Strategies for an Effective Content Marketing Plan to Boost Your Ecommerce Blog

Content marketing has always been crucial to a business's engagement and overall success. Today, however, content marketing looks a bit different, thanks to the fast-paced digital world we’re living in. 

If you run one of the millions of eCommerce stores online, it’s essential to stand out in some way, not only to get the attention of potential customers, but to engage your existing ones and turn them into loyal followers and ambassadors for your brand. 

Boosting your eCommerce blog is one of the best ways to do that. By putting a special focus on your content marketing, you’ll help ensure your blog stands out, attracts the right audience, and drives conversions. 

With that in mind, let’s cover a few key strategies you can use as a business owner to create an effective content marketing plan for your eCommerce blog. 

Understand Your Audience

Talk to someone with any marketing experience, and they’ll immediately tell you that “content is king.” That being said, throwing any type of content on your eCommerce blog isn’t going to be as effective as you want it to be. The first step in getting the most out of your content is to understand your audience and what would speak to them. 

By catering your content to your target audience and existing customers, you’re likely to increase conversions and boost loyalty. Some of the best ways to determine what it is they’re looking for include: 

• Checking out what your competitors are saying;
• Analyze data to determine past successes or failures;
• Fixing what isn’t working;
• Keeping up with trending topics;
• Showing authority in your industry.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask your audience what they want. Put yourself in their shoes and evaluate your content from their perspective. Do you like what you see? Is it engaging? Is it relevant and worthwhile? If you’re not sure, look for feedback from your audience. Leave a comment section open on your blog, or ask your customers what type of content they’d be most interested in seeing. When you ask for feedback and develop your strategies around it, your audience is more likely to keep coming back because they know you’re listening and that you value their opinions. 

Your eCommerce blog serves as an essential part of the customer journey. It can help to make a potential buyer more aware of your brand and help to convince them that you have the solution they’re looking for–no matter what you’re selling. A blog increases your visibility with potential customers and is a fantastic way to convince them to choose you and your business over a competitor. Creating content that speaks to your audience is pivotal for that stage of the journey. 

Create Better Content

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Once you have a better understanding of your audience and what they want, you can focus on creating relevant content that speaks to them. You don’t have to be a seasoned writer to create quality content, though it can help to have someone on your team who knows how to be engaging with their posts. 

If you want to create better content, overall, look at the bigger picture of your blog. What do you see when you open up that page? Is it easy to read? Are there certain aspects of it that are distracting? Before you even write a word, you can build a better blog by doing the following: 

• Optimizing the user experience
• Decluttering
• Reformatting to make your content more reader-friendly

Once you’re sure that people won’t turn away from your blog before they even have a chance to read a word, you can start focusing on the content itself and create a more long-term strategy for the type of things you want to talk about. 

Focus on Quality

Is it important to be consistent with what you post? Yes. People like to know they can count on regular updates from the brands they trust. You might even create a schedule your audience can look forward to, like a new post every Tuesday morning. But, you don’t necessarily need to be that rigid as long as you’re consistently putting out quality posts. 

Quality is the keyword there. Today’s consumers know when they’re being fed an advertisement as opposed to real and relevant content they can learn from. With that in mind, try to focus on a few key elements each time you create a new blog post. 

First, consider how your content will stand the test of time. If you’re writing about a current trend or event, you’ll likely get attention with that post quickly, which can be a good strategy. However, you should spend more of your time and energy on creating evergreen content. Evergreen content remains relevant for a long time and doesn’t lose value. Whether someone reads it tomorrow, in a week, or a year, it should still provide the same quality information that allows that person to get as much out of it as when it was first posted. 

Examples of evergreen content include things like reviews, listicles, FAQs, interviews, and buying guides. This type of content can establish you as an authority within your niche and help customers feel like they can trust your brand. 

When you build trust, you also build loyalty. Successful marketers know that word-of-mouth advertising is practically worth its weight in gold. In a digital landscape, that includes user-generated content. 

User-generated content is exactly what it sounds like–content generated by readers, followers, buyers, and fans. It can come from other blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram shares, and so much more. Search engines love it, and it influences shoppers so much more than content created by brands. You can’t force user-generated content, but you can encourage it. Create blog posts that ask questions and encourage responses. Tell your fans and customers to share what they think about your products on social media or their own blogs and websites. 

When people hear from other customers about your brand and your products, they know they’re not just being served a traditional advertisement. They’re getting a real, honest, solid review of your brand and what you have to offer. When you create trustworthy content that backs up your brand, you’re more likely to get quality content in return. 

So, if you don’t already have a strong strategy in place for your eCommerce blog, now is the time to build one. Keep these ideas in mind to boost your content marketing plan, focus on your audience, and don’t be afraid to have a little fun with your creativity. 

Need help with getting started? At TechWyse Internet Marketing, we offer stellar Content Management services that can tailor the perfect strategy for your unique services. We also provide many other complimentary services, including SEO, Web Design, Social Media Management, and so forth.

To get started, call (416)-410-7090 or contact us here.