Capturing and expanding Market share is a crucial objective for eCommerce business owners, yet the exact relationship between marketing and market share is not commonly understood.

The rapid evolution of technology and consumer behaviors has made Digital marketing an indispensable tool in growing market share. But what even is “market share” as it relates to the digital landscape, and how do you actually go about capturing more of it as a business owner?

This article explores the relationship between digital marketing and capturing market share online, specifically as it relates to 2024 and the shifts we’re seeing in marketing as a whole.

Understanding the Digital Landscape

The first step in leveraging digital marketing for an increase in market share is understanding the complete digital landscape.

The internet is a vast, crowded marketplace where millions of businesses vie for attention. In this context, digital marketing is not just about selling products; it’s about establishing a brand presence, engaging with customers, and differentiating your business from competitors.

Many glance over this point, but it’s worth repeating. While everyone knows the ultimate “goal” of eCommerce marketing is to sell more products, there is a limit to how many products you can sell during a given period if your market share isn’t high.

Some businesses thrive by cornering the market in an area they specialize in. Niching down like this used to be extremely practical. The issue now is, as eCommerce becomes more accessible and the barrier of entry lessens for everyone, the competition increases.

Even relatively obscure niches that were easy to break into 20 years ago are now ultra saturated. Look at the supplement market for instance. In the late 90’s, organic and health supplements were still somewhat niche, with only a few small brands specializing in them. Now, in order to easily break into the supplement market, you practically have to invent a new kind of supplement altogether, or find a product that treats a newly discovered illness or symptom.

The same can be said for a multitude of niches and industries. The digital landscape is not the same as it was even 5 years ago.

What this means is that the same old marketing tactics are not going to net you the same amount of market share as they once did. In fact, you very well could be losing traction to more aggressive and knowledgeable competitors if you aren’t taking certain actions.

Let’s circle back to the core components of the digital landscape. SEO (organic reach in search engines, including eCommerce platforms like Etsy), PPC (paying for space in search engines or eCommerce platforms like Amazon), social media (paid and organic), your email list, and other channels such as podcasts.

Pushing products on these channels is great. But just because your product offerings are visible on your online store doesn’t mean they are visible “online,” so to speak. If your market share doesn’t match your marketing, and vice versa, you’re going to run into visibility issues.

For instance, one common problem we run into as marketers and strategists, is when a client feels as though they should be seen more over a certain competitor. The assumption is a newcomer to an industry should have no right ranking above a business that has been on the scene for 10 or 20 years.

This sounds logical on the surface because we know how much emphasis Google places on factors like trust and domain age.

Yet, as we enter 2024, this logic actually doesn’t hold up.

We’re in an age where absolute nobodies can rise to stardom overnight with one viral TikTok post. Where million dollar brands wink into existence because they happened to follow a viral trend or captured the attention of a certain influencer. Where memes rule the day and brand accounts on social media are almost encouraged to act funny or even zany in order to stand out from the crowd.

It comes down to market share: how well are you capturing the attention of your target audience using the marketing channels that are at your disposal?

Let’s take a closer look at those marketing channels and see what kind of role they can play to help us get where we want to be in 2024:

Digital Marketing Strategies for Market Share Expansion

SEO and Content Marketing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and content marketing are fundamental in driving organic traffic to your eCommerce site. By optimizing your website and creating valuable content, you increase your visibility on search engines, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

Social Media Marketing: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer immense opportunities for brand exposure and customer engagement. Effective social media marketing can create brand advocates out of your customers and attract new ones through targeted campaigns.

Email Marketing: Often underrated, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to engage with customers. Personalized emails can drive sales, promote customer loyalty, and keep your brand top-of-mind.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising: PPC campaigns can provide a quick boost in visibility and traffic. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads allow for highly targeted campaigns, reaching potential customers based on their search behavior, interests, and demographics.

Influencer Marketing: Collaborating with influencers can rapidly expand your brand’s reach. Choose influencers whose audience aligns with your target market for maximum impact.

Most eCommerce business owners know the importance of one or more of these channels, but understand them only in terms of selling products, not increasing market share.

The capture more attention and improve what I like to call brand equity, you need a mix of acting on data and acting on trends.

First, let’s talk data.

Data-Driven Decision Making

In digital marketing, data is king. Acting on the data instead of just relying on what feels right or what you would like to have happen can really make a difference in how you capture market share.

Through data, you can better understand the customer journey, and this is the heart of where you can make inroads as it pertains to improving market share. The journey that your customers take to buy your products is a reflection of how well they connect with your brand.

Let’s put it like this: all of the top brands in any niche have a seamless and even addictive customer journey.

Customers know exactly where to go and what to do in order to find the latest and greatest product offerings from these brands. The customer journey has become second-nature, everything from the ad placements to the after-purchase experience resonates with the target audience and is silky smooth.

This wasn’t done through guesswork, but by looking at the data and fine-tuning the experience in order to make it better. That’s how you capture market share.

Understanding Consumer Behavior

Customer Journey Analysis: Track the paths customers take from discovering your product to making a purchase. This data helps identify which marketing channels are most effective and where potential customers drop off.

Purchasing Patterns: Analyze purchase histories to understand what, when, and how often customers buy. This insight aids in forecasting demand, managing inventory, and creating targeted promotions.

Segmentation: Use demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data to segment your customer base. Tailored marketing to each segment increases relevance and engagement.

Your custom behavior is valuable data. Learn how to track it and then act on it.

Fastvertising and Following Trends

The other side of the equation involves capitalizing on trends. This is most commonly done these days through various forms of “fastvertising.”

Fastvertising is a concept that involves quickly developing and deploying marketing campaigns in response to current trends, viral content, or social movements. Its impact on market share is significant:

Relevance and Timeliness: By capitalizing on current trends or viral moments, fastvertising keeps your brand relevant and top-of-mind. This relevance can drive higher engagement and conversion rates.

Agile Response to Market Changes: Fastvertising embodies agility, allowing businesses to quickly pivot their strategies in response to market shifts or consumer sentiments, keeping them ahead of competitors.

Creating Buzz and Virality: Campaigns that are timely and trend-responsive have a higher potential to go viral, significantly boosting brand visibility and market share.

Engagement with Younger Audiences: Younger demographics, especially Gen Z, are known for their rapidly shifting interests. Fastvertising allows you to engage with these groups more effectively, as it aligns with their dynamic consumption patterns.

Even if you feel as though your products or entire niche don’t really lend themselves to a trendy, “viral social media” kind of audience, you still need to use these tactics in an attention economy.

Remember, market share is often about how well you can capture and retain attention in the digital space. As of 2024, this is truer than ever. If you feel as though you have been losing ground, it could be because your brand isn’t relatable.

The more relatable you become, the greater chance you have of improving your market share. These things are directly related.

Make 2024 Yours

The digital landscape continues to change. We’ve seen firsthand over the past few years how much attention TikTok has stolen from Facebook and Instagram, for instance. Now shoppers are using TikTok as a search engine and even a marketplace. This is just one example of how eCommerce is changing.

In 2024, work on improving your market share through acting on the data in the right channels, and following trends wherever possible. This agile, strategic approach will separate you from the pack.

The post Marketing and Market Share: Keys to eCommerce Success in 2024 appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.