12 popular digital marketing techniques for B2B and B2C e-commerce

Digital marketing for ecommerce businesses is extremely effective to catch attention and convert prospects to customers. It is because an optimum digital marketing mix touches and leverages all the four stages of buyer’s Journey.

With a combination of various tools and strategies, you can attract prospective customers, educate them, convert them and even make them promote your e-commerce business in their respective social circles.

While we have already highlighted digital marketing mix for online businesses before, this post will talk about the effectiveness of various digital marketing tools and strategies with respect to B2B and B2C e-commerce businesses.

In the table given below, MQL refers to Marketing Qualified Leads while SQL refers to Sales Qualified leads.

Common methods of digital marketing for eCommerce businesses-

 

	Strategy	B2B	Effectiveness	B2C	Effectiveness
1	Email Marketing	Works great for lead generation and lead qualification.	High	Works effectively for branding, product activation etc.	Moderate
2	Search Marketing/Organic Search	Works equally great for B2B and B2C. Lead capture and qualification for B2B.	High	Brand name development and sales. Often combined with adroll campaigns.	Moderate to High
3	Content Marketing	To capture leads for MQL and SQL. Optimized web pages, blogs, infographics etc. tops the list.	High	Mostly branding. May be used to drive sales through occasional offers. Distribution is largely through social media.	Moderate
4	Facebook Marketing	Provides presence on Facebook. Catches attention.	Low	Effective product demonstration, value proposition, lead capture and sales.Content types can be images, polls, events etc.	High
5	Twitter Marketing	Provides presence on Twitter. Catches attention to an extent.	Low	Customer engagement. Branding and lead capture.	High
6	Linkedin Marketing	Attracts Qualified leads and conversions. Content types can be Linkedin posts, blogs, and other updates.	High	Can be used to demonstrate the company culture and related content	Low
7	Quora Marketing	Attract MQLs. Can be nurtured to SQLs.	Moderate to high	Can be used for effective branding with stories around brands.	Moderate to high
8	Youtube Marketing	Attract high-value MQLs through product demos and Tutorials.	High	Can be employed for branding through visual storytelling.	High
9	PPC, Adsense Marketing	Lead generation and sales if done properly	Low to Moderate	Branding, Remarketing, and Customer Retention	Moderate to High
10	Webinar Marketing	Lead generation and capture MQL leads.	High	Does not bring results	Low
11	Affiliate Marketing	Works in the B2B context to an extent. Must be supported with detailed content.	Low to Medium	Works great for B2C consumer	High
12	Influencer Marketing	Industry experts, client testimonials and being referred by other brands are major ways. Creates brand name. Measurability may be an issue with respect to MQLs	Medium to High	Famous people from film, sport or social media promote brands. Drives traffic and sales.	High

What do you think are the other major methods of digital marketing for ecommerce business? What has been your experience? Please share in the comment section below.