Content Marketing for E-commerce: What is Important?

For more than a year, content marketing has been a hot topic in digital, yet many brands still struggle with the challenge of integrating content seamlessly into the e-commerce experience. A recent survey found that less than 40% of in-house marketers have a defined marketing strategy, despite over 70% reporting that they are currently producing much more content than they were twelve months previous. When it comes to content marketing for e-commerce the biggest challenge is for marketers to add ‘shopability’ to their content, rather than distract customers from the buying process. For a content marketing strategy to be effective, it should have development, commercial and editorial teams all working from the same plan.

Content or Commerce?

Striking a balance between the content and the commerce is one of the most important factors when content marketing for e-commerce. This is often difficult to achieve even by the most experienced Tampa SEO expert, and can be impacted by the specific goals and needs of each site. A poll of respondents found that in e-commerce, video is seen as the most useful type of content, with a blog and editorial coming in second. Product demo videos have been proven to have a huge impact on conversions, with selling rates much higher for those products which include a demo video on the buying page. This is largely down to the customer being able to get a better look at the product and how it works before they decide to buy.

Informational Content

As mentioned earlier, content which distracts customers away from the purpose of shopping is going to be nothing but counterproductive. Although fantastic content may increase traffic numbers to your site, content which distracts away from your products rather than drawing customers to them will have a negative effect on the sales numbers of your e-commerce store. In order to combat this issue and strike a good balance, you should opt for content that is both interesting, informational and attracts customers to your products. Product reviews are an excellent example of this if they are engaging and can make the customer want to try the product for themselves.

Content Giving Advice

Including content on your site that gives customers advice about how to use a product and whether or not they need it can also have a huge impact on your e-commerce store. Although you may think that including content telling customers if they do or don’t need a product could hinder your conversions or decrease sales, sites which have used this method of content marketing have experienced a decrease in phone calls and emails enquiring about the product, as well as a decrease in the amount of product returns. Customers appreciate honesty, so being honest about your products and what they can offer customers will often be rewarded with customer loyalty.

What is your content marketing strategy for your e-commerce site, and how does it work for you? If you have any great advice that you’d like to add, we’d love to hear from you – leave your response in the comments.