Category: Omnichannel Marketing

Create an Omnichannel eCommerce Strategy | Complete How-To Guide

Posted on by Coegi

Create Your Ideal Omnichannel eCommerce Strategy

A successful ecommerce strategy requires an omnichannel presence. It is the new norm for shopping and will continue its upward trajectory. Brands are following suit, investing more than ever in ecommerce advertising.

What does this mean for ecommerce marketers? 

To build consumer relationships and establish brand loyalty, marketers must create a robust online presence that aligns with where their consumers are spending time online. It is critical to show up in multiple digital marketplaces, for product discovery as well as purchase. 

Today’s ecommerce model expands beyond traditional commerce channels. Brands can’t rely on just having a Shopify or Amazon storefront anymore. You can place your product in front of engaged users on social media through social commerce, influencer marketing, social search, and many other paid advertising placements. However, even social is just one piece of the puzzle.

To learn how to craft the optimal omnichannel ecommerce strategy for your brand, download the guide below:

Creating an eCommerce Ecosystem 

The digital world is far more crowded than any physical retail destination. eCommerce is multi-channel, bridging the gap between in-store and online experiences. Over 73% of consumers use multiple channels to make purchasing decisions. And because shoppers are multichannel, brands must be too. 

The eCommerce Ecosystem

eCommerce Statistics 

Understanding the eCommerce Consumer Perspective

The modern consumer is their own salesperson.  They are better informed, armed with reviews, and company and product information.  In fact, 97% of consumers check online reviews before buying a product to get additional insight.

What are today’s consumers looking for from ecommerce brands? 

eCommerce has skyrocketed in popularity. As this medium grows, consumer expectations and shopping behaviors are also changing. 

  • Greater flexibility from payment plans to product availability 
  • More personalized ad targeting and curated content 
  • Convenient and quick delivery options 
  • Continuously cultivated brand relationships 

Customer experience is the ultimate differentiator. Consumers seek quality experiences, with 36% rating experience as critical for them, just behind price and convenience. Positive, personalized brand experiences are what ultimately drive conversions. 

Build Your Connected eCommerce Strategy

eCommerce is social commerce, marketplaces, delivery providers, D2C, retail media, and more –  all wrapped into one connected commerce experience. Skai coined the term “connected commerce”, which simply refers to connecting all points of the customer commerce journey together. It’s important to also connect all digital media tactics with commerce channels to ensure they are synchronously supporting the customer journey to drive optimal return on investment. 

Key Takeaways for Successful eCommerce Marketing: 

You can achieve ecommerce success using three key components: 

  1. Messaging that resonates with and engages target audiences 
  2. A multichannel e-commerce experience with numerous retail touchpoints   
  3. Full-funnel marketing for each stage of the consumer journey 

Coegi can help set up a data-driven strategy to maximize your ecommerce success. Contact us today to learn more.

Increasing Brand Lift and Growing Market Share for BODYARMOR

Posted on by Coegi

Brief

BODYARMOR was a new entrant into a well-defined CPG category: sports energy drinks.  

With a product containing less than half the sugar in Gatorade, but only 2% of overall category market share, BODYARMOR was looking to disrupt the paradigm. 

 

Highlights

16%
Lift in Brand Awareness

25M
Video Views in 2 Months

23%
Lift in Purchase Intent

Challenge

The media challenge was to break through the clutter in a crowded space and ensure BODYARMOR’s message of superior hydration was reaching the most relevant audience – ultimately increasing awareness and market share.

Logistically, they secured significant investment with grocery store and gas station distribution networks. The brand also had endorsements across all major sports leagues, plus significant involvement from investor, Kobe Bryant. But, to increase market share and sales, they needed to establish brand awareness with the right customers.

Solution

We used industry research to select the optimal digital media channels, as well as our own planning and channel mix software, to develop the optimal “go-to-market” plan. Using BODYARMOR’s first-party data collected from web engagements and promotional eblast sign-ups, we created targeted media plans for key niche audiences and engaged media partners to further invest in BODYARMOR’s success and growth.

Our team performed look-alike modeling and statistical analysis to create microtargeted audiences, including: Blue Collar Workers, Grocery Gatekeepers, Veterans, Teenage Athletes, and Health-Focused Adults.

Each audience had its own media plan and messaging strategy, for example:

  • The Blue Collar Worker audience focused on Midwestern and Southern states, Facebook and YouTube channels – using creative highlighting their partnership with NASCAR’s Ryan Blaney and UFC promotions. 
  • The Teenage Athlete audience focused on Instagram and Snapchat and leveraged endorsements from the NBA’s James Harden and NFL’s Richard Sherman.

To maximize campaign efficacy, we enabled multiple layers of targeting. This included layering our media with the national distribution footprint, to ensure the campaign was reaching the right people at the right time in the right place. We customized sequential messaging based on customer engagement level and continually made real-time adjustments to optimize performance.

We also engaged our Google reps to ensure alignment and efficiency across the board. These partnerships allowed access to Google Beta products, as well as brand lift and purchase intent studies to evaluate campaign success.

By all measures, this campaign delivered superior performance. Aggressive optimization throughout the campaign resulted in 55% over-delivery and engagement rates much higher than initially outlined. Through Google Site Link extensions, we were able to drive and measure a significant amount of in-store sales volume. 

In year one, the audience-first strategy produced strong brand recall lift amongst four of the five target groups. In year two, the strategy shifted to only include the top four performing audience groups.

  • The Blue Collar audience saw 22% brand lift and $840k in attributable sales.
  • The Grocery Gatekeeper audience saw 14% brand lift and $376k in attributable sales.
  • The Veteran audience saw 12% brand lift and $411k in attributable sales.
  • The Teenage Athlete audience saw 14% brand lift, $154k in attributable sales.
  • The Health Conscious Adult audience saw 2% brand lift, $214k in attributable sales.

More importantly, sales increased nearly 300% YoY, with 6% category market share; leading to the brand being acquired by Coca-Cola.

5 Key Components for Building an Omnichannel Search Strategy

Posted on by Coegi

 

If your search marketing strategy stops at basic Google SEM, you’re missing out on a wealth of opportunity. Paid search is no longer just a straightforward marketing tactic in your media playbook. New technological advancements and shifting consumer behavior are changing the user journey for search.

Sure, Google is a continuously evolving target that requires marketers to dedicate time and energy to evolve with it. But it’s also important to understand the value of leaning into search algorithms on social and e-commerce platforms to promote product discovery. 

So, as search marketing becomes both more multidimensional and omnichannel, how can you use it to your brand’s competitive advantage? 

There are five emerging components of search you can leverage to create a future-proof search marketing strategy:

  1. Social Search
  2. E-Commerce Search
  3. Zero-Click Search
  4. Visual Search
  5. Multisearch

#1 – Social Search

If your goal is to reach new audiences in the Gen Z or Millennial demographics, social media is a must-have component of your search strategy. Social media is Gen Z’s favorite channel to learn about new products, per Semrush survey data. In fact, 28% of Gen Z say the primary way they discover new brands and products is through social media ads versus the 27% who do so through search engines. Even after initial discovery, social media remains the top channel for additional product/service research among both Gen-Z and Millennials. 

Any social platform with a search bar can be a tool for brand discovery. Tap into the search engine optimization elements of social media by implementing a well-researched keyword strategy on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Develop keywords to promote product discovery and increase conversions, and play to each platform’s unique algorithms. Explore ways to optimize your content – paid or organic – to match what your consumers are looking for. 

Social Search Tip

Optimize everything – your profile description, shopping pages, captions, closed captioning, hashtags, and location – for key search terms. 

#2 – E-Commerce Search

Although search engine marketing is traditionally viewed as a bottom-funnel, conversion-driving tactic, it’s also an excellent tool for initial discovery. What better way to tap into this potential than optimizing for search on e-commerce and retail sites where there is a shorter purchase cycle? 

A MediaPost article reports that, “Amazon, Google, and eBay have become the top three destinations to search for products in the United States.” In fact, 60% of online product searches start on Amazon alone – more than the total of all search engines. Plus, another 35% of consumers start their searches directly on retailer websites. 

Using these platforms, consumers are more likely than ever to discover a product for the first time and immediately purchase it. That’s the beauty of the speed and convenience of e-commerce today. You can tailor your content on shopping channels to rank for product-focused, transactional search queries and drive quick conversions. 

E-Commerce Search Tip

Use the space available on product and brand pages to include a blend of relevant branded and unbranded keywords. This will defend your footprint against competitors and introduce your brand to in-market consumers. 

#3 – Zero-Click Search

Zero-click search refers to search engine queries that do not result in any clicks to other links. Instead, the user is able to find the information they need in the snippets at the top of the search engine results pages. Zero-click search accounts for 25.6% of mobile search queries, per Semrush research. From Google My Business to Rich Answers, brands can provide a wealth of information to consumers without the need for a click, simplifying the user experience.

Google Search Click Thru Rates – Semrush

Let’s address the elephant in the room – losing website traffic sounds like a detriment for brands. So, how do you flip zero-click search to your advantage? Forrester’s 2022 report by Nikhil Lai, Implement Holistic Search Marketing To Win The Search Engine Results Page, states that zero-click search, “challenges marketers who ‘have measured success purely through clicks’ to accurately measure search’s impact, according to Ryan Green, VP of marketing and innovation at Coegi. Without relying on clicks, search practitioners become more like PR directors focused on awareness, visibility, and top-of-funnel strategies.”

So, lean into your content quality. Make sure your technical SEO is optimizing for transactional search queries, and your content and website schema are structured for rich results. If you’re selling a product, you want it to rank in the top Google Shopping results for relevant keywords. Likewise, if you’re trying to rank for informational queries, make sure you have highly useful content on those topics written according to SEO best practices. This will increase your authority and improve your chances of gaining featured snippets. 

Zero-Click Search Tip

Add FAQs on key topics to your website to boost your chances of showing up in Google Rich Answers.  

#4 – Voice Search

Google voice search became available to Android users back in 2012. By 2020, 63% of Americans began using voice assistants in their daily lives – whether it was Siri on iPhones, Cortana on Microsoft devices, Alexa on Amazon Echos, or others (National Public Media, 2020). Today, we are seeing an even greater consumer adoption of connected devices for voice search. This includes hands-free devices like connected cars, voice-activated CTV remotes, and, of course, smart speakers. 

Currently, local search is a leading driver for voice searches beyond basic weather, music, and news queries commonly used with voice assistants. However, the growth of mobile commerce and hands-free search is making voice search a more important player in the search and e-commerce ecosystem. As the technology becomes more responsive and user-friendly, the Internet of Things will help create a wealth of opportunity for more voice search and voice shopping applications. So prepare now – start exploring how to make your content adaptable for voice search and explore connected device integrations. 

Voice Search Tip

The average voice search is 29 words long. Write content in a conversational tone and lean into Q&A formats targeting long-tail keywords. Also lean into broad match terms to allow your keywords to evolve with user queries. 

#5 – Google Multisearch

Multisearch is a new tool from Google allowing mobile app users to search using a combination of text and image. Using this AI-driven technology, users can upload an image and then type an accompanying query into the search bar. A multisearch example Google shares is uploading a picture of a houseplant plus the query “care instructions’.” 

Similarly, you can snap a photo of an item, such as a rug or a sweater, and find it or similar options for sale online. ‘Multisearch near me’ even allows users to snap a photo of an item and then find where it is available nearby. This provides a unique way for local restaurants and brick and mortar retailers to reach new customers via search. Think of the beautiful food pictures you see on Pinterest or Instagram. With multisearch near me, you can upload one of those images and see if a local restaurant has a similar dish to try. 

By layering text and image, multisearch responses can be more relevant to the user, personalized to their wants and needs. Although still a new and evolving tool, it’s clear to see the discovery and commerce potential multisearch offers for brands. 

Multisearch Tip

Develop search content, whether written, video, or image, for humans – not just to appeal to the Google bots. The goal of multisearch is to be as relevant and useful as possible – ensure your content matches these needs. 

Search engines, social media platforms, and e-commerce sites are collectively enhancing what’s possible for search. This means you need to extend both your SEO and SEM strategies to all possible channels in the media mix. To succeed with your search marketing strategy, focus on your audiences’ user journeys and discovery experiences first and foremost, rather than gamification of the SEO system. 

Key Takeaways to Improve Your Search Marketing Strategy: 

  • Think human, while leaning into Google’s emphasis on relevance and usefulness with your content. 
  • Create and structure content for rich results such as images, videos, how-tos, FAQs, charts, and more.
  • Take an omnichannel approach and apply your search strategy to social media channels and digital marketplaces. 
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