5 Undeniable Benefits of Blog Content for eCommerce Stores
According to research by HubSpot, a marketing strategy that includes blogging is 13 times more likely to achieve positive results.
Does that figure catch your attention?
Well, it should. It should encourage you to start a blog for your eCommerce store if you haven’t already.
We’re in an era where businesses are quickly shifting from brick-and-mortar to click-and-mortar business models. To survive this shift, companies are actively competing to stand out online and rank high on Google.
A consistent online presence separates a successful brand from the rest. One way to stand out is to have a blog—a well-curated blog.
A well-curated blog is more than haphazardly putting together a few words and publishing them every other day. It’s a strategy that involves careful content planning, production, and publication.
That’s why we always recommend outsourcing this element to seasoned content strategists. They always know better, and the benefits are insurmountable.
That said, here are some benefits of making blog content a part of your business.
Brand Positioning and Identity: Gives Your Brand a Personality
The fastest way to tell people who you are and what you offer is to tell them your story.
This is what blog content does for your brand. In fact, most customers prefer to learn about a brand through blog posts and articles rather than through other advertising materials.
Consistently putting out excellent blog content gives your brand a personality. It helps build, reaffirm and strengthen your brand name online. It’s a friendly, non-invasive way to tell your customers who you are and what you stand for.
For example, one look at this blog post tells you who the business is and what they’re selling.
Source: Royal Truck Accessories
Cost-Effectiveness: Pay Less for More
Marketing is expensive. The truth is, big businesses are at an advantage when it comes to marketing. They have larger digital marketing budgets while smaller businesses barely scrape by.
For example, according to Google, paid digital advertising works. However, with the popularity of ad-blockers, even the most targeted advertisements tend to miss the target audience.
Also, assuming that the ad does reach the targeted audience, a high click-through rate is never guaranteed. Most times, people just zone out through an ad or click the ignore button.
As such, results are not guaranteed unless you have enough budget to invest heavily.
A more cost-effective way to accomplish a similar kind of exposure is to try content-driven marketing.
A good content-driven marketing strategy involves much more than just well-crafted, informative blog posts. It also includes:
- Audio-visual content, e.g. videos and podcasts
- Infographics and lists
- Blog posts and articles
- Product descriptions
- Social media content, e.g. Facebook posts, etc.
Powerful Customer Interaction: Convert Readers Into Customers
Human beings are creatures of habit. They like consistency that provides value for their needs.
Consistently providing high-quality, informative content with excellent SEO will convince customers that you know what they need, and this will help you effortlessly win their confidence and trust.
They’ll mark your website (and your brand) as reliable. They’ll come back often and probably bring friends and family—because your website will be their go-to place for answers. This way, you build a community of loyal customers without spending too much on marketing.
In an era of abundance, customers need a brand they can connect with, not be sold to. Blogging is the best cost-effective way to communicate with your customers and provide a community where they feel seen. Connect with their problems and emotions.
In most cases, this is easier said than done. Many businesses focus on throwing around fancy marketing phrases and forget that they’re talking to real humans and not robots.
That’s why we’re always pro-blogging.
But how do you run an effective blog for your eCommerce store without suffering from burnout? Outsource content creation to a seasoned content expert. Easy, right?
Attract More Traffic to Your Website—Bring More Attention to Your Brand
Blogging attracts search engine crawlers to your business. The more traffic your website receives, the higher the chance of boosting your revenue.
One of the easiest ways to attract more people to your website is to consistently publish search engine optimised (SEO) content that provides value to your target audience.
Unlike most other online marketing methods, blogging provides a unique opportunity to invest now for the future. It has the power to generate revenue both in the present and far in the future.
In the beginning, the traction might feel a little sluggish, but the investment and effort are likely to pay off tenfold in the future. This is known as a plateau of latent potential.
Source: Twitter
For example, let’s say you have a spare motor parts eCommerce business that frequently publishes answers to commonly asked motor repair questions.
In 2006, you published a blog post explaining what causes sudden acceleration issues in Toyota vehicles and gave vivid troubleshooting tips.
It’s likely this post didn’t do well at first. However, as the years went by, Toyota vehicles were plagued with a multitude of acceleration issues. People started looking online for answers, and your blog had them. As a result, your post attracted more traffic, which also resulted in increased revenue.
When done right, blogging can quickly propel you forward as an industry expert. It proves you’re an expert in your field.
This also helps your site rank for industry-relevant keywords, guiding even more traffic to your site.
Show a Human Side to Your Brand—You Are Not Only Sell, Sell, Sell.
A blog acts as your brand’s direct voice to the outside world. This is a potent tool as customers prefer to connect before they commit to buying products or services. A blog with well-curated content makes your brand personal and not robotic.
In addition, if you do it right, your brand becomes your voice and vice versa. Your business becomes a place where customers go to find answers. This helps you build authority in your space.
Authority means different things for different people. However, for an eCommerce store, authority means:
- You become a trusted source of information
- You have the answers to common industry questions
- Customers turn to you with common concerns
- Your brand becomes a reference for industry news.
For example, Secret Hair Extension is a trendy brand in the UK. Secret Hair Extension has an established blog that answers customer questions and provides quick solutions and guides to establish its authority in the industry.
This guide on how to remove hair extensions is a perfect example. It demonstrates that they’re aware of customer struggles, and have the knowledge to help.
Source: Secret Hair Extensions
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It a Must to Start a Blog for My eCommerce Store?
- Establish brand personality
- Create trust and increase royalty
- Drive conversions and increase sales
What Are the Best Blog Topics for an eCommerce Blog?
The idea is to create content that’s fun to read, informative, and provides value to your customers. Don’t just give them salesy content.
Here are some great content ideas:
- Tell your brand story
- Demonstrations and tutorials
- Press releases
- Industry thought pieces
- How-to’s and product descriptions
- Case studies
How Do I Promote My eCommerce Stores Blog?
- Sharing your blog on your company social media channels
- Leveraging SEO tools and industry keywords
- Guest post on other websites
- Use heatmaps, etc.
Can Blog Content Help Scale Your eCommerce Business?
It’s evident that many benefits come from creating a successful blog for your eCommerce store.
However, a successful blog takes a lot more than just effort. You have to get it right for it to be beneficial to your eCommerce store.
You don’t have to do it yourself. A well-established content shop like CopySmiths can effectively help you handle your content marketing needs, allowing you to focus on growing your business.
We have what it takes to make your business stand out from the crowd by publishing well-researched, well-curated, and well-targeted content.
CopySmiths
I'm Katrina McKinnon, founder of CopySmiths and Small Revolution. In my 20 years of experience, I have helped online businesses create high-performing content specifically on an eCommerce store's blog. Find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
CopySmiths offers the best blog writing services for online stores.
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