6 Awesome E-commerce Lead Generation Campaigns
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The moral of the story? Not all ecommerce lead generation campaigns work, and even if they do, not all of them bring in qualified leads. In this case, as marketers, we need to identify smart strategies that can improve the conversion rates and get us leads that are truly interested in our products/services.
We burn the midnight oil, go overboard with that caffeine, and create and test multiple campaigns until we find that one hack. Result? A genius eCommerce lead generation campaign that not only fetches leads but also inspires thousands of marketers to follow the lead.
This post rounds up 6 of our such favorite campaigns which range from simple and small to epic and huge in terms of the impact they had, the results they delivered, and the happiness they brought to us marketers.
1. Zappos
Where do I begin? The hilarious April Fool’s video campaign with 144,000 views and counting or the introduction of 1-800 numbers – Zappos has always been creative with its ecommerce lead generation campaigns. While the video campaign helped the brand show some personality, draw new audiences, and increase brand awareness, the 1-800 number proved to be a valuable lead generation asset. The team made sure they had appropriate mechanisms in place and wherever a prospect dialed in, he/she received a prompt response.
As Zappos’ CEO, Tony Hsieh, said in an interview with Harvard Business Review, “On many websites, the contact information is buried at least five links deep because the company doesn’t really want to hear from you. And when you find it, it’s a form or an e-mail address. We take the exact opposite approach.
We put our phone number (it’s 800-927-7671, in case you’d like to call) at the top of every single page of our website, because we actually want to talk to our customers. And we staff our call center 24/7.” This consistency and the combination of the right call center features is what paid off for Zappos.
2. Elephant Pants
Nope, they weren’t always the famous retail brand you know them as today. But a smart lead generation tactic helped Elephant Pants quickly scale in terms of leads – a quiz. This success story dates back to their Kickstarter days when they created a quiz called ‘Which Pair of Elephant Pants Are You?’ to divert users to their Kickstarter page. By the end of the campaign, The Elephant Pants had raised over $8,500 and launched successfully. Besides the required funds, the quiz also got the brand a potential customer base.
Pro Tip – Inspired? Create your own quiz and start generating more leads today.
3. Ali Baba
The e-commerce giant recently launched a large-scale digital marketing campaign to target its global audience. The Chinese brand used tailor-made CPM ads to target mobile customers and CPC/CPA ads to reach desktop customers. They also A/B tested landing pages and creatives to ensure that they get optimized results. Outcome? Alibaba saw its leads increase by 150% within six months and a 100% increase in conversions over the same period. Now that’s some growth!
4. Roaman’s
Luring the prospect is the bottom line of generating leads in e-commerce. While big brands do it through paid ads and full-scale campaigns, startups resort to more contemporary methods. Take Roaman’s, for instance. It gives a free shipping coupon to every first-time registrant.
So, you leave behind your email address and don’t pay for shipping on your first order. It’s a win-win for both the brand and the prospects. And this strategy seems to be working for e-commerce startups as a lot of e-tailers are adapting it and they remain extremely popular with the shoppers.
Related Read: 5 Viral Calculators that Almost Broke the Internet
5. Birchbox
One lead generation tactic that is being exploited by brands these days is influencer marketing. Though identifying and reaching out to the right influencers can be tough, but once you’ve cracked the code you won’t be disappointed with the results. The same happened with the Birchbox team.
Last May, the makeup and skin care subscription box company partnered with an influential blogger to “curate” a box. Result? 18,000 likes and touch base with more than 550,000 consumers. Taking cue from the success of this campaign, Birchbox now lets influencers take over its corporate Instagram account on holidays like Mother’s Day, which results in fresh content and an amplified reach. In fact, they have become one of the top brands getting Instagram influencer marketing right.
Source – Retail Touchpoints
6. Burts
You may be thinking about what a potato chips brand did to make it to the list of online lead generation campaigns. Well, they played it smart. Duh! The company ran a sweepstakes contest on Facebook and combined it with Facebook lead ads. The results left everyone pleasantly surprised. Burts Potato Chips company reached 4309 people and captured 2709 email leads at a whopping 64% conversion rate!
What are your favorite ecommerce lead generation campaigns? Have you tried something quirky to get prospects leave behind their information? Let us know in the comments section below.
Learn how to create a successful lead generation campaign for your ecommerce business and boost sales with our ecommerce marketing guide below!