E-commerce has never been easy: in addition to a solid concept and a good idea, you need a lot of perseverance and an overview to achieve the desired success of an online store. Which system should I choose? Shopify or WooCommerce? How do I want to proceed? Dropshipping or my own warehouse? There are questions upon questions at the start of every e-commerce adventure. But the trickiest part is still marketing: how do I get people to my store who actually buy?
A few years ago, this question was much easier to answer: classic social media advertising. And while advertisements on Facebook, Instagram and the like have by no means died out, it is all the more difficult today. This is mainly due to data protection measures. These have had a particularly strong impact on the e-commerce industry in recent years. First came the Europe-wide GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and then, in 2021, Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency Framework with iOS 14.
Collecting data and building profitable ads has therefore become an extreme feat that requires massive technical expertise and large budgets. What does this mean for e-commerce: is it still worth starting an online store at all? Can you still be successful with average experience and a smaller budget? Absolutely!
In this post, I'll introduce you to 3 effective strategies that will help you generate high-quality traffic and buyers - while always remaining GDPR-compliant!
Classic e-commerce: Facebook Ads and Pixel
Before we delve deep into the strategies, let's take a quick look at what has actually changed as a result of the GDPR and iOS 14.
In simplified form, the development of a (dropshipping) online store used to look something like this: You come up with a concept, develop a product, build the store and start placing ads. Most store owners stuck primarily to Facebook Ads, as it is the most developed advertising platform with numerous active users. To be successful with Facebook ads, you also use the Facebook Pixel. This is a small snippet of code that is integrated into the store and tracks and collects user actions.
The pixel then gradually fills up with data on potential customers. Who visited the page? Who looked at a product? Who placed a product in the shopping cart? Who bought the product? The more data Facebook had on these so-called "events", the more accurate and profitable the ads became. This principle is still used today. So we can see that data is the absolute trump card in this area. The more data, the more ad success and consequently the more sales.
App Tracking Transparency Framework + GDPR = data loss
The problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain this valuable and essential data due to serious data protection tightening. The measures intended to increase data protection for end consumers are making it more difficult for anyone in e-commerce to collect sufficient amounts of data to be able to place profitable ads.
Two of the most significant restrictions from this perspective are Apple's App Tracking Transparency Framework and the GDPR.
> App Tracking Transparency Framework
This framework was introduced by Apple in 2021 at the same time as iOS 14. It allows users to choose whether or not personal data may be collected when using social media platforms.
Similar to the cookie banner on websites, social media visitors can decide with a simple click. From an advertiser's point of view, this is problematic: although many people consent to cookie tracking, even a minor loss of data can mean more expensive advertisements.
How many people ultimately consent depends on many factors. These include the way in which the cookie banner is integrated into the website, the color scheme and other factors.
A data loss occurs -> the advertisements become more expensive -> the profit decreases.
> GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation was first introduced in 2016. It came into force on May 25, 2018. It brought with it numerous new data protection regulations for online retailers and website owners across Europe.
The aforementioned cookie banner was made mandatory by the GDPR and is probably the most important point for advertisers. This means that users on a website or online store must clearly consent to data being collected. As with Apple's Transparency Framework, some website visitors reject tracking.
These are the main restrictions imposed by Apple and the GDPR. There are also many other interesting points and technical options for at least somewhat mitigating the loss of data. In this article, you can read all about how to make your store fit for GDPR and Apple from a technical perspective.
3 long-term marketing strategies for your online store
We would now like to take a look at three sustainable marketing strategies that will help you achieve the success you desire for your store without traditional social media advertising.
Strategy 1: Social media
It may not sound like a revelation to set up a social media presence for your business. The fact is, however, that despite the incredible reach and diverse possibilities offered by Pinterest, Instagram and the like, many store owners still rely solely on paid ads instead of trying their hand at organic content.
The reason for this is usually a lack of patience. Building a large site is a long-term undertaking that requires a lot of patience and planning. However, it will pay off all the more later on, because then you can look forward to sustainable, organic traffic for your store.
In addition, you can usually use your social media page to directly address people who are interested in your product. The traffic is therefore of good quality and highly likely to convert into sales.
Now I want to introduce you to two of the most important platforms and the do's and don'ts there.
Instagram is still one of the top platforms and enjoys great popularity. Over 8 million people in Germany use Instagram every month. There are also numerous opportunities for stores to present themselves and showcase their own products.
Value Content
The most common mistake store owners make on Instagram is simply posting product photos. Even if you have a very nice product, your target group won't benefit much from being constantly bombarded with advertisements.
Instead, you should focus your posts on added value. What does a typical customer of yours look like? What behavior do you notice? What wishes and concerns does your target group have? If you know exactly what makes your customers tick, you can create customized content that provides answers to these questions.
An example: You have a store that sells nutritional supplements. So instead of just posting products on Instagram, you can create value content. This could be nutrition tips, knowledge about the body, different diets or similar.
The more different approaches you try at the beginning, the better. Sooner or later, it will become clear which format is most popular with your target group.
Keeping up with the times - current: Reels
It is always important to follow the latest trends and developments on Instagram. When the platform introduces a new feature, it often makes sense to try it out. This is because new features are stronger at the beginning, as Instagram wants to make them known to as many users as possible.
Instagram Reels are a prominent example of this. The new TikTok-style video section has been promising enormous organic reach since mid-2020. The advantage: you don't need thousands of followers to be successful there. The only important thing is that you create unique content that appeals to and captivates people. Then it is possible for even completely new profiles to grow quickly and generate a large reach.
Example: In its reels, the sustainable fashion brand Armed Angels shows various ways to integrate sustainability into everyday life. Here, for example, is "5 ways to eco-friendly living".
Instagram Shopping
For store owners, Instagram Shopping is of course the most interesting function. It allows you to create a small store directly on your Instagram page and display your products with prices and descriptions.
Your followers and visitors can access your actual store via your Instagram store and buy something there. If you use Shopify or WooCommerce for your store, you can easily synchronize the products.
You can even further personalize the store on Instagram via the Facebook Merchant Center and customize fonts, colors and sections to your liking.
This way, you can offer your audience a perfect opportunity to familiarize themselves with your brand and your products directly on Instagram - and possibly persuade them to buy.
Search engine vs social media
Pinterest is one of the most exciting platforms for anyone working in e-commerce. Pinterest is a very visual, creative place based on images and videos. Unlike Instagram, which also consists of images and videos, Pinterest focuses on photography and art.
Another important point is the definition of Pinterest. It is much more of a search engine than a social network. Users use the platform to search for images, photos and videos.
For creators, this means doing SEO optimization, researching keywords and collecting trust in order to gain reach, just like with Google.
On Instagram, posts have an extremely short half-life and are usually no longer relevant after a few days. With Pinterest, the exact opposite is the case due to search engine behavior. The advantage of Pinterest is that a post (pin) still gets reach and is displayed to users even months after you have uploaded it.
Exciting target groups
Pinterest has a reputation for being particularly popular with middle-aged female users. While this is still partly true, numerous other niches and target groups are also developing.
The platform has seen drastic growth during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of users rose from 416 million to 454 million in one year, which corresponds to an increase of 9 percent.
The Pinterest target group has diversified accordingly. So whether you are targeting women or men, are active in the fashion or supplement industry, Pinterest is a platform that you should take a look at for your store.
With unique value content, you can also achieve great success here and attract people to your store.
Rich Pins
A great advantage of Pinterest is that you can add a link to each pin. Users can therefore go directly from a pin to your store. With Rich Pins, you even have the option of displaying even more product information, such as the price and description.
Social media - interim conclusion
Instagram and Pinterest are ideal ways to give your store a face on social networks (or search engines). You have the opportunity to build up a following and generate traffic for your store without any data protection concerns.
Strategy 2: Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO is a closed book for many store owners. But not taking the plunge is a much bigger risk than trying. Because if you succeed with SEO, you've hit the jackpot. Long-term, high-quality traffic, consistency and the chance of high conversion rates are possible with an SEO-optimized store.
In fact, it takes a lot of knowledge and perseverance. As promising as SEO is, the path to success is also complex. Here I will outline the most important points so that you too can make your store SEO-ready.
> On-Page SEO
On-page" measures, i.e. everywhere on the visible page, are usually the first step in the SEO process. This includes the creation of SEO content. First and foremost, this includes texts.
For example, if you have a furniture store with lots of products and categories, you could write product or category guides. There you could write about colors, materials, styles and many other aspects of furniture and offer users real added value. When it comes to SEO, it is of course essential to use the right keywords.
You can use various tools such as Sistrix, Ahrefs or Ubersuggest to research keywords in terms of their competition and search volume. In the beginning, it is advisable to focus on small keywords that have a low search volume but also low competition.
At the start of your SEO journey, your store - like any other - does not yet have any trust with Google. It is therefore virtually impossible to rank well in the search results for very general and competitive keywords.
An example using the furniture store:
- recommended long-tail keyword: oak furniture living room care
- highly contested keyword: furniture living room
On-page optimization also includes improving the user experience. This is an incredibly important factor for Google. Google always wants the search intent to match the page that Google searchers come to. This is measured by the bounce rate and session duration on your store, among other things.
With clear pages, clear design and the provision of all important information, you can keep these values at the best possible level.
Another on-page aspect is images, videos and all other media. These should always be correctly formatted, sized and compressed. This way, they do not take up unnecessary memory and still enable a fast website.
> Link building
Probably the most important factor for SEO is link building. You can have the best texts with the most meticulously researched keywords, but if you have no trust, you will have a really hard time.
But what is this "trust" actually? Trust simply means that your domain has a good reputation with Google. One value that shows you how highly regarded your store is with the search engine is the so-called "Domain Authority (DA)". You can easily check this for a large number of websites.
The higher the DA, the better your ranking. But how can domain authority be increased? The only way is through backlinks. This simply means links from other websites that lead to your store. The more sites that link to your store, the more trust you get. The quality of the referring sites is also important: if you were to get a backlink from apple.com, for example, it would be like winning the lottery. Backlinks from small and young sites, on the other hand, have little effect.
But getting backlinks is not that easy. Depending on the industry you are in, you can write to bloggers for product tests, interviews or similar. You can also list your store on Google MyBusiness and - if you also run a physical store - list your store in local business directories.
With this approach, you can gradually collect backlinks and optimize the ranking of your store in the search results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) - Conclusion
SEO is definitely a long road. You always have to do research, create new content, optimize your store and build backlinks at the same time.
Nevertheless, SEO is a must-have strategy for every store, as most are still relying on traditional advertisements at the moment. If you have staying power and can get involved in a "time game" and also want to achieve sustainable results, SEO can be the GDPR-compliant way to go for you.
The sooner you start your SEO adventure, the better!
Strategy 3: Branding and community building
The final strategy that can help your store succeed without coming into conflict with data protection regulations is branding and community building.
Branding, i.e. brand building, is particularly important these days. There are more and more Instagram pages, Pinterest profiles, online stores, etc. Standing out from the crowd is an essential success factor. Combining this with sustainable success that is not based on short-term hype through aggressive marketing results in branding.
To build a brand, you need to think carefully about who is behind the brand, what it should embody, what the long-term vision of the brand is and how you can best convey its messages in a consistent style.
Community building is a closely related area. Building a community, not just an audience, brings you numerous benefits such as reliable results, more information about your customers, improved brand loyalty and so on ...
There are various places where you can put branding and community building into practice:
> Online store
A logo that reflects the values of your store, a consistent design with a uniform color scheme and matching fonts are the small 1×1 of branding. Establish design guidelines at the beginning of your brand development and follow them consistently.
Another great way to brand your store is through storytelling. I have already described in detail how to use this strategy correctly in this article. A small example: We have dedicated an entire storytelling page to one of my store projects, in which we explain the company's history, values, philosophy and vision.
This way you can bring your brand closer to people and give your store more personality at the same time.
> Social Media
Social networks are of course the ideal place for branding and community building. The latter works perfectly on Instagram. You can easily interact with your followers there by replying to comments or using interaction stickers for stories such as polls, questions or quizzes.
As with your online store, remember to use uniform designs.
Instagram is a community platform and users love to build a bond with pages. This allows you to build trust and develop a strong community. You don't need millions of followers to push your store through Instagram. A strong community of 5,000 fans can already move mountains!
Branding and community building - Conclusion
Branding and community building are not so important today because of data protection restrictions. Increasing competition means that you need to develop concepts to stand out.
A long-term brand strategy paired with continuous community building is the optimal way to get the most out of these two organic traffic and revenue sources for your store.
Conclusion: 3 strategies for sustainable success
You now know what challenges the GDPR and iOS 14 pose for you and your store. Be prepared for classic Facebook ads to be more difficult than ever before.
However, this is no reason not to set up an online store. There are some effective methods to be successful in e-commerce even without a large budget or data protection concerns.
With social media, SEO, branding and community building, you have three strategies that you can use to get your store to the top.
