The Ultimate Guide to Ecommerce Content Marketing [with Ecommerce Content Marketing Examples]
Updated: Mar 28, 2020
An ecommerce website has one function - to move people from potential customers to paying customers (and thereby increase your profits!).
But what if it’s not doing that?
Worse yet, what if you have no idea where to start when it comes to fixing that problem?
That’s where ecommerce content marketing comes in.
In this article, we’re going to walk you step by step through everything you need to know about effective ecommerce content marketing, how to get more leads to your website and increase conversions (without spending a ton of time creating content)!
Oh, and make sure to read in order. If you do, Step #3 is going to rock your world!
STEP #1
How Finding Your “Tribe” Will Save You From WASTING Time
Content marketing is not about creating blog posts that magically go viral and get you tons of business.
There is a STRATEGY behind it.
And that strategy starts with one thing...
A solid, defined customer avatar.
Here are the no-fluff instructions on how to do that:
[NOTE: There are all kinds of blueprints out there for creating a customer avatar. You may find one or another that works really well for you. What follows is the process that I followed (and it helped a ton). I’d been frustrated for a long time with all of the other things out there & this specific formula was what helped me really nail down my customer avatar. So I hope it helps you out too! Shoutout to Mr. Donnie Boivin for showing it to me!)
Write down the name of your best client
Find them on social media (Facebook works best for this in my experience)
Scroll through their feed & fill in as many of the following blanks as possible (don’t stress if you can’t find info on some of them, just do as many as you can):
Age
Marital Status
How Many Kids?
Where do they live?
Own or Rent?
City, Suburbs or Country?
Occupation
Income
Beliefs
What Books do They Read?
What Music do They Listen To?
What Podcasts do they listen to?
What TV Shows do they watch?
What magazines do they read?
What conferences do they attend?
What are their hobbies?
What Influencers do they follow?
Which social media do they use?
Where will you find them? (Online Groups, Offline Groups, Networking Organizations, etc.)
Now that you’ve done that, please don’t think that all of your customers will need to tick all of the same boxes. We are all different and unique. The same goes for your customers.
What you will have learned after doing the above exercise are some key things about your best client or customer. Depending on your niche, different pieces of info will be more relevant than others.
For example…
If you are selling a high ticket item, getting an estimate on your ideal prospects yearly income will be very helpful.
Or…
If you are a local business, where they live will be very important.
Or…
If you are informational products, the kinds of books and podcasts they like will allow you to tailor your content to them.
EXAMPLE - KNOWING YOUR TRIBE
ZIPCAR
Check out these examples of Zipcars content marketing via social media:
Zipcar has obviously decided that their tribe is the young urban dweller who wants to experience more of life without anything holding them down.
They’re not going after people who just bought a car or a large swath of the older generation.
Based on that knowledge, they’ve tailored their content to appeal to THOSE people.
And speaking of tailoring content…
Now that you have a basic idea of your perfect customer, it’s time for Step #2.
STEP #2
Use These Techniques to Get Killer Topic Ideas & Completely Remove Writer’s Block (Forever)
Effective content marketing begins with knowing exactly WHO you are marketing to.
Why?
Because only when you know who you are creating content for can you know what content to create.
Otherwise, you are literally shooting in the dark (which I can tell you from experience is quite dangerous!;).
Now you know WHO you are marketing to, it’s time to dig in and find out what kind of content they want from you.
How do you do that?
Glad you asked…
First, you need to make sure that ALL the content you create does one thing:
It must solve a problem that your prospect is experiencing.
Here are the techniques that will allow you to create content that your ideal prospects can’t wait to consume:
-ASK THEM
What a novel idea!
But seriously, if you have an existing customer base, they will LOVE to give you their opinion if you just ask them…
“What problems are you facing?”
“What’s your biggest struggle right now?”
“What’s the biggest irritation you wish you could remove from your life?”
-DO A LITTLE "SPYING"
You should have some idea of the places your ideal customers are hanging out online.
Check out those [websites, social media groups, podcasts, blogs, etc.] and see what kinds of content they are producing.
Create a list of topics and problems based on your “spying” and use that to compile some problems you can address from your own unique perspective and expertise.
-USE GOOD OL’ GOOGLE
Seriously. Google knows.
Use the predictive completion function to get some more ideas.
For example…
If you had an online archery store, you could start typing something like:
“Why does my bow…”
“How do you...arrow…”
“Best bow for…”
Let Google fill in the rest and there you go! More topic ideas for your ecommerce content marketing!
EXAMPLE - SOLVING PROBLEMS
GROW from ACORNS
Acorns is all about fractional investing for people just getting started. If you take a look at their blog called “Grow”, you will quickly see how they have positioned their content marketing to provide answers to people interested in investing (read: solve problems).
With the blog organized by handy categories, Grow has a TON of answers to common questions as they solve problems and provide value for the people they are hoping will soon become their customers!
Ok…
You’ve got a boat load of topics...now what?
On to the next step!
STEP #3
How to Choose the Right Content Marketing Medium Without Pigeonholing Yourself
Effective ecommerce content marketing doesn’t have to be ONLY a written blog.
It could also be:
Videos
Social media content
A podcast
Infographics
Emails
Photos
Or some combination of all of the above!
Here’s how to pick the best option for your ideal prospect…
Go back to the customer avatar that you created in Step #1 and ask yourself:
What medium of content do I see them engaging with the most?
-Are they liking and sharing videos all the time?
-Do they post cool articles they just read?
-Is their wall filled with screenshots of podcast players?
Once you’ve answered that question, check out the brands and individuals that your ideal prospect is following and engaging with on a regular basis. Then ask yourself:
What medium is THAT brand or individual focussing on the most?
To get the most out of your content marketing efforts, you definitely need to pick ONE medium to focus on.
These two little exercises should give you a good idea of what medium you should be focussing on as well.
However…
That doesn’t mean you only do that one medium.
Instead, smart businesses REPURPOSE their content.
Let me walk you through this…
After your research, you see that your ideal prospect is totally a podcast addict (which I totally identify with!:).
You start a podcast where you address all of the awesome topics you found in Step #2.
Thus far, things are great BUT…
You are potentially missing out on a TON of extra leads that would come in from other sources (like a blog post, YouTube channel, etc.).
How do you make sure they don’t fall through the cracks without spending 24 hours a day making content?
Simp