Content marketing for beginners: 8 tips to get you off to a great start

Strong content forms strong brands – especially in e-commerce. But why is content marketing and SEO really, and why is it necessary? We have a starter pack for you so you can start right away.

The idea behind content marketing is that the operator establishes itself as a credible advisor in the customer’s purchasing decision-making process. By creating relevant content – i.e. content related to a topic or product – which is well prepared for search engines, the dealer positions himself as an expert for the products he offers: if he does it right. We’ll demonstrate how to employ content marketing in your online business in the sections that follow.

Managing the marketing process is one of the most challenging parts of starting an internet shop. You can have the most beautiful webshop and still fail if you don’t manage to lure your customers there. One solution to this is content marketing. With good content marketing, you can harness the power of search engines or maximize the reach of social networks.

Battle Plan: The Marketing Plan

You will find the theoretical basis and the definition of goals, i.e. what you want to achieve with your content marketing strategy, in your marketing plan. If you want to create a marketing plan or a content marketing strategy, basic knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) is an advantage. Because: Your content must be findable by search engines, otherwise, you take a chance to make your customers aware of your content.

What seems totally confusing at first glance is an ingenious overview of what you have to consider as with content marketing.  We have this hanging in our office.  (Graphic: econsultancy.com)

What seems totally confusing at first glance is an ingenious overview of how you have to consider what and where in content marketing. It adorns the wall in our editorial office. (Graphic: econsultancy.com)

Ecommerce is all about creating a positive shopping experience for your customers to buy from you. An optimally designed web shop is the first step in the right direction. Reliability and trust as well as voucher marketing and well-packaged packages help you to maximize this shopping experience for customers. The finishing touch here can be content marketing – and these 7 tips will help you with that.

Content Marketing Tip 1

Integrate relevant content into your website. Regardless of whether you write your content yourself or hire a professional copywriter to do this task – it is important that the content is produced specifically for your shop and, on the other hand, can be found on a domain operated by you. A blog serves as the best medium for this. So when choosing the shop system, make sure that you can integrate and operate a blog without additional effort.

Descriptions really aren’t content marketing.                            

Tip 2: Establish a content marketing plan.

You need to have a content marketing plan before you can begin using content marketing. It doesn’t require a 100-slide presentation that’s full of phrases and has little to no substance. It’s much more important to be precise because what you say defines what you can achieve.

Studies show again and again that companies with a defined content marketing strategy are demonstrably more successful. But what information ought to be in this document? Although there are different answers to this question, some important points are:

• Analysis – status quo of your own company including concrete target definition, analysis of the target groups, and the competition
• Content strategy – determination of the content topics and formats to achieve the defined goals
• Amplification Strategy – Identifying the channels that make sense for content distribution
• Evaluation – listing the most important metrics to measure success

When it comes to your formally stated content marketing plan, there is no right or wrong answer. Just make sure you use language that everyone in your company understands and that everyone in your company is comfortable with.

Tip 3: Create cornerstones for your content marketing strategy

Shape your foundation wisely. The subjects that are pertinent to your clients serve as the pillars of your content marketing strategy. Especially at the beginning, it is easier to concentrate on the topics that you are interested in or even passionate about – but the focus should remain on the added value for the customer. At the beginning, write eight to twelve blog posts – about basic knowledge and quality criteria for your products. Testimonials and tests are also other opportunities for great content marketing. For example, here you will find an article that shows you how to present your testimonials without expensive equipment – just with your smartphone.

Tip 4: Is the content read/shared/clicked on?

Make your content worth reading: This is of course easier said than done. The readers determine what is worth reading and what is not. Visitor numbers, click rates, shares on Facebook and comments on the blog clearly show what works and what doesn’t. Always ensure that you go through the following list:

• Tackling a problem that the readers are dealing with themselves
• Offer suggested solutions
• Meaningful or emotional images
• Basic search engine optimization of the text
• An attractive – and click-heavy – headline
• Correct way of addressing your customers

Tip 5: Continue to build on content that works

Expand your content for a larger readership: Once you’ve established the foundation of your content strategy, you can begin to expand your readership. Opinion articles or comments pointed perspectives and strong headlines are ideal here. Try to include the entire repertoire of related keywords related to your topic. Find other relevant platforms, such as blogs or online magazines that publish your content as a guest post, for example.

Attention: Always publish the topic on your own platform first – including a two-week blocking period (SEO) for partner blogs

Tip 6: Email marketing for support

Build an email distribution list. In order to gain a broad readership for your carefully prepared content, email campaigns or a regular newsletter are a suitable addition to your own blog. Be sure to include a newsletter subscription form in a clearly visible place in your shop and provide your readers with regular information about the content you produce.

This is also an ideal way to present well-clicked content to your audience again – here the dose makes the poison. As a retailer, you have more email contact points with your customers than you think.

Tip 7: Integrate your offer

And now make the link to your offers. As important as relevant and well-prepared content is in content marketing, the added value for your online shop only arises when it is linked to your webshop or your brand. Make a clear connection to your product range, for example by linking to relevant pages in your shop – which should ideally be designed as landing pages.

Tip 8: Use social media!

Use social media as a mouthpiece – we show you how on our corporate blog. Good content marketing and SEO spreads almost by itself, but the same applies here: constant dripping wears away the stone. Use your social media profiles not only to distribute your content but also as a service option for your readership. Their attentiveness or ignorance are good indicators of whether your content is relevant and worth reading because quality prevails.

We wish you every success with your new content marketing strategy.