Content marketing can drive 6 times higher conversion rates than traditional marketing. As such, it’s no surprise that your marketing team is urging you to make content the focal point of your digital marketing activities.  So, what exactly is “Content”? And why is it important for your e-commerce business? Let’s find out.

What is Content in Digital Marketing?

In terms of marketing, content refers to any text, image, video or graphic present on your website, social media channels and even ads. The product descriptions on your website, the blogs you publish, the images you upload on social media and the video tutorials you share, are all examples of content. Without content, there would be no online marketing.

You need content at every step of the marketing funnel from attracting new customers to retaining existing customers. It forms the heart and soul of digital marketing strategy.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is an integral part of digital marketing that focuses on creating and disseminating content that is valuable, reliable, and useful to your target audience.

In traditional marketing, the focus is directly on promoting your products or services with ads and promotional activities. On the contrary, content marketing uses content to create a relationship with the target audience instead of blatantly promoting a product or service.

It’s a more nuanced approach and takes more time and patience. But, it’s an approach that works and is better for your business’s long-term success. That’s why 91% of B2B marketers and 86% of B2C marketers actively use content marketing.

Why Should Ecommerce Companies Make Content the Focal Point of Their Digital Marketing Strategies?

We live in a digital era. About 59% of the world’s population is an active internet user. As the number of online consumers is increasing, so is the number of online sellers. Every other person has an online store. And so do you. But what makes you different? Why will a potential buyer purchase from you rather than your competition? Content is the answer to these questions.

Creating and sharing the right form of content at the right time with the right audience can make all the difference. You can either build an in-house content marketing team or simply outsource the job to digital marketing experts like Digi Marketers. 

Here are the reasons why you should start taking content seriously:

1. Content Helps with SEO

68% of all online experiences start with a search engine. And 75% of these internet surfers never go past the first SERP (Search Engine Result Page). This effectively means that a major chunk of your potential customers never get to visit your website if you don’t rank on the first page. SEO or Search Engine Optimization helps you improve your website’s rank on the SERP. 

Studies show that content is one of the most important factors used by Google to determine your website’s rank. Creating and sharing high-quality content that is unique and valuable to your target audience can help you rank higher on Google’s SERP. And the better your rank, the more website traffic you attract!

2. It Informs the Audience

Today’s customer doesn’t just buy a product or a service, they buy an experience. They want to know about the brand they are buying from. 60% of consumers enjoy reading relevant brand content. They are interested in your story, who you are, what makes you unique. And content can help you share that story with the audience. It sets the tone of your brand and informs your audience who you are and what you stand for. You can use content like blogs and videos to educate your audience about your products and services. If you didn’t know, content like brand stories garners a lot of views.

3. Content Helps you Know your Customers

Content functions as a two-way road – it doesn’t only allow your customers to know you, it also allows you to understand your customers. This is arguably one of the most underappreciated benefits of content marketing. Your content acts as a window that lets you peep into the lives of your customers. Metrics like website traffic, blog views, social media post engagement lets you understand who your target audience is, what they like and dislike.

You can use this information to further refine your buyer personas. It will not only help in organic marketing but will also significantly improve your paid advertising.

4. It Makes you a Thought Leader

There can be hundreds of stores out there that sell products similar to yours. But the content you produce can set you apart. Yes, all your competitors are also publishing blogs and sharing social media posts. So, how can you be different?

By creating content that is not only useful to your target audience but is also unique and fresh. Remember, quality over quantity. Instead of creating a pile of content that serves no real purpose, create content that establishes your authority over your field. Consistently sharing informative and valuable content can establish you as a thought leader in your field.

What does it mean? In simple terms, it means that your target audience trusts your opinion. Once they trust your opinion, they will trust your products too. 82% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after reading its content.

5. Content Builds a Strong Customer Relationship

Advertising will help you acquire customers, but content marketing not only helps you in acquiring new customers but also nurturing long-term relationships with them. Integrating your PPC and content marketing strategy can significantly improve your sales and revenue.

According to 70% of consumers, a brand’s content helps them feel connected to it. From informing the target customers about the existence of your brand to converting them into brand advocates, content plays an important role at each stage of the buyer’s journey. You can use different forms of content at different stages to help your target audience move along in the buyer journey.

For instance, using the right keywords, creating informative and useful blogs and website content can help you get discovered while detailed product reviews, product comparisons, and video tutorials can persuade your target audience to make the purchase. Similarly, interesting social media posts and comments, online contests and email newsletters can keep their interest in your brand alive.

6. It Gives the Highest ROI

Among all the digital marketing techniques, content marketing gives the best Return on Investment. It costs 62% lesser and generates three times more leads when compared to traditional marketing. Given the statistics, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t adopt content marketing as a part of your digital marketing campaign.

Bottom Line

As they say, content is really the king. The right content marketing strategy can help you improve the quantity as well as the quality of leads generated. And what’s more, it is extremely affordable. However, it’s important to mention that just creating and dumping the content on the internet no longer does the trick. The quality, relevance and usability of your content is the key. With the competition in the e-commerce sector rising and the attention span of people decreasing, your content needs to be better than ever. That’s why you need the help of an expert.

Digi Marketers is a leading digital marketing agency that creates top-class content customized for your target audience. Whether you are just starting your digital marketing journey or want to take it to new heights, Digi Marketers is the solution!