9 Key Strategy Decisions To Make When Creating A New Online Retail Business

Aloha! and welcome back to my blog. Today we are talking about the importance of the 9 key strategy decisions digital marketers need to have for a successful brand and then outlining some social media marketing tactics for a new online fashion store.

For new online retail businesses, digital marketers need to understand the importance of the 9 key strategy decisions. Creating a digital marketing strategy will help the business make informed decisions and ensure you are focused on elements that are most relevant to your business (Ryan & Jones, 2012). Constantly reviewing and applying the 9 key strategy decisions is crucial as it enhances understanding about how the ever changing digital marketplace relates to your business and how it affects the relationship between business, brand and customers (Ryan & Jones, 2012).

Decision 1: Market and product development strategies

A new online retail business needs to research and create a strategy for product and market development. This strategy needs to be flexible and change when a tactic is not working; to move and flow with the current society and market environment. Launching a new online retailer without any market and product development strategies, always ends in failure (Schneider & Hall, 2011). New online retail businesses also need to determine whether they are entering an existing market or a new market and whether they are producing an existing product or a new product (Khan, 2020). This will completely influence what market and product strategies the new online retail business will use and will help determine the rate of success.

Decision 2: Business and revenue models strategies

Based on the business or industry that you are in, it is important for the business to identify their business and revenue model strategies. At its core, a business and revenue model is a description of how your business makes money, and you do want your business to make money…right? (Parsons, 2017). Figuring out what business and revenue model strategies to use is important, but remember that you are not suck with whatever strategy you chose forever, and you can change your business and revenue model strategies according to the industry you are operating in, and whether your current strategies are effective. There are also a large variety of revenue models to chose from to generate revenue. Examples of this are transaction based revenue models, cost per click or cost per a thousand impressions, affiliate marketing, subscription services, and the commission that is generated in the platform that they are using, like eBay (Khan, 2020). Making sure you have a relevant business and revenue models strategies means that you should see the $$.

Decision 3: Target marketing strategy

Researching, clarifying and creating

a specific target marketing strategy is important as this feeds into your market, product and revenue model strategies. Once you have defined the specifics of your target market, then you can select your online marketing (Khan, 2020). Now, you are probably wondering how target market informs revenue models, well, you would not want to sell high end and expensive products to people who are in middle class and cannot afford it. That target market would not buy anything and you would not create any revenue. You need to not only figure out how your product and business will fit in with your target audience, but what kind of prices can your target audience afford.

Decision 4: Positioning and differentiation strategy

Positioning and differentiation strategy are interconnected in important ways. Great positioning of a product/service is based on the differentiating characteristics that make the product/service better than the competition in the mind of the target audience (“Reading: Defining Positioning and Differentiation,” n.d.). This decision is important as it identifies how you are perceived by the customers (Khan, 2020), and if you are perceived negatively by the customer, your retail business will crumble.

Decision 5: Customer engagement and social media strategy

This decision is a great one for new online retail businesses as social media is a low cost marketing option and can be great exposure for the business. Engaging, listening and developing a connection with customers helps retain customer loyalty (Khan, 2020). Furthermore, having an in depth and clear social media strategy allows your business be able to effectively position themselves positively within the consumers’ minds and successfully showcase their products in fun and creative ways. This can be done by researching which social media platforms are best to communicate with your audience and showcase your products and brand messaging.

Decision 6: Multichannel distribution strategy

A multichannel distribution strategy means distributing your product from more than one channel, for example selling online and having a brick and mortar store (Khan, 2020). This decision requires a lot of forethought and a clear understanding of your target market and current models. If you are a brand new online retailer, you may only want to start with one distribution channel and expand channels over time, once the business has settled in and making a profit. This could be selling through the TV, radio, or catalogues.

Decision 7: Multichannel communication strategy

In 2020, using multiple online channels like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc to communicate with your audience is a no brainer. Now, you do not have to use all the platforms I listed at once. You could start with one or two to get your business off the ground and expand later. It is also important to use the channels that resonate with your target audience. If your target is Gen X, than they tend to use Facebook, but if your target is Gen Z TikTok and Instagram is you to go channel (Kowalewicz, 2020). You would be completely missing your target market if you use a platform that your target market does not use.

Decision 8: Online communications mix and budget

Online communications mix and budget is important as it contains the tools you use to communicate with your audience and new businesses rely heavily on it (“The Communications Mix,” n.d.). As this is a new online retailer, your communications budget and mix will be aimed at getting new customers. The graphic outlines the different types of communications mix.

Decision 9: Organisational capabilities and governance (7s framework by McKinsey)

This decision helps businesses examine how various parts of their business work together. This can be used to improve the performance of your business, determine the best way to implement a proposed strategy, determine future changes or help align departments (Mind Tools Content Team, 2020). This is best saved for last, which is why it is decision 9, as you can use this model to reflect on all aspects of your business.

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Social Media Marketing Tactics of a New Online Fashion Store

Choosing the Right Social Media Channel

Choosing the right social media channel depends on your business, products and target audience. However, Instagram and Facebook are great for fashion brands (Marta, 2018). Not only do they have a large number of users, but they have a highly visual medium which allows you to present your products in a creative way (Marta, 2018). These two social media channels allow fashion brands to show off carefully curated content, targeted ads, and behind the scene footage through either the Facebook and Instagram stories and reels (Marta, 2018). Furthermore, to make a big impact, make sure you chose the right hashtags and that the hashtags are not being used by anybody else. Moreover, Facebook has Facebook groups that allow for a community to develop surrounding your business and can curate great customer engagement and communication (Marta, 2018). Not only are Facebook and Instagram great for content, engagement and raising awareness, but you can also Shop within these channels as well. Whether it is giving easy access for consumers to get to your webpage or actually using the Facebook and Instagram shop function, your consumers can always easily and quickly access your products.

Now Snapchat and YouTube are also great secondary social media channels. YouTube can be used as a vlogging platform where you can create video content that can give fashion tips, how one shirt can be used in different outfits, and profiles on the business and staff members. There is so much more video content that can be done on YouTube. Not only does it give you a different perspective on content creation, but research suggests that Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X rely on YouTube to make a purchase decision (Rozario-Ospino, 2020).

Experiment with Ads

This is a great time to experiment with ads as cost-per-impression on Facebook ads have gone down over the past few months, (Hou, 2020). See what kind of ads drive traffic to your website and which ads drive sales. Carousel ads are a great option for fashion brands as it can showcase your products and direct customers straight to your shop (Barnhart, 2019).

Mingle with Micro Influencers

People trust influencers more than they do accounts with a large number of followers (Barnhart, 2019). It has been shown that influencers have a higher rate of engagement than other accounts (Barnhart, 2019). So do not be afraid of tapping into the influencer market, even influencers with small follower numbers will still drive engagement and sales (Barnhart, 2019).

(Pierucci, 2018)

Have a Personality

Do not hid your personality behind your brand. A lot of brands are getting great engagement because they have a personality and are not afraid to take the occasional risk to show that there are humans behind a brands social media account (Barnhart, 2019). Brands like Wendy’s and Moonpie have carved out a niche on Twitter because they do not take themselves seriously (Barnhart, 2019).

(Barnhart, 2019)

(Iveta, 2018).

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References

Barnhart, B. (2019, October 9). 9 Smart Social Media Tactics You Need Today. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-tactics/

Hou, A. (2020, April 19). Essential tips on adapting your digital marketing strategy during COVID-19. Advisible. https://advisible.com.au/essential-tips-digital-marketing-strategy-covid-19/

Iveta. (2018). 32 Hilarious Twitter Roasts By Wendy’s That Will Make You Think Twice Before Posting. Bored Panda. https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-wendy-tweets-jokes/

Khan, I. (2020). Unit 11424 Digital Marketing PG, lecture 4, week 4: Part 2 Digital marketing strategy development [PowerPoint slides]. https://uclearn.canberra.edu.au/courses/8325/files/2031728?module_item_id=649333

Kowalewicz, R. (n.d.). Council Post: What To Consider For Generation-Based Social Media Marketing. Forbes. Retrieved 4 September 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/01/09/what-to-consider-for-generation-based-social-media-marketing/

Marta. (2018, September 10). Social Media Marketing for Fashion Brands. Brand24 Blog. https://brand24.com/blog/social-media-marketing-for-fashion-brands/

Parsons, N. (2017, October 11). What Is a Business Model? Business Models Explained. Bplans Blog. https://articles.bplans.com/what-is-a-business-model-business-models-explained/

Patel, N. (2019, January 31). 7 Social Media Hacks That’ll Make Your Business Grow Faster [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x9AWh7g1YQ

Pierucci, S. (2018, January 17). Why MICRO-INFLUENCER Marketing is still ‘The Game’ in 2019. The Startup. https://medium.com/swlh/why-micro-influencer-marketing-is-the-game-in-2018-fdeda0993c36

Reading: Defining Positioning and Differentiation. (n.d.). Retrieved 4 September 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/clinton-marketing/chapter/reading-defining-positioning-and-differentiation/

Rozario-Ospino, J. (2020, April 19). How Different Generations of Consumers Use Social Media [Infographic]. Social Media Today. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-different-generations-of-consumers-use-social-media-infographic/576243/

Ryan, D., & Jones, C. (2012). Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. In D. Ryan & C. Jones (Eds), Understanding Digital Marketing (pp. 18-35). Kogan Page.

Schneider, J., & Hall, J. (2011, April 1). Why Most Product Launches Fail. Harvard Business Review, April 2011. https://hbr.org/2011/04/why-most-product-launches-fail

The Communications Mix. (n.d.). Professional Academy. Retrieved 5 September 2020, from https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---the-communications-mix

The Mind Tools Content Team. (2020). The McKinsey 7-S Framework: - Making Every Part of Your Organization Work in Harmony. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_91.htm