The Importance of Content for Commerce
5 Minute Read
“Content for commerce” refers to the marketing strategy of developing robust, customer-focused content to drive sales for ecommerce brands. It is an essential component of earning customers for life and driving repeat purchases.
Some brands have taken the concept of content for commerce and run with it. Nike and REI are both excellent examples of companies that use content not only to sell products but to foster customer engagement and brand loyalty.
Other companies are happy just to have content that sells their products. They might move inventory, but imagine the added success brands could have if they build an army of “believers” who keep coming back because they love their purchases AND the company behind them.
At Twelve Three Media, we understand the importance of content for commerce because we’ve helped ecommerce brands enhance their business with this exact strategy. Our industry veterans know how powerful the combination of brand positioning and high-quality marketing content is for growing your customer base and your bottom line.
What Is Content for Commerce?
Lots of CMOs and marketing agencies think of content primarily as a means of driving organic and paid traffic. And make no mistake, search-focused website copy is an integral part of any ecommerce brand marketing strategy.
Content for commerce goes deeper. It strives to foster a connection with the consumer by creating content that aligns with their unique needs, lifestyles, questions, and goals. This connection isn’t forged through disparate product description pages and a few blog posts—it is achieved through a cohesive customer experience on the company website, the app, and other channels.
Successful content for commerce speaks directly to a given customer’s mindset. Depending on the products your company sells, the content should provide valuable information, solve problems, and/or present a particular lifestyle.
The content should *NOT* be a sales pitch—not blatantly, anyway. Rather, the goal is to educate your customers so they view your brand as a trusted source. This will help you persuade customers to buy, as well as feel a strong affinity for your business.
5 Tips to Do Content for Commerce Right
Investing in commerce content has a number of benefits:
1. Building Brand Awareness
People buy from businesses they trust. One of the best ways to build trust is to create content that solves your customer’s problem and presents a solution. The trick is to sell them on your brand and your products without being salesy.
All businesses want to sell their products. Ecommerce companies that make the best use of content do so by making consumers aware of their brand and earning their trust as a prologue to the sale.
2. Telling Your Story
To develop a world-class brand, you need to define the following elements:
- Your Mission: This is what your company sets out to do—in other words, the purpose of your business—and the audience you do it for.
- Your Vision: A vision statement articulates the impact you want to have on your customers’ lives, your industry, and the world as a whole.
- Your WHY: This embodies your core values and the motivation behind what you do.
Once these fundamentals are in place, you should use them in all aspects of your marketing. This includes infusing the design of your website and the content on each page with your brand messaging and the story behind it.
With an engaging brand, you aren’t just trying to get people to buy your products. You’re telling your story and inviting customers to be a part of it through their purchases and attention to your brand’s offerings.
3. Optimizing Conversions
The conversion rate measures the number of sales compared to the overall number of visitors to your website. We’ve seen conversions grow by leaps and bounds when an ecommerce business adopts a content for commerce strategy.
Learn How We Grew a Client’s Organic Search Traffic 120% with Content for Commerce!
Ultimately, customers are more likely to buy when they identify with the product and the company selling it. This is what your content needs to do in order to optimize conversions and reach your business goals.
4. Setting Yourself Apart
Globally, 90% of companies invest in content marketing. What many of them fail to do, however, is look beyond their sales figures and try to use content as a nurturing tool.
The cohesive experience offered by the best content for commerce is only possible when you know your customers inside and out. You also need a meticulous understanding of your own brand, including how you differ from the competition.
Whether you do it yourself or pay an agency, marketing and advertising should set your business apart. By combining your story with an in-depth knowledge of your core customers, you can develop unique content perfect for capturing attention and cultivating positive relationships.
Download our FREE Branding Fundamentals guide to start creating a legendary brand. We offer guides for multiple industries!
5. Building Community
The brands that focus on content for commerce aren’t just selling stuff. For them, customers make up members of a community. This is apparent in everything from the website to their social media channels to ads you see online and in the real world.
Dedicated communities form around certain companies because the audience feels drawn to the brand and identify with it. It’s the difference between Microsoft (where people largely buy for utilitarian reasons, including a lower price point) and Mac (where people are willing to pay more for the products because of how the brand makes them feel).
Ready to Get Started on Content for Commerce?
If you don’t tap into the emotions of your customers, all you’ll have are a bunch of assets talking about how great your products are. Most people need to have a good feeling about the business before they buy. Well-crafted content for commerce does just that.