2) Push or in-app notifications

Push notifications are messages that appear within a website or app, and can show up in a phone or browser even after someone has left your site. You’ve probably seen them before, where you’re asked whether you want to allow or deny alerts.

Push notifications are a highly effective marketing channel for eCommerce sellers because:

  • They appear on the screen regardless of what your audience is doing or what website they’re on (if they’ve agreed to get notifications), attracting immediate attention.
  • They can be timed to appear at relevant points throughout the day (for example, when someone is likely to be shopping online at lunch, or scrolling on their phone in the evenings).
  • Your audience has to click to dismiss a push notification, meaning they’re always seen, regardless of whether a CTA is followed.
  • You can use images and links to tailor push notifications to your audience and their previous activity on your webstore, which increases their effectiveness.

Tip: Be sure to get permission to send notifications from your app, to avoid annoying your users.

3) Facebook Messenger

Available through web browsers and smartphone apps, Facebook Messenger operates similarly to WhatsApp.

Facebook Messenger is a popular eCommerce marketing tool because:

Tip: Use this channel wisely to avoid being blocked and suspended. Consider using this channel for important updates, like shipping notifications.

4) YouTube

About 122 million people tune into YouTube every day, making it one of the most influential marketing channels today. Despite the emergence of other video platforms in recent years, none have as far a reach as YouTube, which is widely considered the second-largest search engine behind Google.

You should consider adding YouTube into your channel mix because:

Tip: If you don’t have enough time to create videos for your channel, tap into a creator network for sponsored videos and clips.

Victoria Sullivan on sponsoring YouTube videos for lead generation

5) Instagram shopping

These posts let you tag products featured within your Instagram posts, story, reel, IGTV, and more. Customers can easily learn more about your products from inside the app, and when paired with Instagram Checkout, users can complete their purchases directly in Instagram. Alternatively, you could redirect shoppers to your website.

Shopping posts can be incredibly valuable because:

  • Users already turn to Instagram regularly for product suggestions. In fact, 130 million users tap on an Instagram shopping post every month to learn more about the products they see.
  • 50% of people have visited a site to make a purchase after seeing an item or service in an Instagram Story.
  • The average user spends at least seven hours a week on Instagram, and 63% of Americans say they check their Instagram accounts daily.
  • You can showcase your products in a more dynamic setting using video and/or images, plus engage buyers when purchase intent is high.
  • You can organize your products into unique collections, which can then be displayed on a beautifully branded Instagram Shop.
  • Instagram additionally supports photo, carousel, and video ads (among other formats) to further convince buyers to take action.

Tip: Partner with complementary brands on Instagram to arrange a story share swap, so you can share one of their product stories in exchange for them returning the favor. That way, you extend your post reach.

6) TikTok

TikTok is a social media platform where creators can upload short videos (up to three minutes long) and share posts even with those who aren’t subscribed to the app. It’s a valuable, pervasive eCommerce marketing channel thanks to a few reasons:

Tip: TikTok thrives on virality. Bring your best creatives to the channel and make people laugh, think, and get inspired.

A quick guide to eCommerce marketing in 2021

7) User-generated content (UGC)

UGC is content your buyers create featuring one or more of your products. Brands usually leverage contests, giveaways, influencer marketing, and loyalty programs to generate UGC, which, in turn, can be displayed across their websites or social media accounts to boost their credibility.

UGC is a highly coveted form of marketing because:

Tip: Run a regular review campaign quarterly or bi-annually to refresh the reviews and testimonials you use on your website and marketing materials. Ask users to send in clips of their reviews on social media (for example, shared on TikTok or Instagram) and cross-post these reviews to your other channels, such as YouTube.

8) Augmented reality (AR)

AR is an interactive experience that lets you overlay a real-world environment with different sounds, images, and text. It’s now a popular feature on many social media channels (like SnapChat lenses) and apps (think: furniture apps that allow you to visualize furniture inside a room).

AR is quickly gaining traction in the marketing world because:

Tip: Use AR in creative ways. You don’t have to limit yourself to allowing consumers to “try on” your products. You can provide a fun gaming experience while they shop, or create a virtual community around your products.

Best practices for multi-channel marketing

As with any marketing campaign, you shouldn’t simply jump in and hope to see results. It’s important to keep your messaging relevant, concise, and useful.

1) Personalize your messaging

84% of customers feel personalization is crucial to win their business, so it’s essential to inject tailored content into your campaigns.

  • Use custom fields in your SMS messages and push notifications to insert a visitor’s name and any relevant information.
  • Add personalized product recommendations with a product recommendation tool or website visitor tracking software.
  • Segment your audience into marketing campaigns according to their interests, previous purchases, or behavior on your website.

2) Send engaging content

Your word count is limited on these communication channels, so relevance is even more important. Aim to capture attention and ignite emotions immediately.

  • Insert your brand logo in push notifications and your Messenger profile picture, so customers immediately recognize and trust you.
  • Include images of products the person bought, looked at, or might be interested in to incite emotions of want, need, or excitement.
  • Employ friendly, conversational copy to make your message feel less like a mass-email campaign and more like a personal note.

Startup content marketing: Crafting an effective content strategy

3) Plan your timing

Timing is crucial for these communication channels, because they’re easily dismissed and forgotten about if they appear at the wrong time. They also become a nuisance when you send them out too frequently.

As a general rule of thumb:

  • Send SMS messages when your audience is likely to be on their phones and in a position to visit your website (for example, on a daily commute or early evening).
  • Push notifications perform best when your audience is at their computer (for example, during the day or at lunchtime).
  • Messenger communications are more likely to be seen and acted upon when your audience has free time, such as in the evenings or on weekends.

Test different messaging times and see which works best. Just avoid overdoing it while you’re experimenting.

4) Observe the rules of engagement

Every channel has its own unique audience, formats, and algorithms. It’s important that you play to their individual quirks and deliver content their users have come to love.

  • Platforms like Twitter and TikTok favor candid, short-form content, whereas YouTube favors longer, more produced content.
  • Remember to be human. Even though you’re producing content on behalf of your brand, many of the abovementioned channels work best when you publish authentic content.
  • Start with one or two channels so you can study the platforms inside and out. Pay attention to popular formats, tone, and messaging that could serve as inspiration for your own content.

5) Stay consistent

Your buyers’ impression of your brand is the sum of all their interactions with your company. Whether they engage with you through their mobile devices, laptops, social media, or your site, your branding should feel familiar and consistent to your buyers.

  • Create and enforce a style guide, which defines elements like your brand colors, logo, slogan, and more. You should also document the tone, voice, and values of your brand so everyone on your team knows how best to represent your brand, whether using written or visual media.
  • Find a platform to centrally manage your marketing channels. This will help you to plan, publish, and track your messaging more easily.
  • Use your CRM to track user engagement with your brand across multiple channels. See which channels yield a direct conversion, versus the ones that assist with conversion over time.

Wrapping up — Alternative eCommerce marketing channels

Email is still useful, but it cannot stand alone. A strong brand foundation is built from multiple lines of engaging communication that delights your customers.

A multi-channel marketing strategy connects you with your eCommerce customers away from the inbox, increasing the chances of your message being seen, read, and acted upon.

These eight simple, but highly effective email alternatives are great to engage with your audience on a more personal level than ads.

Published: August 17, 2020
Updated: August 17, 2021

Filed Under: Content, eCommerce