Developing a Content Strategy for E-commerce Marketing
You have finally launched your e-commerce website complete with a sleek design, advanced online purchasing technology, and backed by logistic reporting. You’ve created the ultimate user shopping experience. So, what’s next?
Developing a content strategy for e-commerce is what you will need to drive visitors to your site and increase conversions. Here, we break down everything you need to know to get started.
1. Establish Your Conversion Goals
While, ultimately, you want to push sales, other conversions play an essential role in doing so. These may include:
- Utilizing your online chat support
- Creating an account on your site
- Signing up for your email newsletter
- Calling your business
- Driving website traffic
- Increasing brand awareness
Choose a few top conversions you want to center your content around every month. Of course, every piece of content should focus on one call to action. Later, when you build your content calendar, you can sort out which type of content will push for a specific conversion.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
To reach the right people, that is, those that will make purchases from your brand, you have to know who they are. Take into consideration their age, gender, location, likes, dislikes, and habits. Get specific and, if needed, create several personas. Depending on what your company sells, you may be targeting different groups of people.
3. Discover What to Write About
So, now you know who you are targeting and what you want them to do. Next, plan what to write for your audience to get them to accomplish that desired action. After all, users will engage with content they find relevant to them. Here are a few ways you can determine content topics for social media, blogs, and emails.
- Ask your customers. Collect feedback from previous or current customers on what their biggest challenges are. For example, if you run an e-commerce store for sporting goods, you could ask if they have had a sports-related injury in the last five years. Then, you could write a blog on the most vital protective equipment. This way, you can connect what your audience is thinking about, your knowledge, and your products.
- Look at your competition. Chances are, your top competitors are already producing content. Take a look at the topics and type of content they are creating to get ideas on what you should be talking about in your industry. This is also an excellent opportunity to prove how your products are superior to the competition.
- Research keywords and topics. There are free tools that can help you determine what keywords people are searching for as well as similar subjects. With keywords, keep in mind their search volume and difficulty. Aim for words or phrases that have a higher monthly search with low competition.
4. Build A Content Calendar
After you have found a list of best topics, build a content calendar. It should include deadlines for drafting, editing, and publishing. Include time for imagery and graphics as well. If you fall behind, this will help identify where in the process you are being held up.
5. Create A Brand Voice
Before you can start writing, you need to create a brand voice that will be consistent throughout all of your content. Will you be an industry leader? Or perhaps take a more conversational tone.
6. Choose Where to Share Content
Your most likely going to be publishing blogs directly on your e-commerce site. Unless someone is browsing your website, you’ll need another way to drive visitors. This is where social media and email come in.
A great way to know where your audience is spending their time is by their age.
- Age 12-24 – Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter
- Age 35-54 – Facebook and LinkedIn
- Age 55+ – Facebook
Once you start posting, you’ll be able to determine which posts are organically performing better than others by comparing reach and engagement. Posts backed by ad spend will always result in higher rates.
Email is the tried-and-true for marketing. It continues to deliver the highest ROI, and an increase in mobile opens. It is crucial your email template is mobile-friendly, has a smooth flow of content, and has a clear call to action.
7. Re-purpose Your Content
When you’re producing great content, you’ll want to share it as much as possible. Start with long-form content such as a blog. Then make a compelling social media post about it. Send out a teasing email blast. However, you can only share it so many times. This is why re-purposing is incredibly valuable.
When you re-purpose a piece, you can include it in other forms of content. For example, interlinking blogs, creating a video based on an info-graphic, or sharing blogs from the past months or even year, as long as it’s still relevant.
Putting It All Together
Creating a content strategy for your e-commerce site may be more extensive than you thought. If you’re not in a place to have an in-house marketer or content just isn’t your thing, consider working with an expert team. At Kraus Marketing, we provide a fully integrated digital approach to content. We work to ensure your strategy is reflective of your brand and will drive results. Reach out to us today for a consultation!