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Most online sellers have heard about content marketing at one time or another. But many sellers do not understand how this type of marketing relates to e-commerce and they hesitate to use it for their own businesses. This article tells you what content marketing is all about. We'll explain how to use it and how it can benefit your online store.
Use the right content to influence customer decisions
On average, customers are already 57 percent sure what they want to buy before they ever visit your online store. There are three different stages to the decision process - also known as the buyer's journey. Customers begin in the awareness stage. In this stage, customers notice a problem or they see a good opportunity to buy a specific product. Customers then transition into the consideration stage. In this stage, customers can specifically name their problem or opportunity. Customers begin to search for a product or service that solves their problem or allows them to make the most of the opportunity. Finally, customers transition into the decision stage. In this stage, customers visit online stores to search for specific offers.
Someone who is planning a long hike through the mountains will likely begin by thinking about the necessary equipment. The hiker may initially use a search engine to decide which clothing and equipment are appropriate for the trip. After doing some initial research, the hiker may decide that their backpack is too small and their summer hiking shoes are not appropriate for mountain terrain. In other words: Your customer has decided to buy new shoes and will likely continue searching for them online.
You can help potential customers find your online store by mirroring the exact information that they are likely to search for during any given stage of the buyer's journey.
Use expertise to gain visibility and new customers
Begin by putting yourself in your customers' shoes and identifying potential problems for every stage of the buyer's journey. Describe various types of customers as precisely as possible and think about their specific needs. Keep your eyes open for other examples of content marketing in your day-to-day life. Take a look at other successful company websites, blogs, e-books or videos for inspiration. Afterwards, write content for each of the stages and target groups. Make sure that this content is also appropriate for search engines. The hiker in the example above may search for keywords such as "hiking tour" or "hiking equipment". As such, you could attract the customer by publishing a blog entry that gives hikers a checklist for finding the right equipment for a long tour.
Think about the content that potential customers will search for and then publish this type of content on your website. This way, customers will find your website while they search for a solution to their problem. Publish objective articles that do not focus on a specific product, but rather that help customers solve a problem. Such objective articles increase the chance that potential customers will see you as a trusted advisor or expert in the field and will decide to browse through your product portfolio sooner or later. Write relevant, useful texts to increase the visibility of your online store and get potential customers to notice your products. Use the right content marketing strategy to guide your customers through each individual stage of the buying process. By implementing such a strategy, you can turn potential customers into loyal buyers.
Which content marketing strategy you choose will ultimately depend on the field that you work in and the products that you offer. With a little bit of effort, it is possible to create suitable content for any product portfolio - regardless how unusual or abstract.