The to-do list for many business marketing departments can be quite lengthy when it comes to to e-commerce. With the use of online commerce growing exponentially in virtually every industry, companies are scrambling to make sure their e-commerce models work effectively. Are you making the appropriate changes?
Content Marketing Priorities
Content can be a company’s best friend. According to a recent Forbes article, content marketing is a top priority for most digital marketers in 2013. If you are among the marjority of content hungry marketers, how will you be leveraging your content assests?
The following are some no-brainer marketing strategies that utilize content as the priority. Make sure you are using them in your 2014 content strategies:
- Mobile optimization – smart phones and tablets are among the hottest gadgets, and this trend is not expected to change anytime soon. Consumers and businesses alike are going mobile and looking to conduct e-commerce through these devices. This means that your content marketing should include a mobile strategy so that key information is presented on the smaller screens, or can easily be accessed with a touch of a link. Your mobile content would need to be tuned to attract the attention of your target audience in brief, short bursts. Then provoke your reader to click for more information or to place an order.
- Leveraging social media – in a recent HubSpot article the Thanksgiving-week visitors to e-commerce sites from social media sites increased 50% from 2012 to 2013. There is little doubt that social media is a powerful marketing tool, and with the right content strategy including thorough search engine optimization (SEO) businesses can take full advantage of the opportunity. The need to use a solid SEO strategy is even greater when content is shared across multiple online channels such as social media, email, trade forums and your e-commerce web site.
- Avoiding cart abandonment – nothing can kill a conversion rate faster than an abandoned online shopping cart. Smart ecommerce marketers should make sure they determine the root causes for abandonment rates. Could content be the problem? Was there a lack of content, or was it misleading in some way? Detecting shopping cart abandonment is one step, but determining the cause requires some more thorough review and possibly follow up with the visitor. Explore the root cause starting with your content.
There are numerous opportunities to refine your e-commerce marketing strategies. Your business may need greater lead generation capabilities, better market penetration, or more efficient processing tools. In all of these cases content marketing plays a crucial role. By focusing on key content marketing priorities such as mobile marketing, social media and reducing cart abandonment, your business can realize tangible improvements in your online business.
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