Content marketing. Sigh. It’s an essential activity for any brand hoping to achieve success in today’s online market, but knowing what kind of content to share can be confusing.
After all, what works for one ecommerce business might be a complete flop for another!
Rest assured, though, that putting in the time to develop a well-designed content marketing strategy is well worth the effort. The benefits that sharing unique, useful content with your audience can bring your brand are indeed plentiful.
Why should you make content marketing a priority?
As an ecommerce entrepreneur, you’re bound to have a ton on your plate, from building your website to managing your products, keeping track of orders, and more. Throw content marketing into the mix, and it’s definitely a lot to juggle!
Nevertheless, many of today’s brands devote a significant amount of resources to content marketing because they know that it’s effective. If you’re new to the exciting world of online sales, you might be wondering how content marketing works to grow your business.
Some examples of the many benefits of content marketing include that it builds authority and trust with your audience, helps you to stand out from the competition, and increases site traffic.
It also assists in strengthening your efforts with search engine optimization (SEO). This is an incredible advantage, as better SEO can help move your site to the top of Google’s search results.
What’s more, content marketing usually offers a much higher return on investment than traditional forms of marketing.
Finally, high-quality content marketing can help you to increase sales for your online store—the ultimate goal!
Though it can take some time to see results with your content marketing strategy, it’s a very cost-effective method for helping your business grow.
Examples of content marketing done right
While the history of content marketing shows that the concept has evolved over time, one aspect stays constant.
The content that you choose to create and distribute is only going to be valuable for your business if it resonates with your target audience. It must be compelling enough to make people want to engage with your brand consistently.
Furthermore, the key to content marketing is that to be successful with it, you need to constantly be working to improve. As your audience’s needs change, you’ll have to adapt your strategy to accommodate them.
This can make even a seasoned marketer feel a bit overwhelmed at times!
Creating fresh, exciting content on a regular basis that helps your business connect with current and potential customers is an ongoing process.
Writing blog articles, crafting entertaining how-to videos, designing infographics, and sharing other kinds of content are excellent ways to let your creativity shine.
But what do you do when the creative juices just aren’t flowing like before? Feeling stuck for ideas is a common challenge for marketers around the world.
In a June 2019 survey by Statista, 34% of marketing respondents stated that finding new ideas for creating content was an issue for them.
No matter if you’re preparing to launch your new online store or are re-working your content marketing strategy for a business you’ve had for ages, a little inspiration can do wonders for sparking your creativity.
Here are several examples of great content marketing to get you and your brand headed in the right direction!
1. General Electric (GE)
When you hear people mention the brand GE, you might be scratching your head to name exactly what products the company sells. Dishwashers? Vacuum cleaners?
Yep, GE does offer those items, but did you know that it’s also involved with selling products related to healthcare, renewable energy, and aviation?
You may think that none of the above would make for a particularly thrilling presence on social media. However, GE has actually had some very successful social media campaigns.
One of the major focuses of the business’s content marketing strategy has been making use of user-generated and co-created content.
For instance, for an Instagram campaign, GE got several fans of the company and six social media influencers to go on special tours of the brand’s manufacturing facilities.
During their tours, these fans and influencers took and uploaded photos to their own social media, using the hashtag #GEInstaWalk.
The results of the campaign were stunning, eye-catching photos and a slew of new followers and page views!
2. Herbivore Botanicals
This indie skincare brand has a wonderful understanding of how to use a distinct voice and beautiful visual content to appeal to customers.
From Herbivore’s website copy alone, we see that it’s looking to blur the line between itself and its customers, using a more personable, inclusive tone.
Its website features a blog with posts that discuss specific ingredients and their importance in beauty products, describe how to use their products correctly, and more.
Herbivore often incorporates the surge in interest in astrology in its content as well, such as with its article on 2021 Yearly HERBIscopes, a report for the various zodiac signs.
Because the brand started as a small business on Etsy, it knows what it’s like to get a business going from scratch. Its blog often includes interviews with owners of new companies or posts designed to highlight small businesses.
This demonstrates Herbivore’s commitment to helping other indie brands succeed and assists with bolstering trust in the company.
Finally, Herbivore’s Instagram account is truly a sight to behold. Its posts feature gorgeous shots of its products, user-generated content, and information related to today’s social issues.
The feed’s dreamy, minimalistic aesthetic matches that of the company’s products, which helps its audience with brand recognition.
3. Superdrug
One of the UK’s top health and beauty retailers, Superdrug created a thought-provoking campaign that revolved around a sensitive topic: body image issues.
The company asked 18 female graphic designers from around the world to use Photoshop to edit a photo of a woman to make her what they thought to be more attractive to their own country’s citizens.
The results of Superdrug’s “Perceptions of Perfection” campaign were published by Buzzfeed and Huffington Post and demonstrated the vast differences in how various countries thought the “ideal” version of a woman’s body should appear.
This campaign resonated with many consumers and brought a ton of publicity to the business.
In fact, OptinMonster states that Superdrug’s efforts resulted in approximately 1 million shares on social media and 3 million views of the original study. Furthermore, the campaign received several celebrity endorsements and international news coverage.
“Perceptions of Perfection” is the perfect example of how to increase your brand’s value by not being afraid to discuss a controversial subject that affects a significant number of people.
4. Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola brand has been around for more than 125 years, so you know it’s probably doing something right when it comes to attracting and keeping customers! One of the company’s most successful projects has been its “Share a Coke” campaign.
Originally launched in Australia in 2011 and later brought to other locations, the campaign involved printing names on individual bottles of soda.
The purpose was to encourage consumers to share a bottle with somebody with that name, creating a more personal connection with the company’s target market.
This campaign was wildly popular with consumers and resulted in the sale of more than 250 millions bottles and cans the first summer of its launch.
In addition, the campaign did amazing things for Coca-Cola’s presence on social media. People delighted in sharing photos of themselves posing next to bottles that had their names or the names of their friends written on them.
5. Buffer
A platform that works to improve businesses’ social media efforts, Buffer offers assistance with publishing, analyzing, and engagement.
The company’s blog shows just how beneficial content marketing can be for a brand. In Buffer’s early stages, it initially had several guest bloggers writing for them a few times a week.
The content was shared on several popular sites, which aided in building authority, trust, and visibility. This in turn helped Buffer gain its first 100,000 customers.
Today, it has four blogs in total to help educate its users and provide useful information to help them grow their presence on social media.
Buffer’s Open Blog is particularly interesting in that it’s highly transparent and discusses the company’s approach to business, along with its good and bad experiences over the years.
The business’s openness and willingness to distribute content dedicated to the success of its users has allowed it to develop a high level of trust with users.
6. GoPro
As GoPro sells cameras and camera-related accessories, it’s no surprise that the company’s content marketing strategy focuses on high-quality visual content.
The brand understands that its customers and followers crave amazing images and video, so that’s exactly what it gives them.
GoPro is also big on sharing user-generated content across its various social media channels. For example, on GoPro’s YouTube channel, you’ll find all kinds of videos created by users of the company’s various products.
This type of content featuring glimpses of the brand’s ambassadors’ different adventures inspires viewers and has helped grow the channel’s number of followers to over 10 million today!
Though originally known for being especially popular with sport and outdoor-adventure enthusiasts, GoPro has since expanded to additional segments as well. These include areas like wildlife movies and concert festivals.
7. ProFlowers
Floristry is a rather competitive market all around the world. It’s therefore important that businesses specializing in providing customers with gorgeous blooms can find a way to stand out from their competition.
Online flower delivery company ProFlowers knows that many people will need to buy flowers for somebody special in their lives at some point in their lives.
The business also understands that shoppers may have questions about floral arrangements that go beyond learning what’s the fastest their order can be delivered.
To better equip their customers with choosing the best flowers for their needs and learn more about flowers in general, ProFlowers offers a list of 151 types of flowers on its blog.
The article notes the sun and soil needs and other details for each flower, providing readers with a brief yet helpful overview to assist them with their purchasing decisions. This article alone has helped generate loads of organic traffic along with numerous backlinks to the Proflowers website.
It goes to show that when you take the time to create useful, detailed content, it can become a reference for your audience and establish your brand as a leader in the market!
8. BarkBox
People LOVE spoiling their pets...and for good reason! The unconditional love and endless entertainment they provide us are priceless and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
If you’ve got a canine companion yourself, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of subscription service BarkBox.
To generate more site traffic and increase sales of the company’s monthly subscription box brimming with treats and toys for pups, BarkBox employs a simple yet effective method. It puts photos of adorable dogs on everything from its website to its numerous social media channels.
As the brand’s target audience comprises dog-lovers, you can understand why this strategy is a hit!
However, BarkBox also shares photos of satisfied pups along with customer testimonials on their website. This helps build trust in the brand while allowing customers to show off their furry friends on the site.
The tactic seems to be doing well for the company, as it states that it’s served over 2,000,000 dogs!
9. ASOS
Operating purely online, this successful apparel retailer ships to customers in 239 countries. ASOS has certainly done the research on its target market and uses a variety of types of content marketing to connect with current and potential customers alike.
The company has a strong presence on Instagram, one of the best social media channels to use if you’re looking to reach millennials and Generation Z.
This brand’s main Instagram account has 11.2 million followers, with posts that often include influencers wearing items from the ASOS.
In addition, ASOS offers helpful, engaging tips and inspiration for site visitors in its blog. Known as the “Style Feed,” the blog has a version for women as well as men, featuring articles on fashion, beauty, and more.
10. REI
REI’s target market is made up of adventure-lovers and people who enjoy outdoor activities. The company uses a variety of types of content to appeal to these consumers.
For instance, REI’s blog features articles on all kinds of topics related to adventure travel, various sports, and even important issues like climate change, sustainability, and others.
While there are articles related to REI gear, the tone of the content comes off as helpful and informational rather than being an advertisement for the brand or products.
In addition, REI’s YouTube channel boasts a plethora of videos designed to be both entertaining and educational. These videos include everything from guides for determining what to wear hiking to classes on how to fix a flat bike tire and much more.
REI is also great at creating videos based on very specific niches, such as how to make cocktails when camping. This excellent use of long-tail keywords can help improve the company’s SEO and ensure that its content is appearing higher up on Google’s results pages.
Final thoughts
There you have it!
As you create and modify the content marketing strategy for your ecommerce business, use the aforementioned examples to help you determine the best ways to connect with your audience.
It’s true that our examples of brands utilizing great content marketing may very well be operating on a larger scale than your business. However, many of their tactics are effective for online stores of any size and can be adapted to suit your brand’s unique needs!
