In the unpredictable seas of digital advertising, it seems rising costs have become towering waves, seemingly insurmountable for many eCommerce brands. Much like a resilient forest ecosystem, a diverse approach to sales channels allows businesses to adapt and flourish despite any unforeseen challenging conditions.

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Understanding the Ad Cost Growth Phenomenon

In recent years, platforms such as Google and Facebook Ads have seen costs per click spiral upwards. This acceleration is fueled by heightened competition, changes in their advertising algorithms, and the global surge in online shopping. Creating a dense, competitive jungle where only the fittest survive. To add more color to this, 2021 was a pivotal year for the world of advertising as abrupt increases in spend were seen across all major platforms that year:

• Google and YouTube’s CPM went up by 108%
• Facebook surged by 89%
• TikTok jumped by 92%
• Snapchat had “the smallest” smallest increase, with a 64% increase in CPM

Courtesy of Hunchads

While costs haven’t increased as dramatically since then, they continue to rise steadily by about 5-30% steadily year over year. Making an already difficult situation harder. Luckily, eCommerce operators have been resilient, and they simply upped their game to deal with it. They adopted the mindset of if you can’t keep up then maybe you were on borrowed time to begin with. To combat this, they focussed more on perfecting their craft with better creative, rigorous testing, and a focus on diversifying channels.

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Drawing Wisdom from Forests: Channel Diversification

This article is not about moving away from ads, if anything it’s to continue pushing forward. However, what this article’s purpose is, is to emphasize that as you push on, you should maintain a focus on hedging your bets, so that rate hikes in the future feel a little less painful each time around – for this, we look to nature.

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Forests stand as timeless symbols of diversity and coexistence, with various species harmoniously living and thriving together. Within these vibrant ecosystems, different trees and plants don’t solely compete; they collaboratively enrich the shared environment, similar to how eCommerce channels can work together. Through diversifying sales channels, brands tap into different customer segments, establishing a robust presence that mirrors the resilient forest ecosystem. Just as this diversification can help a first get through a major monsoon or drought, the same can be said for the trials and tribulations of business.

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In the rest of this article, we’ll look at how each channel can play a role in this metaphorical forest.

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Amazon: The Mighty Oak Tree

In the eCommerce forest, Amazon represents the mighty Oak, offering vast resources and a protective canopy for smaller entities seeking refuge under its widespread branches. With its unparalleled reach, user-friendly interface, and extensive customer base, Amazon provides a fertile ground for brands looking to extend their roots and expand their reach.

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Amazon remains this safe haven as it’s remained a consistent source of growth. The platform overall is growing generally by 10% year over year, and this year is no different.

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The problem with Amazon is that just as not all forests can sustain oak trees, not all brands can sustain Amazon. Lack of customer ownership can be difficult to grapple with in the long-run. Additionally, if you have a premium or luxury brand, it simply might not be the right shopping environment for upholding the status needed to foster conversions & execute on a great brand mission.

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Organic Search: The Nutrient-Rich Soil

Organic search channels embody the forest’s fertile soil, teeming with essential nutrients and supporting various life forms. This base layer of the digital forest is pivotal for sustained growth, where brands can naturally develop by optimizing content, improving SEO practices, and ensuring relevance in the ever-changing market landscape.

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While search ads typically come to mind, make sure to begin with a simple blog foundation. Such as with this blog, articles relevant to your industry showcase a sense of industry understanding, and allow you to express a unique perspective that can be searched and clicked on.

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Influencer Partnerships: Mycelium Networks

In the complex, thriving realm of a forest, the unseen mycelium networks play a pivotal role in connecting and sustaining life. Much akin to these indispensable networks, influencer partnerships serve as conduits that facilitate mutual support and nourishment amongst various components in the eCommerce ecosystem, boosting its health and vitality.

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Influencer partnerships are dynamic collaborations between brands and influencers— individuals who have successfully cultivated sprawling networks of engaged followers on social media platforms. Similar to the mycelium which stealthily expands its reach beneath the forest floor, influencers subtly yet effectively spread the brand's presence across diverse social landscapes.

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Just as trees tap into the mycelium network to share and receive essential nutrients, brands, through influencers, gain access to a broader audience. This partnership is beneficial and reciprocal: while the brand basks in increased visibility and audience engagement, influencers receive compensation or products, fostering a scenario where both parties flourish together.

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Choosing influencers judiciously is fundamental. The ideal influencers are those whose followers mirror the brand's target demographic, creating a connection that feels authentic and resonates deeply with the audience, akin to how mycelium forms a harmonious and life-sustaining bond with the trees it connects.

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In this dynamic interaction, understanding the influencers' unique communication styles and levels of audience engagement is crucial. Each influencer, like different species of fungi in a forest, has a distinct way of interacting and engaging. Aligning the brand’s image and values with influencers whose style complements them can yield partnerships that are not only effective but also harmonious and productive.

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Well-orchestrated influencer partnerships, much like a thriving mycelium network, provide brands with the invaluable opportunity to reach new audiences while enhancing credibility through association with respected figures in the online community. If managed with care and consideration, these collaborations can significantly amplify brand awareness, customer loyalty, and sales, becoming an integral facet of an eCommerce brand's diverse marketing strategy. These networks, both mycelial and social, underline the power and potential of interconnectedness in fostering growth and sustainability in their respective ecosystems.

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As far as the great diversification is concerned, influencer partnerships are becoming a cornerstone place to begin, with a 68% growth in brand adoption in 2023.

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There are many tools out there to help you get started in influencer, from Social Snowball, to Shopify Collabs, to Grin. As you find yourself building an influencer base, you can enable them to go further by selling from a co-branded shop with your brand using CreatorCommerce.

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TikTok: The Vibrant, Ever-changing Underbrush

TikTok, the platform of the hour, can be likened to the underbrush of the forest, vibrant, constantly changing, and brimming with unexpected opportunities. With its rapidly growing user base and innovative content format, TikTok offers a fresh and engaging channel for brands looking to connect with younger, digitally savvy consumers. The platform's algorithm promotes content discoverability, allowing even small brands the chance to go viral and reach broad audiences. Utilizing TikTok, eCommerce brands can craft creative, compelling short videos that highlight their products in a fun and relatable manner, driving brand awareness and customer engagement in a unique and dynamic digital space.

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The emergence of TikTok Shops adds even more to the story as well. This exciting new channel offers an opportunity for brands to more deeply immerse themselves in the micro ecosystem of TikTok, and take advantage of subsidies regarding discounts that they have to offer.

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Affiliate Networks: The Pollinators of the Forest

Affiliate networks operate much like pollinators, connecting various elements in the ecosystem to foster growth and dissemination. Through affiliate marketing, brands can leverage partnerships with individuals or other businesses to drive traffic and sales, paying a commission for the referred business. It’s a cost-effective way for brands to increase visibility and sales, creating symbiotic relationships with affiliates.

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If you’re looking to maximize your pollination, the best place to start is to look into turning your customers who already know & trust your product into affiliates. Innovative tools like Social Snowball are pathing the way here, and making a massive difference. As this system grows, you can give your top performing affiliates a better platform to sell from by enabling them to launch their own curated shops on CreatorCommerce.

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Retention Tools: Water

What is an ecosystem without water? Water is often forgotten when considering what makes up the forest, and the same can go for retention. These systems sustain the traction you make when growing your customer base, and become your bread & butter for boosting revenue when needed most. This post will become far too long if we dive into the world of retention, but honorable mentions to leverage are: 

• Email with tools like Klaviyo and Sendlane
• SMS with Yotpo, Postscript, and Attentive
• Loyalty with Yotpo, Loyalty Lion, and Stamped
• Push notifications with Tapcart

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Crafting a Strategy for Channel Diversification

• Start Small: Approach diversification with a cautious but strategic mindset, beginning with a focus on one or two channels before expanding further.
• Monitor and Adapt: Regularly track the performance of each sales channel, adapting and refining your approach based on the data and insights gathered.
• Be Patient and Consistent: Sustainable growth through diversification isn't instantaneous. It demands time, effort, and consistent nurturing to see fruitful results.

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Conclusion: Harnessing the Power of Diversification

As eCommerce brands navigate through the dense jungle of rising ad costs, diversifying sales channels offers a path of resilience and adaptability, mirroring the strength found in biodiverse forests. By effectively leveraging platforms like Amazon, mastering organic search, and building meaningful influencer partnerships, businesses can not only withstand the challenges of the digital advertising environment but truly thrive, creating a resilient and dynamic presence that stands tall and proud in the competitive landscape. Embrace the wisdom embedded within nature's diversified systems to chart a course towards sustainable and robust growth in the digital marketplace.