Imagine that your ideal customer visits your online store. Then picture them clicking away to a competitor’s site. That’s frustrating. But now imagine them making a purchase from your competitor. Ouch.
What can make the difference between a prospect who buys from you and one who buys from your competitor? It could be ecommerce content marketing.
An ecommerce content marketing agency helps you attract more of the right visitors to your online store, and then uses tailored content to nurture those visitors so they’re more likely to become customers. Ultimately, you provide an experience that leads to happy customers who recommend your products.
At Digital Commerce Partners, we’re a content-focused ecommerce SEO services agency.
Keep reading to discover a template for an ecommerce content strategy that converts.
Sell more products with less effort.
If you want a steady flow of engaged customers primed to buy, we’ve got a proven process for driving organic traffic and converting it into sales.
How Ecommerce Content Marketing Leads to More Customers
Many ecommerce businesses focus on attracting prospects with blog posts and then converting prospects with product reviews and sales pages.
That method is a great start, but powerful ecommerce content marketing lies in the “missing middle” that’s absent from that standard practice.
After you drive traffic to your online store, you need to build trust so that your product is the only reasonable choice for your prospect.
Let’s look at how the right commerce content leads to more customers.
Increases Brand Awareness
Potential customers often find themselves overwhelmed with choices that all look the same.
It’s a challenge for them, but it’s also a challenge for your ecommerce business – because once someone does find your site, your products need to stand out.
Ecommerce content marketing presents an opportunity to showcase your products in visually appealing ways that also address your customers problems and pique curiosity about the solutions you offer.
For example, Eyebuydirect aims to stand out as the best option for prescription glasses online.
If you take a look at Eyebuydirect’s organic search positions in Semrush, you’ll see that the site ranks on Page One for the keywords:
- Glasses
- Eyeglasses
- Sunglasses
- Prescription sunglasses
- Prescription glasses
When visitors land on the site, they see options to learn more about the products through curated collections, current sales, and quizzes that help them find their next pair of eyeglasses.
Works as a Less-Expensive Alternative to Advertising
After you’ve spent some time driving sales with ads to expose your products to customers, SEO and content marketing is often more affordable and can help you scale.
For example, Rothy’s is a D2C ecommerce brand that highlights “comfort, innovation, and sustainability.”
By ranking in organic search results for terms such as “flats” and “tote bags” they continually attract consumers looking for women’s flats and totes within their collections.
Precise copywriting such as “… discover comfortable, washable shoes made for life on the go” provokes visitors to click on individual styles to learn more about the benefits of each product.
Drives Consistent, Long-Term Traffic
What happens when you stop paying for ads to your online store?
Traffic stops coming in.
Ecommerce content marketing helps you think long-term and drives consistent traffic to your site on an ongoing basis.
Here’s an example from DoggieLawn, an ecommerce website that sells natural grass pads for dogs.
DoggieLawn ranks in organic search engine results for the keywords:
- Dog lawn
- Doggie grass
- Dog grass pad
Which attracts customers looking for indoor or balcony grass pads.
Refreshing this targeted content over time will help the company remain a top choice for prospects looking for this type of solution for their pets.
Generates More Sales From Targeted Traffic
With ecommerce content marketing, you have a direct line of communication with your target audience. It’s your chance to distinguish your brand by resonating with their needs.
For Poly & Bark, this means owning the tagline, “The Internet’s Favorite Sofas.”
The brand ranks in organic search results for the terms “leather couch” and “leather sofa.”
Those pages display Poly & Bark’s leather collections, along with their free returns policy that encourages visitors to try a piece of furniture at home for 100 days.
Establishes Your Website as an Authority
Attracting prospects is just the beginning.
It’s your job to make them stick around by welcoming them to your online store and inviting them to learn more about the ecommerce products you offer.
Check out Seven Sons’ Learning Hub, which promotes their mission, values, and best practices.
Potential customers need more than just answers – they need assurance they’re in the right place.
Seven Sons ranks in organic search results for terms such as “grass fed beef” and “grass fed meat” …
… and the company also provides proof that it doesn’t take website visitors for granted.
If a prospective customer has found Seven Sons because they want high-quality, grass-fed beef safely delivered to their door, Seven Sons clearly demonstrates that its products are a great choice.
7 Elements From a Sales-Driven Ecommerce Content Marketing Agency
Now let’s explore essential elements of sales-driven ecommerce content marketing.
These seven factors help transform your creative ideas into content that leads to more conversions.
1. Focus on the Buyer’s Journey
Understanding your buyer’s journey helps you craft an effective ecommerce content strategy.
You know the heart of your online store is your Bottom of Funnel content like:
- Conversion-focused product pages
- Case studies
- Reviews
- Testimonials
- Product comparisons
But regularly blogging with Top of Funnel content is also a proven way to attract customers at earlier stages of their journey.
It’s your chance to stand out as a top option with a clear call to action.
Even if your site visitor isn’t ready to buy yet, encourage them to sign up for your email list so you can continue educating them about your products in their inbox.
2. Use Your Brand’s Voice
How much have you developed your brand’s voice?
A consistent voice that resonates with your target audience is a key element of ecommerce content marketing.
Over time, your prospects will feel like they know you, which means they’ll also feel like they know what to expect from you. This builds an unparalleled type of trust.
For example, Rothy’s brand voice uses the language their customers use, with copy like “In our sunshine era.”
3. Craft Evergreen Resources
Evergreen content helps establish your brand as an authority in your niche, which increases the chances of your online store becoming a go-to resource.
Eyebuydirect answers frequently asked questions to help prospects feel confident about buying prescription glasses from the ecommerce site.
Here’s the company’s Fit & Style Quiz.
Plus, they have educational guides about:
- How to read a prescription
- How to buy glasses online
- Frames & face shapes
- Pupillary distance
Evergreen resources are also an element of ecommerce content marketing that helps you plan for the future. You can target terms that are gaining popularity so you rank for them early on.
4. Help Prospects Benefit From Your Products
Blog posts can answer common questions at all stages of the marketing funnel, and videos can also show prospects how to use your products, as well as demonstrate benefits.
DoggieLawn prompts visitors to watch a video at the top of their homepage with the call to action, “Watch the video … It’s living grass!”
When you click on the video, text superimposed on top of the video thumbnail says, “DoggieLawn is your dog’s backyard in a box!”
The 43-second video quickly identifies the issues a prospect faces and presents DoggieLawn as the perfect solution.
Here’s an example from Poly & Bark.
The simple visual demonstrates how the company has shortened the traditional supply chain. As a result, Poly & Bark customers get big savings.
5. Show Happy Customers
Customers want to see that your products help people just like them. People with the same problems, questions, and preferences.
For example, the review section of Seven Sons’ site keeps their ideal customers in mind with headings that build trust, such as “Trusted by 14,000+ Families / 4.9 rating out of 2555 reviews.”
Post-purchase follow-up emails that ask for feedback and reviews help further develop your relationships with your customers.
Also, make it easy for customers to share your product pages on social media, if they’re inclined to mention where they’re shopping.
6. Discover the Best Medium for Your Brand
Where does your audience hang out online?
- YouTube
- Blogs
- X
- TikTok
It’s likely a combination of these platforms, where potential customers learn about products that might interest them.
So, decide on your ecommerce content marketing priorities, whether it’s threads on social media, educational tutorials on your blog, or engaging videos.
For instance, Poly & Bark focuses on Instagram more than YouTube to grow its design-focused audience.
7. Partner with Related Businesses
Complementary businesses are the ultimate win-win in ecommerce content marketing.
For example, Rothy’s has partnered with the water brand Evian on Instagram to reach more people who they think would be a great fit for both of their products.
Instead of always focusing on outshining your direct competitors, find businesses in other niches that have the same values as your target customers.
10 Steps to Create an Effective Ecommerce Content Strategy for Your Online Store
Your online store is unique, so to design a customized ecommerce content strategy that drives sales, we need to start with some questions.
- Who buys your products?
- What resonates with them the most?
- What does the buyer’s journey look like?
Let’s look at 10 steps that will guide you through our ecommerce content marketing agency’s process.
Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience
Your target audience will drive the majority of the decisions you make about your ecommerce content marketing plan.
After all, these are the people you serve with your products.
Whether you track user behaviors with analytics tools, scour social media posts, or analyze survey feedback, it’s time to uncover what matters the most to your customers.
You can create personas for different types of people in your audience that will match up with the different types of conversion content you create.
Step 2: Research Competitors
Competitive research often provides key insights into what kind of content will work best for your online store.
It also enables you to discover gaps in the market and opportunities for you to reach more of the right prospects.
For our clients, we start by using tools like Semrush and Ahrefs to identify at least three relevant ecommerce competitors and their top keywords.
- Which pages on their sites get the most traffic?
- What type of pages rank?
- How do they write about topics that persuade their customers?
After we answer these questions, we have a better idea of what type of content will be viable to compete for powerful keywords. Plus, we’ll then be able to identify new or under-explored keywords.
Step 3: Perform Extensive Keyword Research
Keyword research for ecommerce content marketing includes finding relevant topics for your:
- Product category pages
- Product sub-category pages
- Product descriptions
- Informational blog posts
- Evergreen guides
You want to use the language your audience uses in their searches and match their preferred tone when talking about the products you sell.
A successful keyword strategy will both attract more of the right customers and help your online store stand out as an industry leader.
Step 4: Analyze User Intent
There are four main categories that summarize user intent from a search query:
- Informational
- Navigational
- Commercial
- Transactional
Unlike other types of businesses that might focus the most on informational searches to educate prospects, ecommerce sites need to be prepared for all types of user intent.
The right content that satisfies search intent helps potential customers easily find what they need. The goal is to create an online store that’s easy to understand and navigate.
Step 5: Create Ecommerce Writing Guidelines
Your ecommerce writing guidelines will bring together all of the research you’ve already performed.
A content style guide for your writers helps them create valuable, SEO-friendly content in your brand voice. It’s time to address your audience’s needs and interests on a deeper level.
Writing guidelines will shape your:
- Behind-the-scenes content about how your products are made
- Social media captions
- Product descriptions
- Product care tips
- How-to content
They help you communicate a consistent message your target audience will instantly recognize and appreciate.
Step 6: Set Up an Editorial Calendar
The strength of your ecommerce content strategy lies in consistent, incremental changes to your site.
An editorial calendar provides a clear picture of:
- Upcoming content
- In-progress projects
- Important tasks
We use Asana to stay organized. Other options include Notion, Trello, and Monday.
Keep in mind that editorial calendars don’t have to be complex or time-consuming to maintain. They simply need to provide enough information to identify priorities and keep your work on track.
Step 7: Build Content Hubs
Content hubs will neatly organize your ecommerce site, and mind-mapping tools can help you visualize the online store’s navigation.
Sometimes your product category pages will simply display what you have to offer and sometimes you’ll deep-dive into certain subjects that help convert prospects.
The right meta tags and user-generated content (UGC) can significantly improve your pages so that they appeal to both search engines and customers.
Step 8: Produce SEO Content
Ready for a quick primer on SEO content?
- On-page SEO focuses on your website content that addresses customers pain points and solves problems.
- Off-page SEO focuses on building awareness of your brand through mentions on external websites.
If you start with on-page SEO, your off-page SEO efforts will bring visitors to a remarkable online home for your products. Remember, link-building is only effective if you have a great offer for the people you attract.
The benefits of ecommerce SEO encompass all aspects of your business from traffic and lead acquisition to broadcasting your voice and brand message. And it all converges back down to your bottom line.
Step 9: Choose Platforms for Content Distribution
Extend your brand voice to the platforms you choose for content distribution.
Once you’ve identifies your customers’ favorite places to spend time online:
- Share links to content that supports your ecommerce store
- Offer a lead magnet to build your email list
- Post reviews or testimonials
The choices you make for content distribution extend the strategy that primarily shapes the shopping experience on your site.
Step 10: Measure Results with Ecommerce Business Performance Reports
Just like any ecommerce SEO campaign, regularly monitor your KPIs such as:
- Organic traffic
- Keyword rankings
- Pages per session
- Conversion rate
- Average order value
You also want to continually monitor your competitors and relevant data in your market to adjust your strategy as needed.
These performance reports pinpoint areas you can improve to drive more traffic, engagement, and sales.
Want Us to Develop Your Ecommerce Content Marketing Strategy?
Tailored, consistent SEO and content marketing services will attract visitors to your online store … and help you convert more of those visitors into loyal customers who buy from you again and again.
We work with clients who:
- Want an end-to-end SEO partner: From writing articles to technical SEO, our ecommerce content marketing agency covers it.
- Can invest in the long-term: We work with fewer clients and then go all-in for them.
- Believe in better communication: To implement your ecommerce content marketing effectively, we need to talk.
Ready to create content that drives more traffic to your site and converts more visitors?
