Content Marketing for eCommerce – 3 Strategies to Get Started

A customer lands on your website.

They’re interested in some products and decide to explore your store.

They add some products to the shopping cart and wheel it to checkout.

You just made your first (of many, hopefully) sale to them.

Now go back to the first step and imagine that never happened – if people never land on your website, there will be no one to take off with a cart-load of goodies.

And you will be left wondering where you went wrong when you sit down to check the accounts at the end of the month.

Do you see where we are going with this?

To run a successful e-commerce business, you need people to first come to your site.

But how do you ensure that?

You lure them in with spectacular content!

Confused?

Don’t be! We’ll walk you through the what’s and how’s of the process.

Why Do I Need Content Marketing for My eCommerce Endeavors?

In 2017, global retail ecommerce sales were valued at $2.3 trillion.

By 2021, they are expected to reach $4.9 trillion (Source: Statista).

That is more than double the amount in a mere five years.

And we’re sure we don’t need to tell you what this indicates – the trend to shop online is increasing in popularity every day.

And while that is great for your business, you really need to up your game if you are going to outrun your competitors.

One of the best ways for you to do that is to use content marketing to your advantage.

With content, you can

• Tell people about your eCommerce brand and how awesome it is.
• Encourage potential customers to click on the site and eventually become customers.
• Regularly inform them about new products and services they can get from your company.
• Share useful information that provides value to your customers.
• Share tips and tricks, as well as other information, that establish you as an expert in the domain.

So, what are some ‘content considerations,’ if you must? What steps can you take to ensure your content marketing strategy for your online business kicks off in the right way?

Let’s talk about it in more detail!

Content Marketing Must-Dos for Your eCommerce Business

Choose Your Marketing Mediums and Platforms Wisely

When you are just starting out, it is not a smart move to try and produce different kinds of content for tons of platforms at the same time.

Remember: Quality over quantity – always!

So you need to make a wise decision regarding what mediums or content formats you will use, as well as what platform/s you will post the content on.

This is dependent on any number of factors, including your target market demographics, the nature of your business, the kind of products and services you provide, and so on.

We’re going to make this a little easier for you by discussing two mediums/formats that work wonders for brands.

You, however, can analyze your needs and choose other media and platforms – or these ones if they work for you – to achieve conversions.

Focus on Your Email Marketing Strategy

Different mediums and platforms work for different brands – there is no hard and fast rule.

If you have a creative bone, you can even explore non-conservative options and experiment with new ideas!

But there is one medium that never fails an eCommerce business – and that is email!

Whether you are starting off with a welcome email offering a discount or diving right in with the first useful piece of information you want to give the consumer, email lets you get your message across.

A highly compelling message that has been drafted right also encourages the reader to take action.

Let’s look at the example of an email from ShopStyle:

Why is it effective?

It announces the sale in bold text.

The email then pairs that with an image of an exquisite Ted Baker outfit.

It finally introduces a CTA, encouraging people to start shopping immediately.

Because people now mostly receive emails on their phone and check them out with little delay, this can be very effective.

Some things you can do to ensure the success of an email marketing strategy for your eCommerce business are to:

• Personalize the message and CTA according to the target audience.
• Bind an offer (to get a discount or download a brochure, for example) by time.
• Include a CTA in your subject line – give them a reason to open the email.
• Use visuals to attract readers – do not make the email too text-heavy.
• Encourage interactivity.

That said, choose wisely. There are many other platforms, including social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, that may be just as useful, or even more useful as a matter of fact, for your business.

Consider Video

You should choose the medium or format that is best for getting your particular message across.

We stand by that.

But let us share a statistic about video:

According to Omnicore Agency, video content has a 50 times greater chance of driving organic search results than normal text.

50 times!

Why do you think video has that effect?

It lets you combine the power of text and visuals to give instructions, inform the reader about the product or service or solve a problem they may be facing among other things.

Look at this video by Sierra Designs, a company that sells camping equipment:

 

In it, they have ‘shown’ their consumers the unique way in which they have designed their tents, displaying their superior features.

But that’s not all. They compare it to a vestibular tent (also present in the video) so the consumer knows just why they should go for Sierra’s tent instead.

Within three minutes, they have shared a lot of information that just might convince the viewer to make a well-informed decision to purchase.

Video gives you room to experiment with multiple elements to create compelling content – we would suggest keeping it as part of your eCommerce content marketing strategy.

That said, some other mediums or formats you should definitely explore are:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Guest posts and reviews/testimonials
• eBooks

Produce Content that Provides Value to Your Customers

What do your consumers need?

What kind of information are they looking to get from you?

Are you helping your customers in any way (increasing them in knowledge, solving a problem, telling them all about a new product)?

These are the questions, among many others that you need to ask yourself when you are producing content that provides value for your eCommerce business.

Your consumers are highly likely to do a Google search before they make a purchase decision.

Let’s look at this with an example.

A young mom wants to buy a car seat that provides ongoing use for her little one.

She does a Google search and finds that many people recommend the Graco 4ever All-in-One Car Seat.

The next thing she will do is to search for the product. And that is when she will come across this video:

In a simple 2-minute video, the brand tells her all about how the seat grows with her baby, as well as how to install it in her car.

She has basically gained the knowledge she set out to achieve – which seat to choose and why – while also getting the bonus information on how to install the seat.

You can do something similar in any number of ways. Some forms of content that can provide value to your customers include:

• Infographics
• How-to guides
• Tips and tricks
• Solutions to problems
• Hot industry trends
• Checklists
• Case studies
• And so on.

Connect with Your Customer through Interactive Content

While eCommerce is great, the element of human connectivity is missing – there is no salesperson across the room you can call out to for help.

And while technological advancements have allowed for an enhanced customer care experience through chatbots and instant messaging among other things, you can use Interactive marketing content for the purpose too.

You need to

• Show consumers that you care about their opinion
• Allow them to share any concerns that you can address immediately.

Here are some ways in which you can do that:

• Facebook Live is a great opportunity for you to interact with your customers in real time. You can talk to them about your products, read out their comments to show you care about them, and answer their queries.
• Surveys and quizzes allow you to get a better idea of what your consumers want from you. By sharing a quick questionnaire over email about potential improvements you can make to your products, for example, you can get their input.
• Social media contests and giveaways are a way for your customers to have fun while also getting the opportunity to win a product or service.

Here is an example:

• Virtual tours of, say, a warehouse where you make your product can help a consumer learn all about how your product is made, who is part of the process, and other information that makes them feel more involved.

Ending Thoughts

There are many ‘content considerations’ – like how the term is catching on? – you have to keep in mind when creating content for the marketing efforts of your eCommerce brand.

Some of the ones we have not discussed above include:

• Creating a content plan and calendar
• Creating campaigns supporting social causes that are relevant to your brand
• Sharing your customer’s stories
• Collaborating with influencers in the niche
• Sharing content generated by users
• Storytelling
• And the list can go on…

We have, however, discussed the three most important to-do’s for you to kick off and begin with your eCommerce content marketing efforts. They will help you promote your online brand the right way.

Are there any strategies you want us to discuss in more detail? Let us know in the comments and we’ll definitely look into it!

Until then, best of luck getting started!