Ecommerce campaign ideas for marketing and sales in 2024

In the fast-paced world of eCommerce, staying ahead requires creative and innovative marketing strategies. For 2024, we asked industry experts for their top campaign ideas that online merchants can adopt to stand out. 

This blog post explores a range of dynamic and engaging campaign concepts, from leveraging stories adjacent to your niche to incorporating gamification and AI-driven insights. Whether it's hosting a mid-year Black Friday sale, mining customer reviews for impactful messaging, or experimenting with text-only emails, these expert suggestions offer a fresh perspective on how to captivate and convert your online audience in new and exciting ways.

Ecommerce marketing/sales ideas for 2024

We asked: What are campaign ideas that online merchants can use in 2024?

Here’s what our experts had to say: 

Find ideas adjacent to your niche

“The best campaign ideas are those that have nothing to do with your brand or your product.

What can you talk about that is interesting and adjacent to your niche?

Find stories, experiences, videos, blogs, photos, etc. that your customers will enjoy and build campaigns around that.” 

- Brian Becker, Cofounder at FlowCandy

Have a second Black Friday sale

“Having a second Black Friday sale when there's a gap in major retail events (like summertime) is a great way to boost sales and test run new offers and deals that can be used again during high season. It also has the added benefit of having a lot less competition and more forgiving ad costs.” 

- Indrikis Jansons, Senior Marketing Strategist at YOCTO

Gamification elements to help engage

“Games. Create campaigns that include gamification elements (in your emails and/or ads) to engage more of your users and create an experience. This could be as simple as a crossword or a find 7 differences game - but this kind of campaign is on the rise, and they always do well.”

- Mehdi BOUFOUS, Founder of Panoramata.co

Reviews mining product origins, & incentives

“Review mining campaigns (Categorize the themes your reviews bring up and run a campaign to either boost these USPs or to address the concerns). Take a peek at Lorenzo Carreri's work.

Product origin campaigns. People are hooked by stories... the classic ugly advertorial did this so well. Those days with fake discounts and scarcity are gone .. but origin stories from founders can still work well. Make it candid and vulnerable.

Experiment with incentives. Run several types of incentives by your database through email campaigns (not as expensive) ... then use the winner in PPC bouts. For BF/CM - flip the script.” 

- Trina Moitra, Head of Growth at Convert.com

Text-only emails work

“In email marketing, we're seeing more and more brands combine beautifully designed emails with text-only messaging. By AB testing these text-only emails against the design templates, you'll notice that these text-only emails often outperform their counterparts. This is particularly true during heavy promotional periods or when used as reminders or last chances of a big sale event. Leverage the simplicity and directness of text-only emails now and then to capture your audience's attention.”

- Filippo Casavecchia, Email Marketing Expert and Founder of the Popup Project

Play around with AI

“Get playing around with AI. Let AI analyze your store performance and come up with advice. Let AI help you with creating data, campaign ideas, and suggestions. AI can be your eCommerce assistant/coach.” 

-  Coen Fredriks, Ecommerce Strategist at Code

Conclusion:

As we look towards 2024, the landscape of eCommerce marketing continues to evolve, calling for more inventive and engaging campaign strategies. The insights from our experts reveal a variety of approaches to captivate the modern consumer, from storytelling and gamification to the strategic use of AI and targeted email campaigns. 

These strategies emphasize the importance of connecting with customers on a deeper level, offering unique experiences, and using technology to gain insights and drive sales. By embracing these innovative campaign ideas, online merchants can not only differentiate themselves in a crowded digital marketplace but also build lasting relationships with their customers, leading to sustained growth and success in the world of eCommerce.