Running your own e-commerce business can be a challenge. It’s often difficult to market your business so it can grow and be successful, especially if you’re also consumed with running the day-to-day operations of your company. Activities such as creating products, shipping orders, and managing customer experiences take precedence in the mind of a typical business owner, and for good reason!
Yet it would be foolish to assume that you’ll be able to grow your e-commerce business without marketing it in some way. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to market an e-commerce business that are both cost-effective and that won’t distract you from the other important aspects of running your company. Content marketing is one such method. Here’s what you need to know about how easy it is to use content marketing to grow your e-commerce business.
A Quick Definition of Content Marketing
If you’re not familiar with the term, “content marketing” is a digital marketing technique that focuses less on traditional advertising strategies and more on providing value to consumers. Whereas traditional marketing is concerned with showcasing the products and services you offer through direct advertising, content marketing is much less of a hard sell. In fact, in many cases, content marketing doesn’t try to sell anything to consumers at all.
The impetus behind this approach stems from the nature of the internet and how the typical consumer uses this resource on a day-to-day basis. The majority of people use the internet for entertainment. Social media is one of the primary forms of this entertainment, and social media content can be leveraged to market a company and its wares to targeted audiences. Therefore, a company providing engaging, entertaining content through social media channels can promote that company without relying on traditional advertising tactics.
The Way Content Marketing Works
It’s no surprise that content marketing is an effective advertising tool, especially when used in social contexts. Company-run social media accounts that provide entertaining and engaging content help build a positive online reputation for that company.
The goal of any content marketing campaign is to spread awareness for your business as far and wide as possible. Content that’s perceived as particularly high-value tends to be shared in a viral manner, which spreads brand awareness for your business even more efficiently, and often in ways that traditional advertising may not.
Effective Social Content Trends
Building awareness of your brand through content marketing means choosing your content carefully. You need to ensure that the content you share supports your company culture and aligns with its beliefs, as online consumers are often passionate about supporting the businesses that share similar philosophies. Much of the content you create and share should, therefore, reinforce your messaging.
It’s also apparent that consumers value honesty and transparency when it comes to online interactions. As part of providing excellent customer experience, emphasize the openness of your business practices and approach interactions with consumers over social media with that in mind whenever they engage with the content you share. Doing so will reinforce the reputation of your business and showcase how much you value your customers.
It’s Not Just About Social Media
Content marketing goes further than just posting on your company social media account. While platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are ideal for shorter-form content, images, or video, sometimes you need to provide space to have a more nuanced discussion. That’s why your e-commerce site should have a dedicated social media section with a regularly-updated blog.
Website design specialists agree that having a blog that’s updated regularly with valuable content does more than simply provide a place to host that content. In fact, running a regularly-updated company blog featuring posts that are search optimized can also help drive higher amounts of organic search engine results traffic to your site. This provides you yet another opportunity to market your e-commerce business in ways that don’t require more than just a little time and effort on your part.
Putting the “Content” in Content Marketing
If the idea of crafting content for your e-commerce business sounds like something you simply can’t afford to spend time doing, you’re not alone. The majority of business owners have little in the way of personal resources to spend on creating marketing materials for a sustained content marketing campaign.
But there’s nothing that says you have to do everything yourself. Outsourcing your content creation to a company that specializes in providing custom-created content like articles or blog posts means that you don’t have to spend the time and effort on it yourself. These writing services are priced competitively, making them an economical choice as well — especially considering how the return on investment for content marketing is typically higher than traditional advertising.
The Final Word on Content Marketing
With e-commerce businesses living and dying by their online visibility, it’s imperative that these companies maintain a strong presence on social media platforms. Yet it’s also true that e-commerce business owners have enough to worry about on any given day without also having to spend time managing the marketing efforts for their company.
If you’re running your own e-commerce business and want to manage to get at least a few hours’ worths of sleep every night, it’s recommended you find ways to work smarter, not harder; using content marketing as your chosen advertising approach is an excellent option. If you choose to partner with an experienced social media management company that specializes in providing unique and compelling content for you, content marketing becomes an even more attractive choice.
Don’t miss out on the excellent opportunities that content marketing can bring to your e-commerce business. Grow your company by investing in content marketing and you’ll never know how you managed without it!
