Why you should integrate marketing into all online store phases - Part 2: After the launch
In German, they say "Rome wasn't built in a day." Even a professional online store launch takes time. After we explained in the first part why you should involve your marketing experts in the design and implementation phase, this article will focus on the post-launch phase. There is a lot more to do and coordinate here than you might think.
Promotion of the online shop
Let's start with the most obvious activity of a marketing department: promoting your online store in general and your products in particular. From Google and Meta ads to retargeting and advertisements in trade journals to influencer marketing and press relations, there is an almost infinite number of communication measures.
But don't act blindly! You should collect as much data as possible in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation in order to know what your individual marketing campaigns are really achieving. In order to actually collect important metrics such as conversion rate or CPL costs, it is often necessary to connect different platforms and systems or set up tracking pixels. Marketing and technology need to work closely together.
Content is King!
Content is the key to every online store. After the launch, you should regularly create and publish fresh and relevant content - be it in the form of product texts, news, blog posts or guides. You can use this content to "attract" new potential customers and draw attention to your products. And if someone is interested in your offers, the right content at the right time will lead to a purchase.
To be able to place news, blog posts, guides etc. in your online store, you need a powerful store system or you can connect a CMS. But that's usually not enough! Over time, your content managers will certainly have ideas and requests on how to make the content even better, more attractive, faster and more diverse.
Onpage-Optimierungen for SEO
Continuously optimizing your online store for search engines (SEO) is one of the most important marketing measures for organic growth. As the saying goes: SEO is not a sprint, but a marathon. So you have to constantly stay on the ball and do what is known as on-page SEO. On the one hand, it's about placing good content.
On the other hand, marketing colleagues must work together with IT to make improvements. This includes, for example, optimizing loading times, integrating special SEO plugins and adapting pages for smartphones. In fact, the requirements of Google, Bing and the like are constantly changing, so you need to adapt your online store to these new "rules of the game" on an ongoing basis.
Data analysis and trend scouting
The world of e-commerce is dynamic and consumer wishes sometimes change very quickly. That's why you always need to keep your finger on the pulse and adapt your online store - technically, visually and in terms of content. Otherwise, you may quickly be left behind by your competitors.
To prevent this from happening, your marketing department must keep an eye on the latest trends and all relevant key figures. This is only possible if you integrate new tracking and analysis tools into your online store and get rid of old, less reliable systems. Because without collecting data and KPIs, you are flying blind!
Integrate new systems
If you start your online store in a "lean" and agile way, you will most likely make sure that you connect as few external systems as possible - and that's a good thing. However, as your e-commerce business grows, you will need to be increasingly professional and always pay attention to efficiency. You can do this by digitizing and automating your new and existing processes.
To do this, you need systems such as:
- PIM - Product Information Management
- CRM - Customer Relationship Management
- ORM - Order Management
- ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning
- CDN - Content Delivery Network
Among other things, this makes it possible for you to ...
- maintain product data such as descriptions, photos, data sheets and the like in just one tool.
- always display the latest prices and availability of your products in your online store.
- create and send invoices and reminders automatically.
- send out personalized newsletters and mailings.
- deliver images and other data quickly worldwide.
The maintenance and connection of the different systems can consume a lot of resources if there are no suitable interfaces or if you are using old systems. If you are using Magento / Adobe Commerce, we will be happy to help you find a solution quickly and cost-effectively.
Cybersecurity is a necessity
The growing popularity of e-commerce also makes it more attractive for criminals to do their "business" here. Orders with stolen credit cards, misuse of voucher codes, theft of customer data through hacker attacks - the number of cases of fraud and cyberattacks is on the rise. If your company is not prepared, a single successful attack can paralyze your entire online store and put your business at risk.
Yes, implementing cybersecurity measures is not a marketing task. It's a job for cybersecurity experts. IT and marketing can also work together here, for example by communicating the importance of protective measures internally, formulating rules of conduct or offering training. Anything that helps to make your online business more secure is a top priority.
Summary
Never forget: launching and operating an online store is not just an IT project! You need specialists from different areas to design, launch and operate it. Don't forget to get your marketing colleagues on board, as they can provide support in various areas. And not just selectively, but continuously!
Do you have more questions? Don't hesitate to contact us - we look forward to working with you to find solutions that meet your needs.
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