We live in a world where literally every place is a spot for commerce—even for something virtual as the internet.

Appropriately called “ecommerce” for its specific location in the virtual space, shopping has never been more convenient—and oftentimes faster—than the one conducted online.

Yet, where there is commerce, there are also the tactics which entrepreneurs employ in order to generate a sale that is fundamental in any money-making scheme.

But the internet is a completely different platform than the traditional kind of commerce we were used to. Not only do the old tricks in the marketing book remain applicable, it also employs newer methods that may not be possible without technology as its aid.

Here is a list of techniques which marketers apply in order to rake in that much wanted sales and profits:

Social Media Marketing

With billions of people using the many social media available on the internet right now, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. have become a “gold mine” for business people who tap on them. The platforms themselves are not shy in admitting that they cater to business people, thanks to the introduction of commerce-oriented features which drive buyers and sellers alike.

Content Marketing

Engaging your target market towards your product line has never been more effective than with contents that tell a compelling story or a strong pitch which they could relate with. While content marketing may seem like a mix between making blogs or videos about a particular product; nowadays, there have been more outlets by which content marketing is done—such as optimizing your product’s copy and creating a dedicated FAQ page with relevant SEO keywords.

Search Engine Marketing

Google and other search engine’s algorithms are often flimsy and ever-changing that which makes an up-to-date understanding critical for an impactful search engine optimization (SEO). But knowing the ins and outs of the search engine for SEO is only half the battle which a full-blown search engine marketing does, as it also includes paid advertising in its task. You know, as they say, you need money to make money, right?

Email Marketing

Marketing via email is one of the oldest tricks in a marketer’s book, with it being the most convenient feature the internet has to offer at the time. But while email marketing may be old, it is not necessarily jaded—it still works, so long as you know the right ways toward reaching your target market by electronic mail.

While pushing certain products to your customer base’s faces is one common use of email marketing, there are also other alternative—and sometimes more effective—means to make this familiar method works: making follow-up after a client makes a purchase or as a reminder when a customer did not push through after putting an item in the cart.

Unlike the traditional application of email marketing, these new alternatives are significantly more subtle about selling a product. Which, in today’s mindset, makes for the norm instead of being “pushy.”

Influencer Marketing

In the age where people appear more connected than ever, thanks to technology, any person who makes a great following from the crowd is easily granted the title “influencer” akin to a celebrity. But unlike contracting a superstar to market a product which can be expensive, a relatively famous non-showbiz influencer is less as expensive, yet has the same power of affect to people.

Think about this—why spend a fortune having a single person sell your product when you can get multiple heads, which offer an equal or better result, for the exact same price?

 Affiliate Marketing

There are a lot of willing open hands out there that can help sell your product. But these people do not function for an entity’s benefit without the right incentive. Affiliate marketing is the key to that, which is a commission-based incentive which expands the exposure—and therefore marketing—of products through the affiliates.

What makes this tactic so effective is that people have different ways about the same thing, the acts alone of which are not necessarily paid, that adds a layer of interest to commodities.

Localized Marketing

Targeting a specific market based on location is a typically applied maneuver to marketing which substantial gains. By choosing to narrow down the scope of your market, you are catering to a more compact demographics that provides guaranteed results as derived from gathered interest.

For instance, by being able to pinpoint the location of your customer base which has the most engagement and conversion e.g. by the data gathered by the cookies from each visitor’s browser, you can selectively start a campaign which continues to reap the benefit of their interest. This could be anything, such as rolling a discount, free shipping, or freebie campaign, all exclusively towards that single or a handful of special areas.

Personalization

It is a well-known fact that people like the idea of being treated “special”. While this may seem like an impossible feat when you handle large volumes of customers at any given time, it only makes the act of making a “tailor-made”—or a personalized—approach to each and every client seem so much more valuable.

For instance, if a particular consumer has a strong profile for being an avid gadget lover, to use that specific client’s name in an email which contains a recommendation of products that suit his/her interest makes it feel that his/her presence is appreciated.

User-generated Content

In a nutshell, a “user-generated content” kind of marketing is mixture between “influencer marketing” and “affiliate marketing,” except that the participants are not necessarily paid—nor are you obligated to—in the process.

Basically, this is like “free marketing” as done in volition by consumers themselves who like certain products.

But a “user-generated content” marketing can also be itself “induced” by a bit of incentive, which can be as simple as handing out a product to an individual consumer-turned-user-generated-content-marketer like.  

Word of Mouth

You need not have an eloquent person for him/her to make an impact with his/her words. Just being able to utter to people, particularly involving a product, can easily sway any listening ear to make heed and subsequently commit to action towards it. Yes, the old word of mouth marketing is still very much a thing as it resonates to the human aspect of business.