In 2024 and beyond, e-commerce marketing strategies are changing to suit a rapidly evolving world. Customers are scrolling past obvious ads and seeking out content that resonates on a deeper level. Today’s e-commerce shopper doesn’t want to be advertised; they want to be spoken to and to have their questions answered. Smart, savvy brands are learning how to be a resource, instead of clamoring for sales with flash and fluff.
How are they doing it, though, in an increasingly cookie-less world, where getting the right data poses new challenges? How are brands creating personalized experiences, when it’s tougher than ever to know which customers they’re speaking to? In this article, you’ll learn what modern e-commerce marketers are doing to get ahead. Here are some of the ways marketing is changing to keep up with Gen Z and the changing times.
1. The Line Between Marketing and Entertainment is Blurring
Shoppable video, extremely popular in China and other countries, was a little slower-going in the Western Hemisphere. There were fits and starts, and a host of articles written, but it never quite landed until TikTok Shop. Now, live commerce, shoppable ads, and other interactive commerce media integrations are finally taking hold. In future years, we might see this and other forms of social shopping completely overtake marketplaces like Amazon.
This type of e-commerce-tainment takes many forms, but the uniting factor is that it’s an experience. A user watches a product demonstration, or a how-to video, and can shop directly from an embedded link. The marketing, then, becomes all about how engaging you can make the content for the viewer. Suck them in, and they’ll think they’re watching their favorite show, rather than simply considering a purchase.
2. Brand Content is Getting… Weirder
Along those same lands, brands are upping those engagement levels by speaking directly to their audiences, sometimes in very strange — yet effective — ways. Just take a look at the recent resurgence in popularity of the classic 1969 sandwich cookie, Nutter Butter. The company is making a major comeback as the strangest TikTok account out there. Its page is loaded with horror-movie style short videos, disturbing animations, creepy jingles, and major jump-scares. The name of the game is to keep audiences transfixed and on their toes, with each video weirder than the last.
While Nutter butter isn’t exactly an e-commerce brand, this is one of the most impressive examples of “absurdity as marketing.” Many other brands, like Scrub Daddy, which do sell online, are following along in its whacky footsteps. Scrub Daddy’s brand of humor is also heavy on the weird sound effects, fuzzy video, and hypnotic music. Plus, its TikToks include “Buy Now” links directly on the screen, for hyper-convenient shopping.
3. AR Use is Growing
Along those same interactivity lines, many companies are working with augmented reality, luring e-commerce shoppers with virtual try-on and staging. Instead of catching customers’ eyes with just the right copy or photos, marketers are showing them how it would feel to own the product. Shoppers can use AR to see how a piece of furniture would look in their home, or try on an outfit or makeup. Even large marketplaces like Amazon are bringing in 3D, manipulable images, and marketers need to be ready to adapt.
AR also functions as a social media marketing tool on platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. E-commerce companies are creating branded AR filters that users can try on and experiment with in their favorite apps. The result is a sort of accidental shopping experience, where social media users interact with brands while creating content or chatting with friends. They may or may not directly shop the products via these tools, but the exposure is still powerful.
4. Marketers are Targeting Voice and AI Search
“Content is King,” as they say, and for most of its reign, its noble subjects have been high-ranking keywords. To reach the top of the serf — err, the SERP — an e-commerce marketer merely had to focus on including the right terminology. That’s all changing, though, with the arrival of AI search, voice search, and other technologies that put natural language processing first. Now, a marketer’s goal is to make text hopeful, rather than stuff it with a thesaurus.
Both AI and voice search algorithms tend to prioritize copy that clearly and immediately answers a user’s question. Marketers must take care in properly ordering information, and presenting the most important facts first. This is changing the way that web pages, product pages, and other text are laid out and structured, and that language is used. The prize often goes to simple and straightforward, not clever or sassy. Content marketers might have to think “encyclopedia” over tagline.
Knowing Your Audience
The one thing that really hasn’t changed is the art of understanding your customer. An e-commerce marketer must be a chameleon, speaking to their customer on the right platform and in the right language. Sure, the same strategies that work for Gen Z’s on TikTok don’t necessarily apply to boomers clicking their way across Forbes.com. However, the nuances go even deeper now, and it’s all that much easier to make an expensive or embarrassing mistake.
Take the brands on TikTok that try to blend in with young people by commenting on creators’ personal posts. They’re often hit back with resounding cries of “go home, brand” or, lately, “Ariana, what are you doing here?” The bottom line is that blending — and really, any marketing — only works for brands in so far as it’s natural and authentic. Try too hard to fit in, and your audience will let you know, in no uncertain terms, that you’re no longer welcome.
