Search advertising and email are two of the most reliable growth engines in e-commerce — yet they’re often underused, outdated, or running on autopilot. When these channels stagnate, so does growth. Below are the patterns I see often, and the opportunities most teams miss.
Search Advertising: Relevance Is Everything
Strong search performance depends on a few timeless principles:
• Choosing the right keywords
• Writing clear, compelling ad copy
• Sending people to strong, relevant landing pages
• Adding helpful ad extensions
• Using shopping campaigns effectively
• Targeting the right audiences, especially for retargeting
The theory is straightforward. The challenge is that many teams stop evolving their strategy once results look “good enough.”
The risk of relying only on branded keywords
A common trap is running ads solely on branded terms — targeting people already searching for your brand. The return on ad spend looks great, but it doesn’t grow your customer base. You’re only catching the shoppers who were already coming.
If you want to expand into new audiences, try building campaigns around the products themselves — not just the brand name. For example, promoting a specific material, feature, or category often attracts people in the early research phase who don’t yet know who you are. Cost per click is usually lower, competition is broader, and you reach potential customers you would otherwise never meet.
The real opportunity
Search is not a “set it and forget it” channel. It requires continuous testing, refinement, and creativity. You need expertise not only to optimize what exists, but to challenge assumptions and introduce new ideas that increase reach and relevance.
A quick note on display ads
Many brands still spend heavily on display campaigns for “branding.” These can be useful for awareness, but they rarely convert — and younger audiences often tune them out entirely. If your goals include reaching Gen Z or millennials, it’s worth reevaluating whether your display spend is producing the outcomes you intend.
Email: Still One of the Highest-Value Channels
Despite being older than nearly every other digital channel, email remains one of the top drivers of traffic and conversions for fast-growing online stores. It’s inexpensive, predictable, and extremely effective when done well.
But none of that works if you’re barely using it.
Missed opportunity: not emailing enough
If you send only a handful of emails each season, you’re leaving revenue untouched. Email works through repetition, expectation, and relevance. It’s one of the few channels where you fully own your audience — no algorithms, no bidding wars.
Even a simple shift, like sending more frequent, well-structured emails, can drive meaningful increases in sales.
What early-stage email strategy can look like
In year one, keep it simple and consistent:
• Send more emails — the easiest early win
• Build anticipation in the off-season to grow your list
• Use small incentives to encourage sign-ups
• Set up a basic welcome email and a reusable promo template
• Focus on clear content, not heavy branding
The moment you send emails tied to real offers, real value, and real timing, you’ll see results. One strong, targeted email can outperform months of passive branding emails.
Efficiency matters
If your email tool is overly complex for what you’re trying to do, you’ll spend more time wrestling with the system than creating effective messages. Poor setup — messy databases, missing connections between tools, broken opt-ins — becomes a major risk when you scale. Before ramping up, make sure the basics work.
How to Mature Your Email Strategy Over Time
Email grows more powerful as your digital maturity increases. Here’s how brands typically level up:
Year 1: Build the foundation
• Grow the database with clear incentives
• Optimize every email for mobile (including dark mode)
• Segment your audience based on basic behaviors
• Create welcome flows and a consistent promo structure
Year 2: Add smarter automations
• Introduce abandoned cart emails
• Develop segmented, multi-email series for specific journeys
• Start personalizing offers and content based on real behaviors
Years 3–4: Deepen engagement
• Request feedback and reviews in a structured way
• Introduce interactive elements: quizzes, polls, shoppable images
• Use data to shape personalized product recommendations
• Encourage social sharing and community participation
At every stage, the goal is the same: make email more relevant, more timely, and more connected to the customer’s actual journey.
The takeaway
Search and email aren’t glamorous channels — but they are foundational. When you treat them as ongoing, evolving systems rather than one-time setups, you unlock growth most brands never reach. Improvement doesn’t come from chasing new platforms; it comes from making the basics work harder, smarter, and more consistently.
