According to The Content Marketing Institute, 86% of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) business use content marketing in some shape or form. Content marketing such as blog posts and informative videos can be helpful to eCommerce companies looking to increase sales.
Unfortunately more than 60% of eCommerce companies are still in the early stages of adopting content marketing across their organization.
This means there are opportunities for eCommerce companies to fully implement content marketing, and capitalize on the benefits.
If you are wondering how to grow your sales faster (without spending a large chunk of your money on advertising), then this article is for you.
We will go over the top 8 benefits content marketing offers, and give you eCommerce-specific insights about how content marketing can help your business grow.
The Benefits of Content Marketing
1. Higher conversion rate.
A report by Kapost, a Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing organization, revealed that the average conversion rate of sites who used content marketing was 2.9%, compared to 0.5% for sites who did not. That’s almost 6 times more conversions you could be missing out on!
2. Increased lead generation.
According to Demand Metric, content marketing generates 3 times more leads than more traditional marketing.
3. Lower costs.
Content marketing costs, on average, about 62% less than traditional marketing.
4. Compounding returns.
The content you publish never goes away, and if you focus on creating evergreen content, it will continually bringing traffic, leads and conversions.
5. Search engine optimization.
If you include relevant keywords through your content, it increases your SEO rankings and could result in organic search traffic for years to come.
6. Increased brand awareness.
The more useful and successful your content becomes, the more likely it is to be shared by people both online and offline. Your goal is to become the go-to person in your niche, thereby increasing awareness of your brand.
7. Better customer interactions.
Content marketing gives your customers a choice of how and when to interact with your brand, which improves the interactions they have with your brand.
- 70% of people say they would rather learn about your business through content than advertising
- 60% of respondents say they actually enjoy reading related content from their brands
8. Building relationships.
72% of people feel closer to the brand after interacting with their content. If you build this relationship up enough, customers are more likely to become repeat customers and even brand advocates.
Why Should My eCommerce Company Invest in Content Marketing?
Here’s how eCommerce companies can reap the benefits of content marketing:
1. Capitalize on product research. Your customers tend to do their research before buying something. Therefore, creating content such as product reviews or buying guides can put your business front and center. If you can educate customers based on your expertise, you are likely to generate repeat visits and convert readers into customers.
2. Level up your sales pitches. Providing informative, educational content has a much better chance of landing you the sale than the traditional sales pitch. Content marketing allows potential customers to get a feel for your level of expertise before buying. Additionally, this will make them feel more inclined to trust you.
3. Provide enhanced customer experience. When it comes to shopping, women tend to enjoy the experience itself just as much as they enjoy the end result.
4. Focus on the emotional aspect of sales. People tend to make decisions based on emotion. Accordingly, adding some personal content alongside your product listings can help you demonstrate value. If your potential customers feel connected to what you are offering, they are more likely to press the “Buy” button!
5. Add more context. Showing your customers how to use your product can make the audience aware of features they didn’t know about before. This also make its easier for them to imagine how your product would fit into their daily lives.
6. Get the benefits of product videos. Content marketing is not just about writing blog posts. Using product videos has multiple well-documented benefits:
- 73% more shoppers will buy your product after watching a video,
- 58% of people view companies who use video this way as more trustworthy.
7. Boost every stage of your sales funnels. From guest posts that increase brand awareness to extensive how-to guides about using your product, content marketing allows eCommerce companies to give their customers a subtle nudge at every stage of the sales funnel.
Paid Advertising vs Content Marketing
Content marketing does require an upfront investment, just like paid advertising does.
However, it’s an investment that’s going to keep on generating profit for as long as the content is out there, especially if you focus on creating evergreen content.
When you choose to incorporate content marketing in your strategy, you get all the added benefits (increased conversion rates, lead generation, brand awareness etc.) that paid advertising simply cannot give you.
However, that doesn’t mean you should ditch paid ads altogether.
If you have the budget for it, paid ads can provide a quick spike in traffic and leads, when used wisely, so you should absolutely keep them in your toolkit.
But if you want to create a foundation for long-term success, getting your content strategy sorted is just as, if not more, important.
Final Thoughts
If you are serious about taking your eCommerce companies marketing strategy to the next level, content marketing is where it’s at.
And if you’d like to get your content out there quicker, optimizing your content for search engines should be your first priority.
