ECommerce content marketing is a response to the steep marketing competition. Veterans and rookie business owners alike could attest to the fact that running an eCommerce website is never easy. On top of making sure your products have the best quality, there are competitors you have to think about. So, how do you make sure that you’re engaging customers in a way that best separates you from the competition?

Smart eCommerce retailers turn to eCommerce content marketing.

What is ECommerce Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a strategic type of marketing that focuses on the creation of online materials, like blogs, videos, newsletters, social media posts, podcasts, webinars, and eBooks. Used in the context of eCommerce, it intends to create and leverage said materials as a way of endorsing eCommerce products. Neil Patel talks about how important conversions are to the success of eCommerce sites and posits that conversions are inspired mainly by content marketing.

When you create and share high-quality content, you raise the chances of customers engaging with your brand. When they do engage, you get rich insights into their concerns and preferences. You get ideas about how best to improve your product and scrap the things that aren’t working. If you’re still not convinced, then the following numbers may do the trick. Here are some content marketing statistics from HubSpot:

• Content marketing gets 3x more leads than paid search advertising.
• Marketers who prioritise blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.
• 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative.

So yes, as you could expect, it’s not an easy feat to run an eCommerce website, especially in this highly competitive world. However, it’s almost imperative to include eCommerce content marketing in your strategy. Here we present some of the eCommerce content marketing approaches that inspire conversions for your eCommerce website. We namely look at six eCommerce content marketing approaches:

1. Start with an editorial calendar
2. Include videos on the product pages
3. Only use high quality and optimised product images
4. Present your FAQs in a creative way
5. Tap micro- and nano-influencers
6. Measure goals and KPIs

ECommerce Content Marketing Approaches

The six we present here are proven general industry approaches that you can explore with your brand. But remember, what works for one brand may not always work for you. However, it’s important to have an idea of what you could explore for your brand, too.

Start with an editorial calendar

No content strategy is complete without goals—and clear ones at that. A content calendar or content plan helps get you closer to these goals and objectives. Additionally, it keeps your team on track, so they don’t risk creating something at the last minute. Strategically plotted content or editorial calendars give content managers ample time to revise and check for accuracy.

We published a list of content marketing tips that briefly went over some details you can include in your editorial calendar, like:

• Content type
• Brief
• Focus keywords
• Word length
• Target post date

It’s also good to have a dedicated person, someone to oversee the management of this calendar. Some brands opt to use automation tools. Others simply go with Google Drive so everyone can see and comment on the calendar and make necessary adjustments.

Finally, an editorial calendar is a good way to organise your content. This way, you can create content in advance and tie it with campaigns you want to publish on your eCommerce website and on other social media platforms that you handle.

Include videos on product pages

HubSpot calls videos the “strategy of the future”. It’s an attractive format that carries a lot of benefits for brands that leverage its seemingly boundless potential. Not only is it dominating social media, but data also suggests that it’s making its way to eCommerce. For example, 85% of people are likely to make a purchase after they’ve watched a product explainer video.

What videos do is they give potential buyers a more experiential feel of the product that they wish to purchase, something not immediately visualised with mere images. Product explainer videos, for example, can help buyers explore a product in detail, which ultimately aids their buying decision.

Even if you’re new and still in the early stages of incorporating videos into your whole marketing plan, you are never short of video marketing tips and types to explore.

Only use high quality and optimised product images

Low-quality images are conversion killers. So, it’s best to include high quality but optimised product images on your eCommerce site. If you can hire photographers to do product shoots, better. Certainly, potential buyers will look at images first once they land on your website. Their first impressions matter to how they choose to navigate and engage with your website thereafter. So, you can’t afford to discourage them by having low quality images that don’t necessarily illustrate the quality of your products.

Present your FAQs in a creative way

Some brands tend to forget that the FAQs page is a type of content. As such, it needs to be treated not as a mere afterthought. When designing and writing your FAQs page, be sure to keep your brand voice. That is, don’t be afraid to be conversational! This will allow customers to tie in your overall brand to every aspect of your eCommerce site.

Glovida’s FAQs page is designed in a way that divides customers’ questions into categories. This easily redirects users to portions they need to see.

Tap micro- and nano-influencers

Yes, micro- and nano-influencers, not macro-influencers. Some brands that are new to influencer marketing could fall prey to the misconception that the more followers an influencer have, the better for their partnership. New data suggests, however, the opposite. In reality, audience engagement declines when an influencer has a massive follower count.

Tapping into the potential of micro-influencers can provide huge benefits for your brand. Partnering with micro-influencers lends authenticity to your brand. You’ll be endorsed by people who already have a dedicated following, raising your chances of reaching more potential customers.

Measure goals and KPIs

Of course, to see if your eCommerce content marketing strategy is working, you need to have clear content marketing KPIs. For one, you must consider social engagement metrics (likes, shares, reactions, etc.). Also include leads, unique visits, and bounce rates to have a more complete picture of how your campaigns are doing and what platforms are taking in the most engagement. Finally, KPIs can help you budget, making sure you’re tapping only channels that are providing you with the best returns.

ECommerce content marketing not only introduces your products to customers but also inspires their conversions.

ECommerce content marketing opens up a lot of potential for brands. By creating and sharing high-quality content and tapping into lucrative avenues, you can inspire people’s deeper engagement with your brand and products.

Still grappling with some eCommerce technicalities? Our team of digital marketing experts and highly-trained web developers can help with that. Send us your queries and start your own content marketing journey today!