Platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce have made it easier than ever to set up an e-commerce business. It takes only a few hours to start your digital business and sell to online consumers via an e-commerce store.
As long as you have a product, they’ll come looking for it. And thanks to low-cost manufacturers in Asia, even finding a product to sell is easier than ever before. Digital platforms like Alibaba and Amazon are connecting businesses, wholesalers, and buyers from all over the world, making e-commerce very competitive.
The lower barrier to entry is attracting entrepreneurs to online businesses. And while it is now possible to build and open your virtual shop in a couple of hours, getting buyers’ attention is as tricky as it has always been.
You need a reliable marketing strategy that delivers targeted ads to online consumers. You also need to use advanced content marketing techniques to attract buyers to your store and convince them of your expertise.
The right content, be it audio, video, blogs or articles, can inspire trust in your audience. They understand the authentic voice of your brand and consider it credible. This ensures that yours is a brand that people want to associate with.
If they like you they’ll come back to learn more about you; they’ll listen to what you have to say, they’ll recommend you to friends and family. And more importantly, they’ll excitedly share your brand on social media, increasing the reach of your message exponentially. However, the most exciting advantage of e-commerce content done right is the sheer amount of search engine traffic it can generate.
Everyone’s running after Google SERP rankings, using a whole range of search keywords from their Adwords Strategy; keywords you might not even know about. The thing about high quality, engaging and relevant content is that it automatically incorporated the ideas and search terms your audience is looking for. This makes content marketing significant for e-commerce brands that want to rule the search results, screens, and hearts of their prospects.
Content promotion helps e-commerce businesses develop online following quickly. It is far more effective than traditional marketing strategies because with content marketing you get to talk to customers who are more likely to purchase anyway. Conventional marketing is for all relevant and non-relevant audiences, and its message is diluted by the time it reaches the right people.
Here are a few more reasons why content is king, and all e-commerce businesses should have a content strategy that gives wings to their marketing efforts:
Research suggests that buyers feel comfortable giving their money to brands that strive to make their lives easier. This means that your brand should be able to reach out to customers when they are looking for a solution to their problems.
If your products and services can help solve a problem for your prospects, let them know. Your content marketing strategy should be built around the utility and usability of your brand, increasing awareness without bragging as brands usually do in traditional advertising.
The crisp, clear website design and catchy taglines used by Zappos.com makes finding the right products easier than ever.
SEO and content are intertwined, with each enhancing the effectiveness of the other. SEO, i.e. Search Engine Optimization helps improve the visibility of your content among search engine users. Quality content helps ensure that SEO tactics work and search engines love your content enough to allow it to rank.
Together the two make sure that your e-commerce site ranks on the first page of search results for the targeted keywords. Make sure your content development professionals are following the best practices laid out by search engines. For example, all content marketing professionals must understand that keyword stuffing is a dangerous practice and can end up hurting your site’s authority for search engines, dropping it in the rankings considerably.
Content not only includes blogs, articles and press releases anymore. A comprehensive content strategy also encompasses social media posts, videos, animations and a lot more. And together all of this can make a substantial impact on your audience. Sophie & Trey is an online clothing seller that has built a formidable following using a robust content strategy that includes infographics and blogs among other things.
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Use tools and analytics from Facebook, Google, YouTube as well as Pinterest and Twitter to identify the likes, dislikes, and interests of social media users who fall in your range. They should be actively engaging with your content, watching the videos, reading your posts and letting you know what they think by actively commenting and taking part in other community-building activities.
A viable content strategy gets your e-commerce shop known and loved by its audience everywhere online.
The relationship between your e-commerce store and your customer doesn’t end with a successful sale. In fact, it’s only just beginning. A robust content strategy doesn’t get them to your store but also keeps reminding them about what you stand for. Once a customer, always a customer; but this only happens if your brand can continue to dominate their environment and set your store apart from all the clutter from your competitors.
Your e-commerce store can inspire brand loyalty by making a great first impression, providing your customers with timely assistance throughout the sales funnel and offer excellent after-sales support like Amazon.com. A content strategy can help you do all that, and more!
E-commerce websites are a fantastic way to reach your customers and audiences right where they are. But they can be difficult to market. You can’t depend on Adwords traffic alone, and SERP rankings won’t give you the sales you need all by themselves.
You need a comprehensive content strategy that creates and promotes content, optimizes it for SEO and presents it on the right venues, i.e. wherever the audience is present. Use smart calls-to-action and strategic email campaigns.
Content marketing can make your e-commerce store more profitable and prosperous. As long as you have reliable resources to count on, there is no reason you won’t be able to ace content for your e-commerce store.
