Ecommerce Marketing Trends for 2015

As we near closer to wrapping up 2015, and as Q4 begins, there are some interesting ecommerce marketing trends that we can visit to size up what the trendiest marketing ploys were this past year. We’ll dig in and see what tricks marketers had up their sleeves, and whether or not any of these aces played out.

Computer screens have changed quite a bit over the past six years, explains Crazy Egg in their blog. For example, in 2009, 1024 x 768 and 1366 x 768 were the most common widescreen formats. At the same time, however, the iPhone (the most popular handset at the time) had a resolution of just 320 x 480.

Today, monitors are growing in size for desktops. The average monitor now ranges between 21” and 27”. By contrast, smartphones have also grown in screen size, with most boasting a 5” screen or larger, and the newer Notes by Samsung and iPhone + models by Apple boasting 5.7” screens or larger.

Over the years, Google, the biggest marketing firm in the world, has toyed with the effectiveness of marketing content on a wide variety of screen sizes to find the most prominent trends. Each screen size has its own aggregate conversion rate, too.

The most recent ecommerce marketing trends for screen sizes can be viewed by checking out Google’s Content Experiments. By running A/B tests within Analytics, you can determine which screen size converts the most at your online store.

During the modern era, consumers rely upon a lot of different devices when they are shopping online, something that has ultimately led to changing the heart and core of ecommerce marketing trends in 2015. A quick look at consumer shopping and buying habits is telling of why cross-device optimization has become a focal point for marketers this year.

A recent JiWire study found the following:

• Of 67% of consumers who use their tablets to research ecommerce products, 41% make purchases from their tablets, 32% purchase from a laptop, 32% purchase in-store, and just 15% purchase from a smartphone.
• Of 75% of consumers who use a laptop to research products, 52% make a purchase from their laptop, 37% make a purchase in-store, and 21% use a tablet, while just 16% use a smartphone.
• Of the 60% who research products in a store, 57% make their purchase in-store, 29% make their purchase from a laptop, 19% make their purchase from a smartphone, while just 18% make their purchase from a laptop.

Content is still the leading ecommerce marketing trend in 2015. This is further cemented by a white paper which was authored by Track Maven that found that content marketing is all about quality, not quantity. In 2014, for example, brand output for content increased by 78% while engagement rates dropped by a staggering 60%, namely due to the quality of the content and the engagement strategy.

Informative content has set the winning benchmark, typically content that is accompanied by visual stimulation, like infographics, charts and pictures. As explained by The London School of Marketing, defining your Tone of Voice (TOV) should be the primary emphasis of content marketing, piggybacked with visual stimulation and video.

A quintessential example of this strategy in motion is found in a recent Entrepreneur article. An owner of a small business that is located in Virginia that installs pools saw record growth, even during the housing crisis and a seasonal year of increased rainfall, all thanks to exceptional content marketing strategies.

According to Business 2 Community and Contently, there is a long list of content marketing statistics that you should be aware of.

• Blogging is considered one of the most effective content and brand strategies that exists.
• Over 31% of all Fortune 500 companies now maintain a daily blog.
• Email marketing still dominates, with 72% of content being shared from email or apps.
• Video appeals to over 50% of shoppers who are seeking to learn more about a product before buying.
• 68% of marketers prefer to use original content over licensed content.
• In 2014, 70% of marketers used more content than the year prior.
• 48% of B2C marketers published content weekly.
• 57% of businesses now have two or more people dedicated to pushing marketing content.

According to a white paper that was authored and published by The Content Marketing Institute, content marketing has been enormously popular due to its astronomical rate of effectiveness and the onboarding rate of marketers that utilize this tactic.

• 70% of B2B marketers are now creating more content in 2015 than they were in 2014.
• At least 58% say they have an effective, documented strategy in place.
• Infographics have become widely embraced, and are now used by 62% of marketers, whereas they were used by just 51% of marketers a year ago.
• LinkedIn has become a sole source of leads for 94% of marketers, who are seeking to capitalize on social media as their content marketing distribution funnel.
• Search engine marketing is being used by 58% of marketers as a way to reach their target audience.
• 32% of marketers admit that they struggle with finding a reliable source of authority, quality content.

We leave you with this awesome infographic, courtesy of Adobe. It delivers a long list of ecommerce marketing trends for 2015, as well a ton of useful information that you can use to hone your strategy and improve conversions at your online store. With the holiday shopping season already well underway, there’s never been a better time to revamp your approach than like the present.