Ecommerce Content Marketing Best Practices for Your Business

In 2023, around 220 million shoppers in the US spent an average of $5,381 online. By 2026, experts predict that 230 million Americans will spend around $7,250 on ecommerce stores.

Want a piece of that pie? Here’s a not-so-secret weapon for ecommerce businesses: content marketing.

Ecommerce content marketing best practices can turn your ghost town of a store into a bustling marketplace. Or if your ecommerce brand needs a little boost, content marketing tactics can also get you there.

If your current content marketing efforts aren’t producing results, we can help.

In this post, we’ll share ecommerce content marketing best practices including video marketing, social media marketing, creating content, optimizing blog posts with visuals, search engine optimization, and effective brand promotion.

We’ll also teach you how to build engaging narratives around products, create lookbooks, and connect to audiences through powerful words, memes, and creating FOMO sentiments.

6 Ecommerce Content Marketing Best Practices for Best Results

1. Learn How to Come Up with Content Ideas

Creating compelling content for your ecommerce business can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. By following a few simple strategies, you can ensure that your content marketing efforts resonate with your target audience and drive sales.

So, what are some ecommerce content marketing best practices for coming up with content ideas on repeat? Let’s explore.

Analyze Competitors

One of the most useful ecommerce content marketing best practices is understanding what’s working for your competitors in the industry. Look at what they’re doing, which topics they’re focusing on, which social media platforms they’re using for content promotion, and what types of content formats are getting traction.

Use tools like BuzzSumo or Google Trends to see which topics related to your industry are currently popular.

Keyword Research

The most basic step in ecommerce content marketing best practices is keyword research. This helps you understand what potential customers are searching for online.

Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Google Keyword Planner to gain insights into the search volume and competition level of keywords relevant to your business. This information will help you find blog post ideas for fresh content creation tailored to your prospective customers’ needs.

Gather Customer Feedback

Another way to come up with content ideas is to listen directly to those who matter most – your current customers! They can offer invaluable insight into their own challenges and aspirations — some of which may not have been captured by any competitor analysis or keyword research tool out there.

Incorporating customer feedback into your overall marketing strategy ensures that you create content that’s relevant and engaging — helping you build brand loyalty among existing clients while attracting new ones.

Remember: The key isn’t about trying every single tactic under the sun; rather, it’s about strategically choosing the right tactics that align well with your brand vision and target audience preferences.

2. Leverage the Power of Visual Content for Ecommerce Businesses

Visual content is the secret sauce that spices up your product pages.

Don’t just limit yourself to images, either. A superior-quality video clip can narrate an entire story and construct emotional ties with your customers.

From product demonstrations to customer testimonials, video content has proven its effectiveness in driving engagement and conversions.

Appeal to Emotions

Videos aren’t just about showcasing products; they’re about sharing experiences and evoking emotions.

Your brand’s narrative can come alive through videos, making them one of the most potent tools for creating content.

Bring Products to Life

Blogs shouldn’t just be walls of text — appealing images make them more digestible and engaging for readers while also improving SEO ranking by reducing bounce rates on pages with relevant visuals.

Source: Venngage

3. Create Lookbooks for Photography, Fashion, & Design Ecommerce Sites

A well-crafted narrative can turn a simple product into an irresistible must-have.

This is where techniques like lookbooks come in handy.

A lookbook isn’t just a catalog; it’s your brand story told through images and words. The goal here is to create an engaging visual journey that makes your products shine while offering valuable information about them.

In the fashion and design industries, the use of lookbooks has become an essential tool for showcasing products and capturing the attention of potential customers. Lookbooks are curated collections of images, often accompanied by descriptive text, that serves as a visual representation of a brand’s style and vision.

What are Lookbooks?

Lookbooks are artistic presentations that feature a combination of photographs, illustrations, or digital images showcasing a collection of products, outfits, or design concepts. They aim to convey the essence and aesthetic of a brand, telling a visual story that resonates with the target audience.

A lookbook from a company selling activewear for cycling. Source: Shopify

Lookbooks go beyond mere cataloging and present a cohesive narrative, capturing the mood, style, and unique characteristics of the brand or collection.

Benefits of Lookbooks

Visual impact: Lookbooks enable brands to convey their unique identity and vision in a visually compelling manner. They provide an opportunity to create a strong first impression and engage potential customers on an emotional level.

Storytelling: By curating images, colors, and typography, lookbooks allow brands to tell a story that reflects their brand ethos. This narrative helps build a deeper connection with the audience, fostering brand loyalty and differentiation.

Showcasing versatility: Lookbooks allow brands to demonstrate the versatility of their products. By featuring different combinations, styling options, and use cases, lookbooks inspire customers to envision themselves incorporating the products into their own lives.

Increased sales potential: Well-designed lookbooks can have a direct impact on sales by presenting products in an attractive and aspirational light. They can inspire customers to make a purchase by showcasing the potential benefits and unique features of the products.

How to Create a Lookbook

Define your objective: When you create content, first determine the purpose of your lookbook. Is it to showcase a new collection, highlight specific products, or introduce a brand? Clarifying your objective will guide your creative decisions throughout the process.
Establish a theme and style: Develop a cohesive visual theme that aligns with your brand. Consider color palettes, typography, and overall aesthetic to create a consistent look throughout the lookbook.
Plan the layout: Determine the structure and organization of your lookbook. Decide on the number of pages, the order of images, and the flow of the narrative. Balance the visual appeal with the need for clear and concise information.
Select and edit images: Curate high-quality images that accurately represent your products or designs. Ensure consistency in lighting, composition, and style. Edit the images to enhance their visual appeal, but maintain authenticity.
Add descriptive text: Accompany each image with concise and engaging descriptions that highlight key features, materials, or design inspirations. Keep the text aligned with the overall tone and style of the lookbook.
Design and layout: Utilize graphic design tools or seek professional help to create visually stunning layouts. Pay attention to typography, spacing, and alignment to create a harmonious visual experience.
Print and distribute: Once the design is finalized, choose a printing method that best suits your needs, whether it’s a physical print run or a digital version. Determine the appropriate channels to distribute your lookbook, such as your website, social media platforms, or physical retail locations.

Example of a fashion lookbook from Design Shack

4. Evoke Emotions Through Content Creation

Creating compelling content for an ecommerce business means appealing to the emotion of customers. Awe, amusement, anxiety, or anger — these are the feelings that get shared most frequently online.

So how do you go about stirring up these emotions? Let’s start with powerful words and memes.

Power Words and Memes

Power words, when strategically used in your content, can provoke strong emotional responses from your audience. Think “exclusive”, “limited time offer”, or “guaranteed.” These trigger a sense of urgency and exclusivity that can drive engagement and conversions.

Triggering an emotional connection with your target audience through pop culture references can also be a great way to engage them. They’re fun, shareable, and have a high potential for going viral if done right.

FOMO Sentiments

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is another potent tool for content marketers promoting ecommerce websites. It’s in people’s nature to not want to miss out on something thrilling or advantageous.

To leverage FOMO effectively in your ecommerce business, highlight the limited availability of your products or services, flash sales, or exclusive deals only available for subscribers. This can stir up emotions, motivating people to act quickly in order not to miss out.

Source: Semrush

5. Create Long-Form Articles for Better SEO Rankings

Google’s algorithms have a soft spot for long-form articles because they provide in-depth and high-quality information that answers user queries comprehensively.

That’s why you should prioritize long-form articles and blog posts in your ecommerce content marketing strategy.

What are Long-Form Articles?

Long-form articles, typically defined as content that exceeds 1,000 words, play a significant role in SEO ranking and are considered important for several reasons:

Comprehensive coverage: Long-form articles provide in-depth and comprehensive coverage of a particular topic. Search engines like Google aim to deliver the most relevant and informative content to users, and longer articles often provide a more thorough exploration of a subject — leading to higher rankings in search results.

Keyword optimization: Long-form articles offer greater opportunities for keyword optimization. By including relevant keywords naturally throughout the content, headings, subheadings, and meta tags, you improve the visibility of your article in SERPs.

Backlink attraction: Longer articles tend to attract more backlinks from other websites. When content is comprehensive, well-researched, and informative, it becomes a valuable resource for others to reference and link to. Backlinks from reputable sources signal to search engines that your content is authoritative, leading to improved rankings.

Dwell time and engagement: Long-form articles tend to increase dwell time, which is the amount of time users spend on a webpage. When users find value in an article and engage with it for an extended period, search engines interpret this as a positive signal of quality content.

Social sharing and virality: Long-form articles often generate more social shares and engagement on social media platforms. When your content is informative, engaging, and valuable, it is more likely to be shared by readers, reaching a wider audience and potentially increasing traffic to your website.

Niche authority and expertise: Long-form articles allow you to showcase your expertise and establish authority in your niche. By providing detailed insights, analysis, and valuable information, you position yourself as a credible source.

Featured snippets and voice search: Longer articles have a higher likelihood of being selected as featured snippets by search engines. Featured snippets are displayed at the top of search results, providing a concise summary of the content. And with the rise of voice search, longer articles are more likely to be selected as voice search answers due to their comprehensive nature.

Best Types of Long-Form Content

Looking to add fresh content to your online store or blog? Here are some of the best types of long-form articles for your content marketing strategy:

Case Studies: If you’re looking for blog post ideas for long-form content, case studies are a great place to start. Case studies provide an in-depth analysis of real-life scenarios, demonstrating how a particular product, service, or strategy has achieved successful outcomes. They often include data, testimonials, and actionable takeaways.
In-Depth Guides: Comprehensive guides that thoroughly cover a specific topic or provide step-by-step instructions are highly valued by readers. These guides can serve as go-to resources, offering detailed information, insights, and practical advice.
Research and Data-Driven Articles: Long-form content that presents original research, data analysis, or surveys can be highly authoritative and valuable to readers. These articles provide evidence-based information, support arguments with statistics, and contribute to industry knowledge.
Interviews and Expert Roundups: Conducting interviews with industry experts or gathering insights from multiple experts in a specific field can result in compelling long-form content. By featuring diverse perspectives and expert opinions, you provide readers with authoritative viewpoints.
Ultimate Lists: Curated lists that compile the best resources, tools, or examples within a niche or industry can be highly informative and practical for readers. These long-form articles offer a comprehensive collection of valuable information in a single place.
Historical Guides: Creating comprehensive guides that explore the history or evolution of a topic can be engaging for readers who are interested in a deep dive. These articles often provide valuable context, insights, and analysis.
Whitepapers and E-books: Long-form content in the form of whitepapers or e-books allows you to present extensive research, analysis, or insights on a specific topic. These formats are often used for lead generation and establishing thought leadership in a particular field.

Remember, the effectiveness of long-form content depends on the relevance, quality, and value it provides to your target audience. Consider your audience’s interests, needs, and preferences when selecting the type of long-form content that aligns with your goals and resources. And don’t forget to add visuals such as infographics, charts, and illustrations to enhance the readability and visual appeal of long-form content.

Although long-form content can be difficult to produce, marketing automation has made it possible for ecommerce businesses to boost their output. AI writers like Content at Scale, which is specifically designed for long-form content, can generate a 3,000-word, well-researched, well-written article in minutes!

Screenshot of a 4,924-word article written by Content at Scale

6. Share Customer Stories for Brand Humanization

No doubt, trust is essential for any online store to succeed.

To build trust, you need to show authenticity and transparency in all aspects of your business.

One way to build trust is by sharing real-life customer stories on your blog posts. This not only humanizes your brand but also provides social proof that validates the quality and effectiveness of your products or services — it’s like a stamp of awesomeness.

But how do you incorporate these stories into your content marketing strategy?

Tell their journey: Share how they discovered, used, and benefited from using your product or service. No BS, just the real deal.
Showcase testimonials: Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences on various platforms like Google reviews or directly on your website.
Create case studies: Show how a particular problem was solved using what you offer. And don’t forget to include both qualitative data (like quotes) and quantitative results.

Remember, every story must reflect the truth about the struggles faced by actual people.

For more ideas on how to add stories and human experiences to your content, check out this video:

Use Ecommerce Content Marketing Best Practices to Get Ahead of the Game

Implementing ecommerce content marketing best practices is crucial for success in the online retail industry.

Engage customers on an emotional level with high-quality videos, appealing images, and social media-style feeds. It’s like a love story, but with products.

Take your customer experience to the next level with text-based strategies like lookbooks and engaging narratives — it’s storytelling with a fashionable twist.

Build trust with consumers by evoking emotions through powerful words and memes — because who doesn’t love a good laugh?

Humanize your brand by sharing customer stories — it’s like having a virtual coffee chat with your audience.

Increase visibility and organic traffic growth with long-form articles — it’s like giving your audience a backstage pass to success.

By following this ecommerce content marketing strategy, you can enhance your content marketing efforts and drive meaningful engagement, brand awareness, and conversions in this highly competitive digital landscape.

Table of Contents: