Customers today don’t choose products simply because they have the best price or the most reviews. They side with brands that can tell a story, educate, inspire, and entertain them.
To do that, businesses must be able to leverage content to help promote their products and generate conversions for their commerce initiatives. When combined, content and commerce can produce amazing results.
In this blog, we’ll discuss content-powered commerce and explore strategies for effectively managing and presenting product content to enhance the shopping experience.
What is Content Commerce?
Content commerce is the process of publishing and promoting content to help drive eCommerce sales and conversions. Think of it like content marketing for eCommerce companies, where businesses use written blog content, social media, reviews, videos, podcasts, and other media to influence customer purchase decisions.
Combining content and commerce allows businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors and become more appealing to customers. These are just some reasons why 55% of content marketers focus on creating more content and posting more often.
Content Commerce Through the Years
Modern marketers think of content commerce and naturally associate it with digital marketing initiatives. However, the concept of content commerce has been around for centuries.
Sears Catalog
The Sears, Roebuck, and Co. catalog, which launched in 1888, enabled consumers to view and order everything from shoes and clothes to furniture and appliances. For people in towns in rural America that weren’t close to cities and shops, the catalog was the ideal mail-order booklet eagerly anticipated year after year.
Michelin Guide
Another example of content commerce is the Michelin Guide. Started by the Michelin tire company in 1900, the guide provided drivers with information about hotels and restaurants.
Michelin hoped that the guide would get customers traveling longer distances, encouraging them to purchase new tires. Today, the guide has evolved into a culinary guide that awards Michelin stars to leading restaurants.
Modern Content Commerce
Today, content commerce can be found in podcasts and video series that educate and entertain consumers. For example, the American Girl brand publishes three podcasts: 10-Minute Mysteries, American Girl Fan Club, and the Smart Girl’s Podcast to reach different types of customers.
How Ecommerce Content Drives Results
Brands that use content correctly can drive significant results for their ecommerce stores. Here are some of the things that content commerce can help businesses achieve.
Increased Conversions
The primary advantage of introducing content commerce is the increased conversions that it can provide. Content can help customers when they’re trying to decide between two competing brands or products. The right user testimonials and product descriptions can aid a persuasive narrative encouraging conversions.
Fewer Returns
Content commerce also leads to fewer product returns. Businesses can ensure that customers know exactly what they’re buying, and with the detailed descriptions and customer reviews available, customers who purchase products are more likely to be satisfied with what they bought.
Reduced Customer Acquisition Costs
Customer acquisition costs (CAC) refers to how much businesses must spend to attract customers. When brands strategically create new content, engage with customers on social media platforms, and conduct other marketing activities, they can organically attract customers. Using content marketing, businesses can reduce spending on paid marketing activities and increase brand loyalty.
Improved Customer Experience
Content can significantly elevate the customer experience. For example, a company that sells kitchen utensils and cookware could publish recipes and highlight recommended products for purchase or interview leading chefs on a podcast. Content such as this can be educational and entertaining for potential customers, making their lives easier, increasing brand loyalty, and other aspects of the customer experience.
Improved SEO
Search engine rankings play a vital role in the ecommerce products that customers select. Optimizing product pages, creating blog posts, and offering informative resources can help ecommerce brands rank higher for ideal keywords. Better SEO drives organic traffic, enhances the brand’s overall visibility and credibility, and helps businesses reach a wider audience.
Brand Improvement
Content commerce can be used to publish content to multiple channels and create a cohesive customer experience. This can increase brand awareness and strengthen relationships with customers. Once brand loyalty increases, it can turn customers into advocates who can continue to promote products to more potential customers.
Strategies for Effective Content Commerce
Leveraging content commerce has increased conversions and generated more revenue for businesses. Here are some ways to do content commerce effectively.
Educational Blog Content
Most companies already have a blog to, at the very least, provide product or company updates. However, it can also be a valuable channel for driving ecommerce sales. Educational content in the form of how-to guides, tutorials, or updates on industry trends can keep customers engaged over a long period. Eventually, they will associate the company as a resource and be willing to purchase from them when they want the products they sell.
Video Marketing
Video has transformed marketing over the years with no signs of slowing down. In fact, 87% of marketers have said that video helped them increase sales. In commerce, video is an ideal differentiator that can significantly enhance the customer experience. Instead of a product page only having text information, a video can showcase the product in a different light. Also, product unboxings and customer testimonials done via video can build deeper connections with customers.
User-Generated Content
Building on the video option, another tactic for implementing content commerce is through user-generated content (UGC). Customers trust their peers when making purchases, and having a real person endorse a product can go a long way toward generating sales. Many brands turn to influencer marketing to reach a wider audience in this scenario. However, social media campaigns that encourage customers to share themselves using the company’s products can showcase authenticity and build trust.
Testimonials and Success Stories
Customer testimonials or success stories highlight the experiences of satisfied customers. Potential buyers expect to see information about how other people are already using the product, and this can help them envision similar outcomes once they have the product in hand. Testimonials may also need to be localized to fit different audiences.
For example, an ecommerce brand that sells bicycles to customers in the US market will need to localize content and offer more product information and testimonials if they want to expand to the Netherlands or Sweden, where there is a much bigger culture focused on bikes.
Digital Catalogs
Another sometimes overlooked option for driving results with content commerce is a digital catalog. While a catalog isn’t the only way for customers to see products like it was during the days of the Sears and Roebuck Co. catalogs, the dynamic possibilities of a digital catalog can be entertaining and engaging for customers.
Instead of static product listings, brands could offer interactive elements that include clickable links and the ability to swap pieces around and customize the product. For example, a furniture brand could offer a digital catalog with curated room sets with links to purchase each item.
Customers can better visualize how a sofa might look against their accent wall and choose the right color that matches. Plus, a digital catalog can also be personalized for each customer. Companies can provide recommendations based on products that were recently viewed or previous sales.
Quizzes
Interactive quizzes are another way to drive ecommerce sales by enabling customers to identify suitable products based on their preferences. This creates a personalized shopping experience and gamifies the buying journey, which can help increase brand loyalty and word-of-mouth promotion when done right. For example, a beauty and makeup brand could create a quiz that helps customers identify their skin type and concerns so that they select the right products for their unique scenario.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a modern version of radio programs, and they present a relatively simple way for ecommerce brands to do content commerce. Businesses can record podcasts offering industry insights or interviews and product stories. For example, an ecommerce brand that sells products made with sustainable materials could launch a podcast that shares initiatives happening locally and globally, bringing further awareness to the problem and how their product can help solve it.
Newsletters
Newsletters are another useful option for ecommerce content marketing. Engaging newsletters that provide value and include product highlights enables brands to share updates, promotions, and exclusive content with customers. This option can also work well for B2B companies if their newsletters feature data such as industry trends and research reports highlighting the benefits of using the types of products they offer.
How to Power Commerce with Content
Companies that want to power their commerce sales with content should take note of the following tips.
Know Your Audience
Every business should have a sound understanding of its customers and target audience, but this takes an even greater significance for content commerce. Audiences will respond to different channels, and it’s important to know that you are reaching the audience where they are.
For example, when sharing content on social media, businesses may need to share content on TikTok to reach a Gen Z audience, whereas B2B audiences will find the right content mix appealing on LinkedIn.
Also, that content should use the same tone throughout the customer journey – starting with blog posts and newsletters and continuing throughout the shopping and delivery process and even customer support.
For example, you could have a fun and hip newsletter but a ‘boring or very formal checkout process,’ which might turn customers away. Instead, all content should be unified so customers associate the same tone and type of content expectations with your entire brand. This makes having an integrated ecosystem and a set of content guidelines critical tools in the content strategy.
Building an Integrated Ecosystem
The strategies for implementing content commerce are far more effective when companies leverage an integrated marketing ecosystem. Ideally, this combines a content management system (CMS), product information management (PIM), and an ecommerce and marketing platform. Analytics and marketing automation systems may also be included for some companies.
An integrated ecosystem enables ecommerce brands to track product inventory levels and sales, optimize content strategies, tailor marketing efforts based on customer behavior, and provide a unified shopping experience across channels.
Leverage a DXP
The multiple moving pieces of an integrated ecosystem are much easier to manage with a digital experience platform (DXP). With a DXP, businesses have a centralized hub that unifies content and commerce and provides a comprehensive view of the buyer’s journey. This platform allows them to adapt to changing customer needs or market conditions and remain future-proof to pivot to new channels as required.
Optimize Content and Commerce
Content can be a key driver toward ecommerce sales, customer satisfaction, and retention. Whether through educational blog content, podcast interviews, interactive digital catalogs, or informative newsletters, the options for implementing and seeing results through content commerce are vast.
To truly be able to implement content commerce initiatives, companies need the right tools and resources. Content Bloom are CMS and DXP experts who can offer expertise in planning and executing content commerce strategies. We also have the technical capabilities to help implement these tools and integrate ecommerce or PIM systems to help build an integrated ecosystem that drives conversions.
Modernizing the Shopping Experience
Building a modern shopping experience that combined in-store and digital journeys was essential for a large toy and entertainment retailer. They wanted to support the configuration via web, mobile, or in-store touch screens that would enable children to save the toys they created to an online profile, order items, and pick them up in-store.
Content Bloom helped to design and implement the content technology infrastructure that would power these experiences, resulting in 4x the expected sales for the first week after launch. Read the case study to learn more about how Content Bloom optimized this experience or contact us to find out more.
