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What's the value of employing content marketing for eCommerce business growth?
Most businesses see producing and publishing content as a way to build brand and product awareness and potentially attract consumers in the mid-to-low stages of the sales funnel. But the truth is, investing in high-quality, value-oriented content can offer additional ways to grow your eCommerce store. It can help boost conversions, enhance brand trust, and ensure high customer retention rates.
Naturally, achieving your desired results requires a strategic approach. To utilize content to elevate your business, you need to opt for the right tactics.
Without further ado, here are eight ways to grow your eCommerce store with content marketing, along with some excellent examples.
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Optimizing your blog posts for SEO is one of the best ways to get more out of your content marketing activity.
In 2024, the average click-through rate for Google Search Results Pages ranges from 39.8% for position #1 to 1.6% for position #10. That's a 25x higher chance of attracting a potential customer, just from SEO.
But the thing is, achieving a high SERP ranking isn't just about using the right keywords. It's just as much about ensuring your website offers a positive browsing experience (focus on speed, mobile optimization, ease of navigation, etc.). Plus, it requires that your posts deliver relevant value to your target audience.
If you look at how Google determines SERP rankings, you'll find that it follows the double-E-A-T system. In other words, posts must demonstrate expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness, and experience to rank high. Combine this data with the fact that 73% of consumers want brands to show they understand their unique needs. You'll quickly realize that investing in content that centers on specific, relevant topics can be a great way to attract ideal customers, who'll have a high chance of converting into customers.
Check out how Transparent Labs does it with its science-backed article on body rehydration.Β
Knowing that this is a question athletes and fitness enthusiasts commonly have, the brand goes into immense detail to provide a helpful answer.
Furthermore, note how the resource prioritizes user value with a recipe for a hydrating beverage, even though Transparent Labs has a hydration supplement product on offer. This establishes brand credibility and authority, draws buyers into the sales funnel without putting them under pressure, and gently enhances conversion rates.
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An effective content marketing strategy doesn't just rely on SEO optimization to build brand or product awareness. Instead, it aims to provide consumer value at every point of the buyer's journey, using each published resource to gently guide buyers toward the lower stages of the sales funnel.
Investing in awareness-stage resources meant to attract your target audience is just one aspect of effective content marketing for eCommerce. However, to see exceptional results and achieve the highest possible ROI, you must explore ways to meet consumer demands (and answer their questions) throughout the sales funnel.
Investing in detailed buyer's guides that cover every aspect of a product category is an excellent way to achieve this result.
On the one hand, these resources offer educational value. They help potential customers comprehend the benefits of investing in your solutions. Moreover, they can set and manage your prospects' expectations regarding what they can get from your business.
On the other hand, going above and beyond with long-form buyer's guide content allows you to establish your industry expertise. Plus, it ensures your buyers know they can expect a positive shopping experience from your brand.
For example, check out how EXT Cabinets achieves these results in its article on flame tamers on a gas grill.Β
As these products aren't widely known, EXT goes above and beyond to help readers comprehend use cases and types, allowing them to choose the best possible accessories for their needs.
The outcome of this content marketing tactic is a resource that establishes the brand's expertise. More importantly, the article helps create a positive buying experience that aligns with consumers' needs at their current position in the buyer's journey. The result? A higher likelihood of a reader being happy with their purchase and an improved brand reputation for EXT.
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Brand credibility and authority can make or break your business.
So, if you're exploring tactics to use content marketing for eCommerce β especially to grow your brand β it's a good idea to focus on publishing resources that will encourage brand trust.
Ultimately, establishing your company's trustworthiness pays off.
A 2023 survey discovered that 7 in 10 people consider brand trust more important now than ever. Moreover, some research suggests that a credible brand reputation contributes to customer retention, which is, ultimately, the best way to ensure the longevity of your organization.
To get the most out of your eCommerce content marketing tactics, consider enhancing your resources with UGC and customer feedback.
For inspiration on how to do this, check out Bay Alarm Medical.
If you look at any of this brand's articles, you'll see that every single one includes an attention-grabbing, floating Google rating element. Additionally, the top right corner features a UGC element, which points out that the brand's Instagram shares "Real stories from real people," further emphasizing the brand's commitment to customer satisfaction and establishing its credibility in a low-trust industry.
Alternatively, you can create UGC-centered content for your company blog that shares customer stories or the results of specific case studies. These resources don't just boost business credibility. They also offer valuable opportunities to describe how your solutions remove consumer pain points and give prospects real-life examples of your products in action.
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One of the biggest mistakes you can make when employing content marketing for eCommerce is prioritizing conversions.
Yes, it is understandable that you want to invest in marketing strategies to help your organization's bottom line. However, aggressively pushing sales is far more likely to alienate your website visitors, causing them to form a negative opinion about your brand and pushing them toward your competitors.
With this in mind, prioritize solving your target audience's pain points with every piece of content you produce.
For example, consumer behavior research shows that many buyers demand convenience from brands.Β
A significant portion of cart abandonments happen due to expensive (48%) or slow (23%) shipping, demonstrating that delivery is a crucial factor when shopping. This highlights the importance of providing convenient and user-oriented options for your customers. With ShipSaving, you can address these pain points about shipping fees and protect your profit margins at the same time.Β
Or, if you want to invest in content that will focus more on building trust, consider giving your knowledge away for free. This is an excellent method of proving your expertise. The strategy can also be a great way to convert leads (for example, by putting some resources behind a sign-up wall). You can then nurture those leads into loyal customers with email marketing or retargeting campaigns.
For example, Curlsmith implements this tactic beautifully.Β
It prioritizes solving consumer pain points with a quiz that gives them a personalized haircare routine. Moreover, the brand can use this piece of interactive content as a consumer-research tool, seeing as it's the perfect method of collecting user data to help future product research and development or even inform the brand's marketing campaigns.
Most eCommerce brands don't witness consistent consumer interest. Instead, their sales largely depend on the season in question.
So, if you want to use content marketing to boost brand and product awareness and encourage higher conversion rates, you'll need to publish resources your audience will want to interact with once they enter the sales cycle.
Balancing seasonal marketing and evergreen content is an excellent tactic in this regard.
On the one hand, evergreen posts give you the opportunity to establish brand authority, build up your reputation, and create consistency.
On the other hand, building content around trending topics can allow you to capture timely interest during its peaks, helping you outperform your competitors and give your prospects what they want when they want it.
Check out how Mannequin Mall implements this tactic.Β
Knowing that its customer base may need additional help creating attractive store displays during festive seasons, this brand published several guides on seasonal visual experiences. They include collections on window display ideas, but that's not all. Many of these resources go into the nitty-gritty of creating immersive holiday/seasonal experiences. What's great is that these articles regularly see an uptick in visits during the corresponding season, allowing Mannequin Mall to attract seasonal traffic thanks to a well-balanced content marketing strategy.
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Ecommerce offers exceptional potential due to its easy-to-globalize scale.
But the thing is, many retail businesses only do eCommerce to provide a necessary dose of convenience for their customers. Moreover, a large portion of consumers still prefer in-store over online shopping.
With this in mind, one way to use content marketing for eCommerce is to do so in a way that will engage local audiences. Whether you're trying to attract customers in targeted areas, highlight unique local benefits (like delivery options), or just want to emphasize the relevance of your offer to a specific segment of your audience, optimizing for local SEO is an amazing tactic.
For instance, take a look at how Pergola Kits USA does it.Β
This brand understands that customers based along the coast need a much different type of product than people who don't have to worry about humidity, corrosion, high wind, or flooding. That's why it invests in content addressing these specific pain points. Even more, it adds a dose of localization by mentioning specific dealers in relevant areas whom customers can contact in case they have any questions or just prefer a face-to-face purchase process over online shopping.
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Last but not least, as you explore ways to utilize content marketing for eCommerce, don't forget that not all content formats perform equally well.
Yes, a blog post can be an amazingly powerful tool for reaching your business goals. But if you want to maximize its potential, you will have to enhance it with engaging formats like visuals, videos, and interactive features.
Ultimately, these formats boost web visitor engagement and product understanding. Plus, they can serve as lead-capture mechanisms, which are essential if you consider that a sale necessitates an average of eight touches for consumers to move from the top to the bottom of the funnel.
Additionally, incorporating visual formats into your content strategy will enhance the user experience. This is partly because images and videos allow you to break up large chunks of text, automatically improving readability. It's also because they can enhance the educational value of your resources β particularly if you use them in a way similar to Beardbrand and its Guide to a Perfect Beard Trim.
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Using content marketing for eCommerce growth is a great way to achieve impressive results β even on a budget.
By implementing the tactics outlined in this guide, you'll be well on your way toward reaching your business goals. Of course, don't hesitate to make these strategies your own. Base how you use them on in-depth audience research. Test performance to uncover optimization opportunities. Lastly, always keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, so that you can develop content marketing ideas that will provide your prospects with unique value and an unparalleled experience.
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