The primary goal of owning an eCommerce website is to boost sales and make enough revenue to get a return of investment (ROI), create a consistent and viable income source, and make enough money to pay for business operating costs, including monthly bills, employee payroll, and product development.
The key to a successful eCommerce site is to get enough traffic to your store. Traffic might not be actual sales and it does not exactly pay the bills, but there is a higher chance of making sales with having more leads.
To make it simpler; you need sales to earn more money, you need leads to get more sales, you need site traffic to get more leads, and you need content marketing to get more traffic.
With that being said, it is clear that content marketing for eCommerce in fact, not only generates leads but ultimately boosts sales as well. What better way to deliver content than through blogs? Thus, the need to start a blog if you haven’t done it already.
Today we’re going to show you ten tips on how to use content marketing for eCommerce sales. I will start by explaining what content marketing is in the world of eCommerce.
What is Content Marketing
Content marketing is a step up from common ads. It focuses on creating high-quality and engaging original content that is created to attract and interest your target demographic.
Its primary goal is to generate more leads, driving customers to your website, and eventually generate more income through sales.
It involves communicating with your online niche market at potential customers without dropping cold emails and calls.
You have to admit that it is annoying when you receive spam, disruptive ads, and everything too sales-y. It might be helpful at some point but does not deliver the same quality as content marketing. Statistics state that 80% of the population would rather learn about a product through a blog post or article rather than reading a traditional ad.
It eliminates the need for traditional sales pitches that a lot of people avoid without even hearing what they have to say. It is a new form of marketing that is entertaining and informative at the same time.
Now that you have an idea of what content marketing is, let’s talk about how you can use content marketing for eCommerce sales.
1. Stick to the Most Effective form of Content
If you have tried using content marketing for eCommerce in the past, the best thing to do is stick with one or two forms of content. Going across all platforms might give you a better chance for sales, but it is just not worth all the time and resources if you already have a reliable way of driving traffic to your site.
Apple, one the leading companies in tech, sticks to visual aspects of marketing such as stunning images and videos of their products. They stick to this type of content, mainly because their products are highly visual and engaging.
2. Share your Content on Social Media
Within the world of eCommerce, multichannel marketing allows you to reach and interact with customers through different mediums. Sharing content on social media is a great way to get the word out.
Although blog articles don’t really go viral on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, you can make content such as videos and images that can go viral on social media, which can then link to your eCommerce site.
Before you share on social media, it is also good to know your target audience and which platform they are using. Social media is not the only way to share your content, but it is kind of an important one since there are over 3.5 billion users recorded as of last year. It is definitely a market you want to penetrate.
Which platform can you leverage to engage with your audience?
- Facebook: Facebook is an older platform that people’s parents are using, meaning it is a great social media platform to get leads from different age demographics. Making real-time tutorials and infographics are easy with the Facebook Live feature.
- Instagram: Instagram is all about photos and short videos. It is a great social media channel for sharing high-quality photos that are shareable through Instagram stories. It is a great place to find the millennial and gen Z market since most of the young people are not on Facebook to avoid their parents from spying on their accounts.
Grill em’ All is a burger joint in California, and they got popular because of sharing content on social media. Using stunning images is a great way to gain followers and convert sales.
- Twitter: Now, if you have a blog and most of your content is informational and text-driven, Twitter is a great platform that bloggers can use to drive traffic to their site.
Popular fast food chain, Wendy’s is highly popular for using Twitter to market their beef by starting beef with other chains.
- Pinterest: Pinterest is a search engine that heavily focuses on visual appeal. You can share your listicles and other DIY content material on this platform, and it is also faster to rank on this search engine.
This example is an article written by Urban Outfitters. It showcases a unique product, with a high-quality photo, and a short concise description that will ultimately lead people to going to their online store.
- YouTube: If all of your content for marketing focuses on video, creating an official YouTube channel is a great way to share your content. Videos are the most engaging type of content and most people on the internet are more likely to watch a video than read an article. Creating reviews for your product is a great way to build trust. A lot of eCommerce stores are creating their own product reviews, or you can hire content creators to do the job for you.
This example shows you how to add product reviews on your Shopify store
to gain trust from future customers.
I also wanted to add that you need to carefully curate the content to make it more effective. Make sure you share the right content on the right platform. For example, Instagram is a visual platform meaning, blocks of text might not be the right form of content to share on this platform.
3. Become an Expert and Answer the Internet’s Burning Questions
This next idea is a great one. It involves you going undercover and going on different forums to answer questions. This method allows people to see you as one of them and it is how you let people know that you are an expert at what you do.
After reading your answers and comments, it would drive them to your site to read your articles, and eventually buy the products that you are selling.
In this example, entrepreneur Ramneel Saini, crafted a great Quora answer. It kind of looks like a real blog post that subtly links to his blog to get more readers and drive in traffic.
4. Create Informative Pamphlets using Photos
If people are not aware of your product, you can create high-quality photos and provide them with information about your products. You can add information on the materials used, sizing charts, FAQ sheets, and more.
As long as it makes your product look good and it doesn’t look like you are trying to sell people anything, these forms of content are a great way to drive leads to your site. It is also a great way for people to become aware of your product. This example is from My Creative Shop, a great platform for creating marketing content for your business.
5. Share Customer Feedback and Stories
People want to hear from real customers, which is why it is a great marketing strategy to share client feedback on your products on your social media pages, either on Instagram stories or Facebook posts.
You may also want to include snippets of what real customers have to say about your products on your website.
If they see that you have happy customers, it will develop a certain trust. Make sure that the stories are inspirational and interesting. Also, make sure you ask permission from the people who posted the content before sharing.
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6. Host Webinars and Offer an Online Course
Online webinars are a popular – and effective – way to reach potential business prospects. You can personally present a product related topic, generate interest in your brand and start to build relationships with new leads.
You can provide free online lessons and online courses to teach people about your products. There are tons of excellent webinar software that allows you to interact with your subscribers and convert them into paying customers. You’ll need to design your marketing funnel and landing page to do just that and more!
7. Amp Up your Email Marketing Game
Another way to build relationships with your potential customers is to amp up your email game. Instead of sticking to traditional and annoying spam emails, why not create personalized emails that are interactive and engaging?
The subject line is the key for people to keep reading. Creating an awesome subject line is crucial for your email not ending up in the spam folder, or worse, in the trash.
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8. Create an eCommerce Blog
Most eCommerce stores have a blog section, and it is their way to rank on Google and drive more traffic to the site. Make sure that you create a blog section and write high-quality content to subtly promote your products.
Business blogs are different from hobby blogs. So if you choose to go down this path, make sure you take it seriously by planning the content for better SEO ranking. Your goal is to land on Google’s first page to increase traffic and boost sales.
Writing a blog may require extensive knowledge on the subject to make writing content more natural, which is why it is a good idea to write something you are passionate about. Creating an eCommerce blog can seem like a hassle, but it’s worth the work. In the long run, you’ll be able to captivate your audience with your expertise, collect emails, upsell products, and so much more.
If you’re ready to start blogging here are eight tested ways to use your eCommerce blog to capture leads and then some:
The Benefits of Using Content Marketing for eCommerce
eCommerce can benefit a lot from content marketing and I really feel that these two ideas and concepts are truly made for each other.
Optimize Your Website for Search Engines: Having your website at the top of search results or on the first page of Google will drive more people to your site and you can rank organically by researching the top keywords people usually use when searching online for your products or services and incorporating them in your articles.
Increased Conversions and Sales: A solid content marketing strategy will lead to increased conversions and sales, which will ultimately give you consistent revenue to keep your business afloat and earn more money for you.
Investing in content marketing will provide you with a significant ROI for your eCommerce site. With more traffic going to your site, an average of 2.72% of your visitors will likely make a purchase.
It only shows that driving more people to your site through content marketing can increase your sales and conversions.
Build Relationships: Another benefit of content marketing is that you get to build relationships with your subscribers and past customers. Now that people trust you, they are most likely going to make a second purchase and refer your site to their friends.
Having credibility is everything when it comes to content marketing and generating sales. Without testimonials and someone to vouch for your products, it is going to be challenging to find someone who is willing to trust you and purchase your products.
Conclusion
Starting an eCommerce business is one of the best small business ideas you can do to generate income.To bump up the sales and your content marketing efforts you’ll need to follow at least two of the ideas stated in the list above. To sum it up:
- You need to choose one or two forms of content and stick to what works the most.
- Use social media as an effective tool for sharing your content, and choose the right platform for your content and demographic. ( e.g. Instagram is for visual, and Facebook is for any age demographic)
- Answer questions on Quora or Reddit, and make sure you drive people towards your eCommerce page by answering questions related to what you are selling.
- Use photos as visual aids for creating product guides, so people understand what your products are useful for. Instead of writing boring texts, creating informational pamphlets with high-quality images is the way to go.
- Share real life stories from real customers on your website or on your social media pages. This develops a sense of trust.
- Allow people to learn more about your products by hosting webinars.
- Email marketing is essential, but you have to make them more interactive so that they don’t end up in the spam folder.
- Blogging is a good way to drive people to your eCommerce store. Make sure you write content that is directly related to your products, and make sure you can reach the top of the search rankings to get a slew of traffic.
- Get influencers or celebrities to try out your goods. Unless you know a famous person personally, It might be hard to get a celebrity to show-off your products. However, there are some influencers with thousands of followers that can help. Some will even post positive stuff about your products if you send them a free swag bag.
- Seek out bloggers to write guest posts on your site. If you are too busy to handle a blog, there are other people willing to collaborate with you. Writing guests posts for another person’s blog can benefit both of you, so make sure you tackle this point if you think it is relevant to your products.
About the Author
Hanson Cheng is the founder of Freedom to Ascend. He empowers online entrepreneurs and business owners to 10x their business and become financially independent. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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