Key Takeaways

• Build your marketing around a sale. Your advertising, offer, landing page and checkout should work together to turn prospects into customers.
• Target buying behavior. Transactional data can help you identify prospects based on what they purchase, not simply how they look on paper.
• Test for profitable results. Measure sales, customer acquisition costs and ROAS rather than relying on clicks and likes.
• Coordinate your channels. Consistent offers and messages help your email, advertising, direct mail and other media reinforce one another.
• Develop your customer database. Use purchase history to improve targeting, encourage repeat purchases and make relevant additional offers.
• Make your business easier to discover through AI. Clear product information, useful answers and credible proof support your AEO efforts.
• Keep your testing plan current. Evaluate CTV, ChatGPT ads and other opportunities based on your audience, costs and measurable results.

 

Growing your e-commerce sales is one challenge. Growing them profitably is another.

Higher media costs, platform restrictions on targeting, and increased competition can put pressure on your return on advertising spend.

Success in 2026 requires specific tools and strategies.

And the #1 complaint I hear from marketers is that they don’t have the knowledge, adequate staff, time, analytics or capacity to increase e-commerce marketing sales—even if they have a strong offer and product or service.

They feel totally under-equipped.

How do you increase your e-commerce sales? Here are 11 secrets you should know:

#1: Use a distinct marketing and advertising philosophy.

E-commerce requires a direct response approach throughout your marketing.

You need direct response copy and graphics. You need a compelling offer. And you need a media targeting strategy that puts that offer in front of the right prospects.

Direct response is a complete strategy. Your advertising, landing page and checkout should work together to move your prospect toward a purchase.

Every element should help answer: Why should I buy? Why from you?

And why now?

#2: See your audience differently.

E-commerce requires a different look at your online audience.

Traditional marketers and branding agencies often focus on impressions, likes, images and fancy videos.

But images and likes don’t translate into purchases.

You need to identify the people most likely to buy—and determine how each channel can reach them efficiently.

Judge your target audience strategy by the customers and profitable sales it produces.

#3: The key to data success is Transactional Data Modeling (TDM).

Transactional Data Modeling helps you identify prospects based on buying behavior… not likes or impressions.

With e-commerce, you can build your campaign around two elements:
●   A custom list of prospects or customers.
●   A modeled audience based on the characteristics and buying behavior of your best customers.

AI based TDM uses actual purchase history to help you find people who have bought similar products or services.

Think “buy-alike”—going beyond surface similarities to look for evidence of buying behavior.

You can identify online buyers, direct mail buyers and other relevant customer segments.

Your own customer transactions are first-party data. TDM can supplement your targeting with an almost perfect buy-a-like audience.

The goal is to put your offer in front of people with a stronger reason to respond.

#4: Testing creative is critical to success.

Anyone can test an ad. But you want to test properly using direct response testing principles.

Use content that is relevant and provides value to your audience.

Test meaningful differences in your headline, offer, copy, graphics and call to action. Compare the results against your current best-performing version.

Measure purchases and customer acquisition costs—not just clicks.

Your next improvement may come from a stronger promise, better proof or a clearer reason to act.

#5: Use multichannel marketing—each channel creates an opportunity to generate breakthrough results.

You want to test different media options and discover what works best for your business.

Relying on one channel, such as Facebook, leaves your growth vulnerable to changes in costs, policies and performance.

E-commerce gives you the ability to test, track and analyze campaigns across multiple channels.

Start with a defined budget and a measurable objective. Expand and test the channels that produce profitable customers.

#6: Only use accountable advertising.

Know your return on advertising spend (ROAS), customer acquisition cost and profitability for each advertising effort.

Revenue alone doesn’t tell you whether a campaign is making money.

Your product costs, fulfillment costs and returns matter, too.

And because you can follow up with buyers and generate repeat sales, advertise with the intention of creating lifetime customers.

A customer’s value can extend well beyond the first order.

#7: Databases are fundamental.

E-commerce allows you to build a customer database that becomes an asset for future sales.

As your database grows, you can learn which customers buy most often, which products they buy together and which offers bring them back.

That knowledge helps you refine your targeting and improve modeled audiences.

It also creates opportunities to upsell and cross-sell relevant products to existing customers.

Keep your information accurate and your marketing permissions current.

A useful database is more than a large list of names.

#8: Use an integrated, multichannel approach to reinforce your offer.

Testing several channels is the starting point. Coordinating them makes your marketing stronger.

Use the channels that fit your audience—such as Meta, YouTube,

Rumble, X, email, text, direct mail and geofencing—to reinforce your message.

Your prospect might see your video, receive your mail piece and then respond to your email.

Make sure the offer, benefits and call to action are consistent wherever that prospect encounters you.

Your channels should work together to help move the customer toward a purchase.

#9: Recognize your customers’ fears and doubts—and be timely.

What is your prospect thinking? What is holding them back?

Unexpected costs? Delivery delays? Product quality? The fear of making a mistake?

Address those concerns directly in your copy.

If your customers are concerned about price increases, explain your pricing clearly. If they worry about delivery, make your shipping expectations easy to find.

Connect your message to what matters to them now. Support your promises with facts.

The more clearly you answer their concerns, the easier you make it for them to buy.

#10: Use AEO so prospects can discover you in AI-generated answers.

Your prospects are asking AI tools what to buy, which products to compare and which companies to consider.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) helps make your website content easier for these systems to find, understand and use.

Make it part of your 2026 marketing plan. Clearly explain your products, benefits and USP. Answer common buying questions. Keep product details current and support your claims with proof.

Combine that content with sound SEO and a website search engines can access.

Don’t be invisible.

#11: Stay current on the marketing strategies and trends you should be testing.

What worked yesterday may not be enough to grow your business in 2026.

Keep learning. Evaluate new opportunities. Set aside a defined testing budget.

Two approaches worth considering:

• Connected TV (CTV): Reach prospects watching streaming television with the selling power of video. Audience targeting and measurement options can help you connect that exposure to website visits and sales.It’s getting top ROAS.
• ChatGPT ads: Reach people as they research products, compare alternatives and consider a purchase. Relevant paid placements create an opportunity to introduce your offer while a prospect is actively exploring solutions.

These are just two of the half-dozen or more strategies and techniques you should be evaluating for your 2026 testing plan.

Select the ones that fit your audience, offer and economics. Test them with clear goals, measure the results and expand what works.

Action:

Need help turning these ideas into profitable growth?

If your staff is stretched, you feel overwhelmed or you simply want a second opinion, let’s talk.

My team at Creative Direct Marketing Group can help you identify where your e-commerce marketing needs improvement—from audience selection and direct response copy to AEO, media testing and follow-up.

You don’t have to tackle all 11 areas at once. Start by identifying the opportunities that could make the biggest difference to your business.

Call Michael at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected] to discuss your e-commerce challenges and the next steps worth testing.

FAQs:

Q: What is the best way to increase e-commerce sales in 2026?
A: Start by identifying what is limiting your growth. You may need better targeting, a stronger offer, clearer copy, an easier checkout or more effective follow-up. Test improvements and measure their effect on customer acquisition costs, sales and profitability.

Q: What is Transactional Data Modeling?
A: Transactional Data Modeling uses purchase information to help identify promising prospects and customer groups. It can help you find people whose buying behavior resembles that of your best customers. Your own transaction records are first-party data; information obtained from outside providers is not.

Q: What is the difference between multichannel and integrated marketing?
A: Multichannel marketing uses more than one channel to reach prospects. Integrated marketing coordinates those channels so the message, offer and customer experience work together. For example, a video ad, direct mail piece and email can reinforce the same offer.

Q: Which e-commerce marketing numbers should I track?
A: Track conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, average order value, ROAS, repeat purchases and customer lifetime value. Review those numbers alongside your product margins and fulfillment costs to understand whether growth is profitable.

Q: What is AEO, and why does it matter for e-commerce?
A: AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It focuses on making your content easier to discover, understand and use in AI-generated answers. For e-commerce, that includes clear product details, useful comparisons, answers to buying questions and evidence supporting your claims. AEO supports visibility; it does not guarantee inclusion or recommendations.

Q: Why should an e-commerce business consider CTV advertising?
A: CTV lets you demonstrate your product and communicate its benefits through streaming television ads. Available targeting and measurement tools can help you reach relevant viewers and evaluate their response. Whether it is profitable for your business depends on your audience, creative, offer and media costs.

Q: Why should an e-commerce business consider ChatGPT ads?
A: ChatGPT ads can introduce your business while people are researching products and comparing options. That makes them a channel worth evaluating for relevant offers. Paid ads are separate from ChatGPT’s answers; buying an ad does not buy an organic recommendation.

Q: Should I test every new marketing platform?
A: No. Stay informed, but select tests that fit your customers, budget and profit goals. Define what success looks like before you spend. Use the results to decide whether to expand, revise or stop a campaign.

About Craig Huey

Craig Huey is one of America’s leading direct response marketing and advertising experts. He is the founder and president of Creative Direct Marketing Group (CDMG), a direct response advertising and marketing agency specializing in direct mail, digital, and multichannel campaigns. CDMG has worked with hundreds of companies, helping them generate leads, sales, and measurable results through targeted, data-driven marketing. Craig is also the publisher of the Direct Marketing Update, a newsletter read by marketing professionals, business owners, and executives who want to stay ahead of the latest trends in direct response marketing.

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