Last updated - July 8, 2021
Today, anyone can start a retail business and be successful. Platforms such as Shopify allow users to start an e-store without any difficulties. Shopify has options for experienced business owners as well as for beginners. So, it’s technically the easy part as surprising as it sounds.
With the help of all those amazing tools that we have at our disposal, we can start selling through the internet. But the problem is that there are so many retailers these days that it is extremely difficult to stand out. But not if you use a strategy to promote your Shopify eCommerce store by using content marketing.
In this article, you may learn about some ideas of how to promote an e-store with the help of content marketing. Find out what is content marketing, why it is important for your business, and how it can help.
What is Content Marketing?
Simply put, it is a marketing strategy that uses content created specifically for certain businesses. The content is created considering the specification of the brand and is highly specialized. When the materials are created, they are being shared through different online means.
Content marketing isn’t about simply promoting a brand. Content marketing creates an interest in the brand. It helps increase brand awareness, stimulates people’s interest in the products or services offered.
An efficient marketing strategy always uses content, since it is highly efficient. It is even more efficient than standard marketing. The content marketing strategy should be well-developed considering the needs of the target audience. That’s when your business becomes more recognized and gains better revenue.
There are various types of content marketing strategies, below you can learn more.
Marketing through Video Content
Almost 65% of all Internet visitors are highly likely to purchase a product after watching an interesting and high-quality video about the product. It seems that people trust those brands that show videos and the benefits of the products or services through videos. Nearly 90% of users who watch videos purchase products.
When people are planning to purchase something, they read reviews, descriptions, and view videos. These factors help them to decide which product or brand to choose from. So, creating videos of products or services is a great idea. It’s essential to show the benefits of the products or services as well as highlighting the most important characteristics. People prefer short but informative videos.
Creating Effective Product Descriptions
The product description is essential for users since they read it to learn about the product. It’s important to include eye-catching characteristics of your products or services to attract the attention of users. Here is one interesting example of creating a description of a hand gel:
The description is funny and attracts attention. Most likely, clients would fall for something unique and well-presented, rather than for a plain description of everyday things.
Moreover, the product description has to be of high quality. If a human-oriented product description is needed to catch the attention of users, Google needs a description that meets their requirements. It has to be well-planned, with a structure, with keywords and phrases. Then Google will promote the description, and thus, it will be visible for more clients. Of course, such a strategy is helpful when it comes to increasing revenue.
Using Images
Images are as important as the description. When people choose products or services, they pay attention to videos of how to use something, they pay attention to descriptions to figure out whether the product is helpful. And of course, they want to see high-quality images of products they are about to buy.
The images should be unique and of as high quality as possible. When a potential client sees images of two different products, the customer will choose a product with a high-quality image. If the image looks more attractive, then the product is better – that’s the simple logic that guides customers.
If you think that you can’t present a great picture of such a simple product as a hair comb or glasses, you aren’t entirely right. To make sure you have quality images of everyday use products, just learn how to take shots properly. Use the light properly, make sure the product is in the center of the picture, etc.
Reviews and Recommendations
Try to think like a customer. When you choose a product or can’t decide whose services to use, what filtering methods you use? First, you examine the product by checking out descriptions, images, videos (if available), but most of us also read reviews.
Familiarize yourselves with the best Shopify marketing apps.
A lot of people also fall for recommendations from various websites they have been already using. Most of us always need something to buy, but we aren’t even aware that we want something. When we receive emails with recommendations of products we might be interested in, there is a higher possibility that we would buy these products. So, it’s a powerful strategy, but you need to make sure to write powerful recommendations.
Here are two strategies to use:
- If you have a social media profile for your brand (it’s a must!), then you can use this to your benefit. For example, if you already have reviews on some products, post a nice article about these products and include reviews from users. It would be a good idea to set up your e-store so that it asks purchasers to leave comments. Then use these comments in your strategy.
- Set up an email marketing campaign that will advertise your products via recommendations. It’s important to recommend products based on the behavior of your clients. If there is a certain pattern a user shows when buying products, then advertise similar items. But make sure to write unique and eye-catching recommendations.
When creating recommendations, it’s essential to offer something unique. For example, some companies inform their customers that their carts are empty by using humor. Here is an interesting example:
It’s the content that attracts the attention of users and it helps business owners in achieving the goal – clients add something to their carts.
How to Create Content and Use it in Content Marketing
Not every content suits certain audiences. You need to analyze your customers’ habits, figure out the ways they use to search for something over the Internet, what are their interests, etc. Of course, the content whether it’s a video, an image, or even an article, should be of great quality and targeted at your audience.
The best thing about content marketing is that you can target only your audience. Instead of wasting time, money, effort, and eventually putting at risk your business, you can relatively easily and without much expense create a strategy that will work. And here are some tips to do it.
Be Original
It’s a digital era where people create content every day. The flood of content is overwhelming and it is easy to be lost in such a pour. But not if you create a strategy! Here are a few useful tips to get started:
- Think of the form of the content you need.
- Come up with topics that you will describe.
- Create content from the point of view of your potential clients.
Planning is always important and helps organize your efforts and time. You should figure out what topics are the most interesting for your target audience. No need to target everyone, you need only those users who are potentially interested in your services or in buying your products.
If you already have a client base, check out what products are the most popular among them. Then create content that would be original and helpful for your clients. Many businesses make mistakes by simply highlighting the benefits of the products or services they promote. But if you are using social marketing and you need content to promote products, such a method is too bold.
Content to solve problems
Instead, create articles that help users solve their everyday problems. For example, you have analyzed the behavior of your clients and figured that certain groups of products are of their interest. Create content that how to solve their everyday problems. Then highlight that your product can help with that, but don’t push it. Your clients will most likely be interested in those products.
If you can’t come up with topics to write content, here are a few ideas to use:
- Check out your competitors, but don’t copy them.
- Join groups on Facebook related to your niche. You can find some interesting ideas.
- Check out the podcasts related to your niche.
- Directly ask your customers about what they want to know.
Moreover, when creating content, make it useful. As you know, people like sharing things on Facebook. Users love the feeling of being helpful and useful, they will share something they like and may find entertaining. Use this to your benefit. If your audience feels like your article is useful, they will share it. That’s how you increase your reach and brand awareness by using simple content marketing strategies!
Increasing Your Reach
When you come up with the form of content and interesting topics, you will have to share it with your potential clients. But how to make sure it reaches the maximum of users who may be interested in what you are selling? Here are the most common ways of sharing content and increasing reach:
- Via social networks.
- By emailing customers.
- Directly on your e-commerce Shopify page.
Emailing your customers still works and it doesn’t seem that this strategy will soon be outdated. People prefer learning about the offers through emails, and this can be used to your benefit. Here are a few things to know about e-mail campaigns that include content marketing:
- The return of investment for email campaigns is insanely big – 3800%!
- Almost 40% of users claim that special offers that they receive through emails are the reason they buy something.
- Around 70% of people prefer receiving offers and recommendations through email.
So, emails should be included in your content marketing strategy. You can send links to articles posted directly on your Shopify site, or you could send interesting special offers, it’s up to you. But remember, the return of investment for emails is too good to ignore emailing your clients.
Social media
Increasing your reach through social media has never been as easy! Today, most popular social networks offer ads so that your content is promoted considering your target audience. Remember, when increasing reach, it is important to reach out to quality viewers. And the phrase “quality viewers” in this case means potential clients.
You don’t want to reach out to everyone since it doesn’t make any sense, only your potential customers will be interested in your products. So, to be as efficient as you could, come up with quality content and share it through various social networks. To do so, analyze your audience.
It’s not news that certain groups of people prefer different social networks. Instead of wasting money and effort to promote your brand on all social networks, it is wiser to use social networks that are preferred by your clients. You could choose several social networks and promote your content through them.
But of course, it would be wise to create official pages of your brand on the most popular social networks, You don’t necessarily need to use those networks to promote products, you can stick to the most useful and popular among your target audience. But having official pages on social networks and regularly posting content would be a good idea.
That way you don’t miss potential clients who still could be using those networks, even if they are less popular among your target audience. And remember, there are certain times when to post content. Analyze your audience and when they visit your website. Post content when it’s their active time so they won’t miss your posts.
To Sum Up
Starting a business on Shopify is the easy part. The difficult part is to stand out from the crowd. Luckily, a great content marketing campaign can be very helpful. When trying to increase your customer base, make sure you create helpful and meaningful content that is targeted at your potential clients.
No matter what type of content you use to promote your brand, it has to be unique and of high quality. It should be useful for your customers and it should meet Google requirements so it would promote your content. Don’t be afraid to use your content to engage your clients. It might take time to create a network, but the returns would be amazing for your business.
Further reading
