We are almost halfway through 2023, and the ecommerce landscape is more competitive than ever! Online shoppers have endless options at their fingertips so standing out in a sea of competitors can feel like an impossible task. But it isn’t.
With the right ecommerce content marketing strategy, you can cut through the noise and capture the attention of your target audience. In this article, we give you some insight to create compelling content that drives engagement traffic, and sales. Are you ready to get started?
The Case for Ecommerce Content Marketing
Why is content marketing so important for ecommerce businesses?
The answer lies in the power of content to attract and engage customers.
Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing, and costs 62% less. Additionally, companies that prioritise content marketing experience higher website traffic, better engagement, and higher conversion rates than those that don't.
Impact Behind the Scenes
One of the key benefits of ecommerce content marketing is its ability to work for you behind the scenes. Unlike traditional advertising, which requires ongoing investment to maintain its impact, content can continue to attract and engage customers long after it's been published. By creating evergreen content that's optimised for search engines, ecommerce businesses can build a steady stream of organic traffic that fuels their social media accounts and boosts their online visibility.
Organic content also lives on your website and social channels which are all checked by customers frequently, which makes owned marketing even more important. Great social media content will make your business and products more useful and interesting to the target audience. There’s always the possibility of having content going viral which can boost your social media following and interest in your business.
Content like blogs, webinars, and videos can all contribute to better SEO rankings if they are linked to by other websites. When your website’s SEO is done well, your website will also rank higher because search engines can crawl and find relevant information more easily.
What About the Budget?
To get the most out of content marketing, it's important to dedicate a significant portion of your marketing budget to it. According to industry benchmarks, ecommerce businesses should allocate between 15-20% of their total marketing budget to content marketing. This investment will enable you to create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your audience and drives traffic and sales.
Investing in ecommerce content marketing will bring results. The same companies that participated in the industry benchmark study also indicated that engagement rates increased by 53% while experiencing a traffic increase and ranking boost of 49%. In other words, content marketing provides a good return on investment.
Content marketing can be a breeze without breaking your budget!
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Find What Works for You
For many ecommerce businesses, the thought of competing with larger, established brands can be daunting. However, it's important to remember that ecommerce content marketing is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Identify Your Native Content Language
To succeed, you need to find your own native content language – the type of content that you're naturally good at and enjoy creating. Doing so makes it much easier to create content because you already know what you like and what works for you.
For example, if you're a talented writer, consider starting a blog that covers topics related to your products or industry. If you're more visual, focus on creating compelling product photos or videos that showcase your products in action.
Whatever your strengths may be, leverage them to create content that resonates with your audience and sets you apart from the competition.
Repurpose Original Content
Once you've identified your native content language, the next step is to repurpose it into other forms of content.
For instance, you could turn a blog post into an email newsletter or a social media post. Or, you could repurpose a longer YouTube video into shorter clips that can be shared on Instagram or TikTok. If you hosted a webinar, turn the content into an infographic or an expert guide.
The key is to be creative and experiment with different formats to see what resonates with your audience.
Examples of Great Content
To give you some inspiration, here are a few examples of ecommerce businesses that are doing various forms of content well:
Gymshark
The fitness apparel brand, Gymshark, uses social media to showcase user-generated content (UGC) from their loyal customers, which helps build a sense of community around their brand. They also incorporate videos on their website to make the visuals more dynamic and to show their products in action.
Sephora
The beauty retailer uses video content to provide makeup tutorials and product demonstrations, which helps educate customers about their products and build trust. It also gives customers ideas about how different products can be used together for various occasions.
Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club, a subscription-based razor company, uses humour and storytelling to create engaging, shareable content that sets them apart from their more traditional competitors.
Knowing What to Create
You’ve already identified your native content language and you know what your business stands for. Now, you have to combine that with the knowledge you already have about your target audience so that your messaging appeals to them. It may require some further research and customer segmentation to make your ecommerce content marketing successful.
After identifying the type of content that resonates with your audience, you can start creating content that caters to their needs. To keep things fresh and engaging, it's essential to have a variety of content types to keep your audience interested.
Here are some types of content that you can create for your e-commerce business:
A Daily Post
A popular content creation approach is to do something for every day of the week. Many businesses like to give the day a catchy title such as "Motivation Monday," "Throwback Thursday," or "Sunday Funday."
An alternative approach is to focus on pushing a specific kind of content on each day of the week. For example, promoting a specific product on Monday, giving advice on Tuesday, showing a product demo in video format on Wednesday, and so on.
Daily posts ensure that your content remains diverse and offers something for everyone. It also helps you to promote a variety of products and tell people more about your business.
Different Product Uses
Creating content that demonstrates various ways to use your product is an effective way to show your audience the versatility of your product.
For example, if you sell beauty products, you could create a video that shows different makeup looks using your products. This type of content not only showcases your product but also educates your audience on how to use it.
It’s also possible to share entirely different ways of using your product that people might not be familiar with. For instance, if you sell household items, you could show that cooking oil can also work to remove sticker residue from glasses and crockery.
Mistakes People Often Make
Creating content that highlights common mistakes people make when using your products or services can be a great way to educate your audience. A great place to find ideas is in the comments section on your social media pages. It could also help to check your competitors’ pages to see what their customers are asking and talking about because it can reveal pain points that you can address in your content.
For example, if you sell car care products, you could create a blog post that outlines common car washing mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
This type of content shows that you care about your customers and want to help them get the most out of your products. You could also include details like how much product to use at once, suggest complementary products, and give storage instructions.
Behind the Scenes
Creating behind-the-scenes content can be an effective way to humanise your brand and connect with your audience. For instance, you could create a video that showcases how your products are made or a blog post that introduces your team. This type of content can help build trust with your audience and make your brand more relatable.
Short Snippets
Creating short-form content that is easy to consume can be an excellent way to keep your audience engaged. Short snippets are ideal for mobile users who are on-the-go and have limited attention spans.
For example, you could create short videos for social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels that showcase your products or services. For business customers on LinkedIn, you could provide a carousel that shows a tip or trick one each slide.
Listicles
Creating listicle-style content can be an effective way to educate your audience on various topics related to your products or services. It also works well if your products or services have many benefits or uses that you want to share with your customers.
For instance, if you sell baby products, you could create a blog post that outlines "10 Things Every New Parent Needs to Know."
Ecommerce content marketing using lists is easy to read and shareable, making it perfect for social media or to send on to a friend in an email.
Sounds and Songs
Creating audio content for platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels can be an excellent way to engage with your audience and an opportunity to have your content go viral.
For example, you could create a sound or song that your audience can use in their own videos. This type of content can help increase brand awareness and reach a new audience.
User-Generated Content (UCG)
User-generated content (UGC) is another type of content that can be incredibly effective in e-commerce content marketing. Encouraging your customers to share their experiences with your products or services on social media can be an excellent way to build brand loyalty and social proof. You could even make a contest to increase the creation of content and to get your brand out there.
Using Videos
Embedding videos onto your webpages and stores can be another effective way to showcase your products and services. Product demonstration videos, how-to videos, and customer testimonial videos can all be embedded onto your product pages to help increase engagement and drive sales. You can also share these on social media and in other marketing campaigns.
Try and Try Again
It's essential to keep experimenting with different types of content until you find what works for your audience. Don't be afraid to take risks and try new things. At some stage you will find something that works well for you. Use that as a foundation for future content to see if you can replicate its success.
Feeling uninspired? Not sure what to do first?
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Using AI for Content Marketing
One of the most significant marketing trends is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline content creation, optimization, and distribution. By leveraging AI-powered tools, businesses can generate more effective content in less time, improving their bottom line.
Don’t be afraid of using the different AI and automation tools available to you because they are useful. You don’t need to let AI do everything for you, but use it as a resource to inspire you. It’s still necessary to create content yourself to ensure originality and a consistent brand tone.
AI tools like ChatGPT, Jesper.ai, Gamma, Surfer SEO, and Repurpose.io are also useful in the content creation process. Only some of these tools are free, but many of them have trials that allow you to explore how they work.
Overall, using AI-powered tools can help you generate more effective content in less time, making it easier to stay on top of your ecommerce content marketing efforts.
Conclusion
Ecommerce content marketing is constantly evolving, and it's essential to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends and best practices to stay ahead of the competition.
By dedicating a portion of your marketing budget to content marketing, finding what works for you, creating a variety of content types, and using AI-powered tools, you can create a robust content marketing strategy that drives engagement, traffic, and sales.
Remember to test and measure your ecommerce content marketing strategy regularly to see what works and adjust your strategy accordingly. With the right approach, you can build a strong brand, increase revenue, and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
There are many tools to help you manage and distribute your content that also tracks success metrics.
HubSpot & Klaviyo are two of those tools!
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