Today, content marketing is undoubtedly the most used keyword in the marketing world.
It seems as if you can’t talk to a business owner who has an internet presence without this term being mentioned. Every internet “guru” claims to know the key to content marketing success.
A few years ago, If you mentioned content marketing to online store owners, they’d ignore you and say it had nothing to do with their business — after all, what does content have to do with sales, right?
Thankfully, as more eCommerce website owners recognize the correlation between conversions and content marketing, this attitude is starting to fade.
According to a report by the content marketing institute, the most successful business-to-business marketers spend forty percent of their marketing budget on content marketing. Besides, seventy-two percent of marketers claim content marketing increases engagement and the number of leads.
Companies that do not invest in the content will encounter several issues in attracting, sustaining, and convincing their customers to make a purchase, among other things.
Famous entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk says, “If you’re not putting out relevant content in relevant locations, you don’t exist,”
This is a basic, yet terribly honest and shockingly harsh statement meant to pierce the hearts of every business owner vying for internet consumers’ attention, particularly eCommerce businesses.
However, while customization is the buzzword of today’s marketing period, content marketing strategy for eCommerce brands is unlike that of any other industry, primarily because eCommerce businesses rely on conversions more than anything else to thrive and survive.
In this article, I will explain all about eCommerce content, eCommerce marketing strategy, why eCommerce businesses need content marketing, the types of eCommerce content marketing, eCommerce content marketing process, the do’s and don’t of eCommerce content marketing, and more.
Are you ready?
Calm your nerves as we explore all about content marketing strategy for eCommerce brands.
Let’s talk!
What is Content Marketing?
In general, content marketing is creating and sharing information in a variety of formats, such as written articles, tutorial videos, and infographics, to generate more leads, build your brand, and drive more people to your website.
Content marketing is also a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Let’s move further!
Ecommerce Marketing Strategy
Marketers often utilize a combination of digital marketing channels in an eCommerce marketing strategy to drive not only awareness but also action toward the site where the items or services are being provided electronically.
Social media marketing, search engine optimization, email campaigns, digital content, video content, paid advertising, and other eCommerce content marketing examples all leverage the potential of each to ease online sales. I will explain these content marketing examples in detail in the latter part of this article.
Furthermore, due to the intense competition among online businesses, eCommerce digital marketing methods have become tough and have extended to include more outbound strategies in addition to inbound marketing strategies.
However, search engine optimization is becoming one of the most effective and low-cost components of a successful eCommerce strategy.
By simply matching the terms your target clients use to search for their products and services, you can reap rewards that go beyond your imagination. All you need to do is to optimize your blog articles, add the proper keywords in your content, and optimize current specific product sites.
Moreover, the usefulness of blogging should not be underestimated; you can use it to combat affiliate pages and turn them into a great go-to resource for your target audience and beyond. And a blog post shouldn’t only sell your product; it should be useful and meaningful to consumers and the industry as a whole.
You’ll be able to convert visitors and readers into leads, and eventually into customers, as they get more engaged with your content over time.
We will explore in detail the types of eCommerce content marketing explained briefly above and more a few seconds from now.
What more?
Why Do E-commerce Businesses Need Content Marketing?
With all of the technical discussion, you might still be wondering why eCommerce businesses utilize content marketing, so let’s talk about the advantages.
For starters, content is the most effective approach to win customers today – and not just any content; relevant, distinctive, and high-quality content.
Customers are more likely to trust you and choose you over competitors if they believe you’re trying to appeal to their interests and address their difficulties and pain points in a content marketing campaign. As a result, rather than hard-selling a product on your eCommerce site, you provide information that keeps your customers interested and engaged.
You may ask – why should eCommerce companies care about audience engagement?
Engagement is the first step toward converting readers or website visitors into paying customers that generate revenue for your website.
So, by establishing yourself as trustworthy, competent, and authoritative in the business, you’re effectively taking the audience from the awareness stage and leading them down the sales funnel. As a result, when you successfully execute an eCommerce content marketing plan, you will generate new traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, and get clients in the early stages of the sales funnel.
The benefits of a well-executed content strategy for eCommerce include:
~ It drives new traffic to your company site.
~ It encourages trust in your brand.
~ It can help with all-important conversions.
~ It can create a separate stream of revenue.
~ Its evergreen content can provide enduring value.
However, getting started with a proper content marketing strategy can be burdensome.
Guess what?
Success Olagboye is here to help you out!
He mixes a potent combination of content marketing strategies and a blend of technology-focused, customized solutions to grow eCommerce businesses.
Types of Ecommerce Content Marketing
Now that you understand why eCommerce businesses need content marketing, it’s time to look at some more specific types of content that you can use for your campaigns.
In particular, remember that not all of these will apply to every campaign you launch. The content will always change depending on who you’re trying to reach and what platforms you’re going to use.
1. Blogging
Blogging is a vital aspect of any content marketing strategy because it is an aspect of your site that will be updated the most regularly with new posts and resources to keep users interested. It’s usually through blog content that you initially attract visitors to your site and begin to create your brand’s audience.
Blogging is also always a good place to start when it comes to content marketing. While this isn’t the most popular strategy for eCommerce businesses, it’s extremely effective in terms of SEO.
There are also ways for you to scale your lead generation by blogging.
Let me show you an example from urban outfitters, an eCommerce store on the crest of the wave in fashion.
Here is a blog post I pulled from their site on their favorite new arrivals from Levi to stay warm and look cute.
So if someone is browsing online and looking for information on the latest outfit to stay warm and look cute, this post can pop up. People can navigate to this site even if they’ve never heard of urban outfitters.
As an online retailer, you’re up against dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of other businesses. You can’t expect all of your customers to go straight to your website to make a purchase.
While this page serves as a description of new products from Levi, it’s also designed for conversion.
This is the final section of the blog post.
The blog closes with a call to action about buying the outfits directly through their website. It’s a simple, yet effective approach.
You can mimic this strategy for blog posts related to the products you’re selling online.
Moreover, you might be busy with your business schedules or need a professional blog post writer to handle your blog.
Eden content hub has a team of expert blog writers and seasoned editors that create compelling blog content that increases eCommerce stores’ sales and traffic.
Let’s get in touch and discuss your project in detail!
2. Video Content
According to a survey of Liveclicker’s customers utilizing its VideoCommerce platform, which supports product video distribution and analytics for e-commerce enterprises, retailers who embed product video on their sites to enlighten consumers report higher average order values and conversion rates. Large shops such as Best Buy, Newegg, OnlineShoes, and Under Armour participated in the poll.
Customers that watch videos on a product page have an average order value (AOV) increase of at least 50%, according to more than half of the retailers polled (57 percent). The remaining 43% stated that there was no negative impact.
Furthermore, customers who had a video on 50-75 percent of their product pages had an AOV of around $300, compared to $177 for those who had a video on 0-25 percent of their product pages.
Retailers who use video on more than half of their product pages had greater conversion rates (almost 9%) than those who use video on less than half of their product pages. Conversion rates were 79 percent higher for shops that used video on 0-25 percent of their product pages and 31% higher for retailers that used video on 25-50 percent of their product pages.
Images are somewhat limited, but videos can tell the full story. Take a look at how much video content influences sales.
According to Hubspot research, 90 percent of customers say that videos assist their buying decisions. 54 percent of consumers want to see more video content from brands they support. In addition, videos on landing pages can increase conversions by up to 80 percent.
Most importantly, there are several ways to use video marketing for your eCommerce.
You can do short ad campaigns, in-depth webinars, online courses, or any video content that can build your brand’s awareness.
Let’s discuss briefly how webinars and offering online courses can serve as one of the major content marketing strategies to build your eCommerce business.
The Power of Offering Online Courses
Webinars and online courses are excellent resources for engaging your audience and increasing eCommerce sales.
An interactive webinar is a fantastic method to increase participation.
You can use it to engage with real people while simultaneously recording it for later use.
WebinarJam is one option. It’s quite easy to use.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to interact with your audience, you can maximize platforms like Youtube to create a teaching series.
Other sites you can offer a course include:
# Udemy
# Kajabi
# Lynda
# Podia, and more.
3. Product or Service Guides
One great way to build trust is to provide content for your customers that can provide resources and answer questions on how to use, assemble, and fix your product. Provide detailed information about what your service offers them.
It can also assist them in progressing through the purchasing funnel to the ready-to-purchase stage. It’s also a wonderful approach to keep customers informed about product upgrades.
Product buying guides are necessary just as blog posts are also important. When customers are looking for additional information about specific products, they can be utilized to drive organic traffic to your eCommerce site.
Note:
# Make sure you use your product or service guides to educate your customers.
# Don’t try to sell something in a guide!
# Guides should be utilized to demonstrate to your audience that you are interested in educating them and assisting them in making the best selections possible.
# Also, make sure to incorporate pictures wherever possible.
Consumers want to see how products operate and how they seem. They want to be able to see how items are used and cared for.
Furthermore, an infographic is a terrific method to mix information and graphics in a guide.
Infographics are extremely popular. People will share it if you make a good one. Besides that, this will generate backlinks to your site and help you reach out to new clients.
4. Consumer Stories
Consumer stories can provide vital information that can influence a purchase choice and the whole brand experience.
Stories have become a more effective instrument for molding cognitive processing, brand value, and choice because of the enormously popular social media platforms.
In content marketing, little is understood about the impact of stories and how the process works. Customers tell their own stories about a brand or a product or publish anything linked to it, which is known as a consumer story.
These stories can provide brands the credibility and authenticity they need to connect with their target audience and get them to notice them. It could be in the form of a testimonial, a social media post, or their opinion on the brand.
You’re demonstrating to potential customers that their peers are enthusiastic about your product.
You’re also enlisting the help of your customers to create content for you. It’s genuine, authentic, and inexpensive to make.
Do you already have a lot of positive feedback on your products? Make contact with such customers and request additional information.
Request permission to share what you’ve learned when you’ve found original or inspirational stories.
According to recent research by MIT, consumer-based storytelling can increase purchase consideration by 32% on average.
Businesses can increase brand awareness, engage a wider audience, humanize ASE on social media, and strengthen customer loyalty by including consumer stories in their content marketing strategy.
5. Case Studies
Figure 1Source; Walsworth
“Does it work?”
This is arguably one of the most frequently asked questions before purchasing something.
Potential customers aren’t going to believe you when you state your items or services are great. Both in informal reviews and more dynamic case studies, they want to hear what people have to say.
In particular, in a way that your press releases, white papers, and blog posts can’t, a case study validates the product and highlights its worth and potential.
The case study, similar to a newspaper feature story, delivers a story with a narrative that personalizes your business and what it offers in this style.
One of the most valuable features of a case study is that it can demonstrate a problem and describe a solution by describing how your product assisted a client with a need that is relevant to readers who can relate to the experiences profiled.
Most importantly, make sure your case studies show how your products or services met the needs of your clients.
When folks with similar needs read these studies, there’s a better likelihood they’ll want to buy from you as well.
6. Guest Blogging
Are you concerned that you don’t have the time or the necessary abilities to generate your material right away? You can hire someone else to do it for you!
One way is to allow visitors to write blogs on your site.
Quick favor – contact Eden Content Hub now to create well-detailed and audience-gluing blog posts on your blog.
Guest blogging can form a strong foundation for your content marketing campaign. If done correctly It allows you to branch out into new areas, curate more thorough and well-informed content, increase domain authority, and boost search engine rankings.
How to find guest bloggers?
Create a guest post page on your website. As writers look for new ways to guest post, it will begin to appear in search engines.
Another approach is to reach out to people you know who are good writers and could be interested in guest posting.
This can be done by looking for competing websites that offer guest posting opportunities and seeing who has been blogging there.
If you’re asking for free guest posts, make it clear what they’ll get out of it.
What is the amount of traffic that your website receives? Will you include a byline and a link to their website in your article?
If you’re going to outsource your content creation, make sure you’re clear on your expectations.
Let potential writers know upfront if you publish content in a specific fashion (average length, style, etc.).
Also, let them know what kind of pitch you’re looking for.
Before you start blogging or posting videos to YouTube, make sure you have a solid content strategy in place. Remember that the goal of everything you do is to increase conversions.
Let’s discuss how to go about this!
Ecommerce Content Marketing Process
Phase #1: Identify your target audience
This may appear simple, but you would be shocked how many people don’t know the answer. Take a time to consider whether you truly understand your target demographic.
Here’s the deal: Before you start any content marketing campaign, you need to know who your target audience is. Otherwise, it will not have a high conversion rate and will not be successful.
Without knowing your target audience, you won’t know how to contact them. The following features are relatable features you need to consider when identifying your audience:
~ Age
~ Location
~ Likes
~ Dislikes
~ Gender
~ Status, etc.
For example, Farfetch is a fashion store that sells men, women, and kids’ outfits. Their audience is not just all men, women, and kids.
They cannot focus their content around that because it is too broad. Middle-aged men are different from high school boys. Likewise, aged women are different from middle-aged women.
Phase #2: Learn how your audience likes to consume content
You should figure out how your target consumes information by looking at internal statistics or researching industry trends to reach them in the same way as your eCommerce website content.
You’ll need to answer the following questions:
# Which social media platform is the most popular among my target audience?
# Is there a particular type of content they prefer (for example, video, long-form text, or a whitepaper)?
# Is it true that my target audience prefers to shop on their phones?
# What is the maximum amount of time my target audience is willing to spend studying content?
Phase #3: Figure out the best platforms to distribute your content
Using content distribution platforms is a fantastic strategy to increase blog traffic while ensuring visitors spend valuable time on your site.
Let’s examine some owned content distribution platforms that you can use to amplify your content reach:
1. Facebook
According to a report by Statista, Facebook records 2.89 billion active monthly users as of the second quarter of 2021.
Trust me – this is a promising social media platform that will drive massive traffic to your brand.
Facebook offers a variety of free services, such as pages, groups, and so on, that may be highly beneficial to anyone who understands how to utilize the network effectively.
While Facebook Business is a Freemium (meaning it offers both paid and free resources), it also offers free resources to its users, which is an excellent place to start for any novice looking to increase traffic to their page or blog. Share information from your brand/individual page to Facebook groups that are relevant to you.
2. Twitter
Twitter is one of the best platforms for engaging with clients in real time, and a few key hashtags and timing combinations can give your message a significant boost and immediate response.
Twitter currently has 396.5 million monthly users with over 200 million daily users. Furthermore, the Twitter app was downloaded six million times in the United States in the last quarter of 2020.
It’s also a terrific platform for B2B companies because it keeps up with industry news and engages with customers in real time.
Simply adding a decent photo and a relevant hashtag will help your blog get traction, and you can easily re-schedule the same item with an alternative tweet copy for more exposure.
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn, like Facebook, has a large user base of over 700 million members and is regarded for being the gold standard when it comes to high-value audiences.
According to 99firms, this platform records over 300 million active monthly users. Besides, it is known as the largest professional networking site.
Figure 2Source; Kinsta
Even if LinkedIn’s reach isn’t as large as Facebook’s, the audience you gain from it is more valuable because it’s a network of professionals and executives that drive high-quality traffic to your page or blog.
LinkedIn, like Facebook, is a Freemium service that offers both paid and free content distribution options.
You can post your blogs on LinkedIn groups for free, which increases the value of your profile and attracts visitors if the post is properly returned.
4. Quora
Quora, like LinkedIn, comes out on top when it comes to the quantitative and qualitative features of content distribution platforms.
You can go out to your buyer persona on Quora and deliver the content they’re looking for, and they’ll always read it and appreciate the specifics.
However, there are a few things you should know before using Quora as your primary content distribution channel:
a. Do you have enough current topics with large followings that are relevant to your content?
b. Is your target market on the platform? and
c. Is your target market active on the platform?
If you answered yes to the questions above, Quora is the greatest location to devote your time and build a valued audience who is interested in what you have to say and offer.
5. Instagram
Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet.
Furthermore, in the ever-changing social media landscape, Instagram is still relatively young, and as a result, it is a platform with tremendous revenue potential for companies and bloggers.
Additionally, now that Instagram is owned by Facebook, it has fantastic features that make it a compelling alternative for reaching Instagram and Facebook users.
Instagram is a perfect fit for content marketers thanks to features like Stories, new Adoptions for companies, and the visual nature of the platform.
Directly promoting your blogs on Instagram, on the other hand, can be less beneficial. Converting your content to a video or slide for Instagram is an excellent idea.
6. Medium
Medium, unlike many of the other platforms described above, is not a social media platform with landing sites, adverts, or pop-ups.
Medium is one of the most popular content distribution platforms, and one of its main advantages is that it concentrates on high-quality material, thus it’s all about the posts.
It allows authors to collaborate with anyone on the Medium platform, who will then provide comments on their work.
You can utilize Medium as your main content distribution platform (i.e. as your official blog). Even if you have your WordPress blog, you can reprint your posts there. You might be wondering if publishing the same post on two platforms will result in Google penalizing you for duplicate content. Don’t be concerned! Medium provides a workaround as well.
Use their “Import” tool to ensure that the content on Medium has a canonical tag that includes the source. As a result, Google recognizes that this isn’t your original content, and your original blog’s SEO isn’t harmed.
7. Reddit
Have you thought of using Reddit as a platform to post your content?
Reddit is a social media platform that allows users to contribute text, images, and videos for others to vote on. Content that is upvoted (i.e. less popular) rises to the top, whereas content that is downvoted (i.e. less popular) fades away.
Even though Reddit has been around for a while, it is still one of the finest options for anyone searching for a new marketing channel.
According to backlinko, Reddit receives about 52 million unique daily users. Also, it records over 400 million active monthly users.
Why won’t you distribute your content on a platform like this?
The site also works with user-generated material, which can be upvoted or downvoted by other users.
Quality content submissions that receive a lot of upvotes are promoted to the Hot page, which can help you reach even more people who might not have seen your article otherwise.
Phase #4: Create and publish content
Now that you know the ideal platforms to disseminate content to your previously selected target group, you may now begin creating content.
It’s a massive mistake to start creating content before going through the first two steps. You can be squandering your time by writing content that no one sees or uses.
Assume you devote 90 percent of your content marketing budget to blogging. Your audience, on the other hand, consumes material on YouTube and Instagram. That isn’t a good use of your resources.
Before I move to the last segment of this article, I have to fulfill my promise. Let’s examine the mystery behind backlinks.
You will love to know this!
How to Get More Backlinks to Your Content
When another website links back to yours, this is known as a backlink. They’re also known as inbound and exterior links.
Backlinks are extremely beneficial to SEO (search engine optimization). They give your website and its content a stamp of approval. Sites having the most backlinks, according to OptinMonster, tend to rank higher on Google.
Many websites connecting back to your site send a favorable signal to search engines, indicating that your information is valuable and worthy of being linked to. In exchange, the search engine will boost the rankings and visibility of your website in the search results.
Let’s examine the emphasis of this segment – how to get backlinks to your content.
I have compiled six ways you can get backlinks. Interestingly, these steps are tested and trusted.
Let’s figure them out!
1. Search for top referral sources
You might begin by looking at your website’s main referral sources. These are websites that connect to your content and provide a backlink to you.
In addition, you can identify fresh opportunities and generate similar material to earn a backlink by determining which types of websites link back to your site and the type of content they appreciate.
You can view your referral sources in a variety of ways. Go to Acquisition » All Traffic » Referrals in Google Universal Analytics. Go to Acquisition > User acquisition in Google Analytics 4.
Go to Insights » Reports to see your top referral sources. The overview will be the first report you’ll see. View the Top 10 Referral Sources by scrolling down.
2. The Power of Outbound Links
Examining your outbound links is another technique to seek backlink chances. You can send an outreach email and build a partnership if you’re linked to a high-authority website and providing a lot of traffic.
Outbound links reporting isn’t available out of the box in Google Analytics. However, with MonsterInsights, you can quickly see your top outbound links. Simply install the plugin and click on the Top Outbound Links report under Insights » Reports » Publishers.
The analysis will show you which of your website’s external links receive the most clicks. After that, you may send an email to these websites and start building a relationship with them. Tell them about your post and how you used their content as a source because you found it valuable.
Mention that you’re searching for a partnership opportunity and that you’d want to collaborate on some content, such as a case study. You can receive amazing new backlinks, traffic, and a relationship with the source if they’re on board with the plan.
3. Leverage Your Competitors
Figure: Source; Inc.com
Have you ever wondered where your competitors’ backlinks come from? What is their organic content strategy and how do they publish it? You should know what others are doing if you want to stay on top of what’s going on in the industry.
You may ethically spy on your competition to find backlink sources, and examine their organic keywords, top-performing content, social media activities, and other things.
You may use SEO tools like SEMrush to find backlinks. It generates a detailed backlink profile for any website you type in. In SEMrush, go to Backlink Analytics from the left side and then enter your competitor’s domain to see the backlinks.
After that, click Check it. Select Backlinks from the drop-down menu, and you’ll get a list of domains from which your competition obtains links.
These sources can then be used to obtain a backlink for your website. If your competition has a link from a guest post, for example, you can create content on the guest blogging website as well.
You can also make a profile on that topic and try to gain a backlink if they have a link from there.
Signing up for their email newsletters and setting up Google Alerts are two other ways to remain ahead of your competitors. As a result, you’ll be notified as soon as they create new content or are highlighted on another website.
4. Create a Link-worthy Content
Creating high-quality content is a fundamental technique to obtain backlinks. Your goal should be to develop material that other bloggers and industry professionals can reference and link back to your website.
This is a time-consuming method, but it’s well worth the work if you can get it perfect. You can create a variety of different forms of material. You may make how-to articles, guides, list pieces, and quizzes, among other things.
For example, if you have a fashion site, you can create a how-to post for under $100 about how to manage a fashion brand. You can also make a list of 50 fashion trends that will transform society and put it on your blog.
5. Infographics Can Get You More Traffic
In addition to written content, you can utilize infographics to secure backlinks for your website.
Figure: Source; Wired
Infographics are graphic, picture, and chart-based visual representations of facts and information. They aid in delivering a fast summary of the subject and simplify difficult concepts into simple pictures that are easier to comprehend.
You are assisting other content creators by creating intriguing and useful infographics. They might link back to you as the original developer of the infographic if they use your visual creation in their blogs.
You don’t need to be a designer or employ an expert to make an infographic. You can make one yourself using a variety of free web tools.
6. Guest Blogging Can Change Everything
Guest posting is a tested and trusted approach for obtaining backlinks for your website. You can submit an article to a variety of websites that allow guest blogging.
Many websites provide a contributor account or a write-for-us section where anyone may submit an article and have it published. They also allow you to include a link to your website in the author bio section or the article itself. Then, write a pitch for your topic, including a summary of what you’ll discuss in the piece. Make certain to clarify the advantages and how they will assist their audience.
Guest posting allows you to reach out to the relevant people and drive traffic to your website.
Simply perform a Google search to locate guest blogging websites. Write a guest piece, write for us, or contribute to the end of the topic term you wish to target. The results will then be filtered to only show sites that allow guest posting.
Final Thought
Growth is something that all eCommerce businesses want for their venture – growing your business is a sign of success. But business growth isn’t a walk in the park – you need to take a close look at the steps that are needed to make an impact on your audience and keep them coming back time and time again.
CONTENT MARKETING IS the SUPERPOWER!
E-commerce content marketing demands time and effort to see your desired result. However, if you follow the tips shared in this article, you will conveniently support your customers throughout their purchase journey and increase your brand’s Return on Investment.
The mouth-watering benefits of content marketing for eCommerce are far more important. Ultimately, it helps eCommerce websites grow with ease, and builds relationships and trust between brands and their audience.
