Although content marketing – a marketing approach focused on creating and sharing relevant content to attract and keep an audience – has been shown to be one of the most effective types of digital marketing to boost traffic and drive sales, some e-commerce sellers find it to be challenging to get started as well as understand its impact.
To help make content marketing work for you, read these 5 tips to develop and execute your own content marketing plan.
Tip 1: Define your goal and audience. First, figure out what you’re trying to achieve: for example, greater sales or a more robust email list. Then consider your audience. Think about the types of customers you already have, and the ones you’re trying to acquire. The key is to create content to appeal to both groups.
Tip 2: Make your content interesting and practical. You only need to take a look at your own inbox to see how much information we’re all bombarded with on a daily basis – what makes you click or move on? Compelling content is the deciding factor of whether your information gets seen or not, so think about topics that will be impossible to ignore. Let’s say you sell customized dog collars. Your audience is likely largely composed of dog-people and animal lovers, so consider content such as “Three Important Safety Features to Look For in Pet Accessories” or “Why Your Small Dog Needs Cold-Weather Gear.”
Tip 3: Visuals get your message across even more. Photographs or artwork help underscore your message, grab readers’ attention and encourage sharing of your content. Use your own photos, or purchase inexpensive clip art online. Better yet, video – which currently accounts for half of all mobile Internet traffic – allows you to create content that showcases you and your brand.
Tip 4: Talk your content up. Once you’ve come up with great content, make sure it gets seen on multiple platforms: your blog, social media and emails. If you’ve been working on relationships with other websites for SEO and backlinking purposes, this is a great way to increase traffic too.
Tip 5: Analyze your results. Look at your site stats and Google Analytics. Has your traffic increased? Are sales up? Keep tweaking your content marketing approach until your results are what you aimed for at the beginning. For example, if you find you’re getting more site visits but also more abandoned carts, see if you can combine your content marketing with special deals, or try a different topic altogether.
The Bottom Line
You’re already a subject-matter expert of your own e-commerce store, so leverage that expertise by turning it into content that will bring attention to your site – and help drive sales, too.
