There is no Ecommerce without digital marketing
Internet has changed the way we see and relate with the world, but the gamechanger moment was when we started getting high quality internet in the palm of our hands. Mobile changed everything: the way we connect with people, the way we exercise, the way we listen to music and also the way we buy things.
Ecommerce is growing faster than ever. Payments are safer, deliveries are faster and cheaper and most importantly, people are getting used to it. And they like it. The massification of online shopping is a powerful opportunity for new businesses to be established quickly and with low investment. This is triggering innovation daily. Our company is a perfect example — we run two circular economy ecommerce operations, Book in Loop and BabyLoop, exclusively online.
Despite the relative easiness in setting up ecommerce operations, getting good results is, however, not that easy. If you have a local shoe store, you’ll be competing with shoe stores from that street or block. But when you go online, you’re competing with every shoe store. Besides, with the amount of digital information and advertising that people consume every day, how can your business stand up from the crowd? How can you get people’s attention? How can you get more sales? A good product isn’t enough. Don’t get me wrong, having a very good product or service is crucial, but to succeed online, a very good digital marketing strategy is mandatory — there is no ecommerce without digital marketing.
And that’s when it gets complex. It’s not enough to have good ideas, a creative design or content team and some money to advertise. The most important thing is to understand what clients seek. And it is true that the circuit remains — people need something, and have to find someone, somewhere to sell it. But the decision-making process has become more complex. With the convenience of ecommerce and the amount of offer, clients will choose the brands with whom they engage with. For businesses it is not only about being there at the right moment with the right product anymore.
Social media is probably the most important and tricky part of a good online marketing strategy. Of course, a good SEO is very important — as are blogs, email and messaging marketing. But social media is the platform where everything happens, from advertising to conversation — and this phenomena keeps growing. And the tricky part is that algorithms and tools are always changing. And that’s why it is very important to keep up-to-date and learn new skills.
Last November, The Loop Company was invited to participate in a two-day intensive course on “Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs” in Luxemburg, organized by the Social Innovation Tournament (SIT) team of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and lectured by Andrew Davis from Media Trust. It was an incredible opportunity to understand how social media is working right now and to learn new skills and tools that can boost our results. It was a fantastic class, where all aspects for a good marketing strategy were covered, from creation, to engagement, advertising, conversion and analytics. But most importantly, we could understand what we were doing wrong and get some help and tips to do it better. I had the opportunity to share this experience with the rest of our team during a Loop Talk in our headquarters and we are already implementing some new features and practices in our social media platforms.
Finally, let’s look to “our” BabyLoop. BabyLoop is a platform to sell and buy reused childcare goods, like strollers. It is probably the toughest crowd to work with — converting a mom-to-be to buy a second-hand product for its son or daughter is not an easy task. A good price and photo are not enough, believe me. Our incredible clients don’t buy from us just because of this, they do it because they understand and relate with the values and mission of our brand. And our mission at BabyLoop, is not to sell strollers, but to help our community of parents in their struggles and to offer them less expensive alternatives and allowing them to set a good example of sustainability even before the baby is born. To get people to engage with this message, we work every day to go beyond the sale of our products, creating helpful content and information that can aid our clients to achieve their ultimate goal — to be good parents and enjoy their time with their babies.
Ricardo Morgado
Co-founder The Loop Company
