Many e-commerce businesses have started heavily investing in content marketing for some time. That is great news, as it shows that business owners are willing to place their trust in this marketing strategy. After all, it’s a smart move that attracts more clients and increases user retention.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that there are still eCommerce businesses that are new to the game.
That means they are just starting to layout their content marketing strategies.
While we’re more than happy to see that, we can’t overlook how easy it is to make mistakes when you are just starting out. It’s especially true if you don’t have much experience in the field. Even those who know about content marketing can still fall for common traps.
Don’t get us wrong. Content marketing is an excellent strategy. It’s just that making even the tiniest mistake can cost you a lot of time and money. Not to mention the customer dissatisfaction and the hit your brand’s image might take if something goes wrong.
For instance, you might make the mistake of using the wrong message and, thus, attract the wrong leads. While traffic and interest in your brand are a welcomed sight, they’re useless if you can’t act on them. Moreover, you might even use the kind of message that inadvertently offends and alienates your customers.
If this is something you want to avoid, we’re more than happy to help you out. Here are four crucial content marketing mistakes all eCommerce businesses must avoid:
Taking Too Much Liberty with the Competition’s Content
Sure, watching what your competition is doing with their content marketing strategy is an excellent idea. However, you should only take a few notes and pointers. You should in no way copy the content they use.
First of all, it harms the credibility of all eCommerce businesses that do this when everything comes to light. And that will happen since Google will probably flag you for duplicate content. In that case, they might even remove your website from the search results.
Secondly, copying content will pretty much just be an empty investment. It might not require much time and effort, but every little bit counts. And when your page doesn’t show up in the search results because it’s duplicate content, it will really start to sting.
In this case, it’s always a good idea to have a content writer or a copywriter at your disposal. Naturally, hiring one means creating a new position within your business. Plus, finding someone reliable can be a hassle. That’s why it’s a better idea to just work with a content marketing agency instead. The pricing is decent and flexible, and the results are well worth the money.
Relying on a Generic Tone and Style
Yes, we understand eCommerce businesses who are just getting started on their content marketing don’t want to take risks. That’s why they decide to play it safe and just stick to a generic, bland tone and writing style. Hey, it might not be much, but at least it’s stable, right?
Well, not really. The problem, in that case, is that your business won’t stand out at all. Sure, you might offer different products and deals than the competition. But one of the main things that will grab your clients’ attention is the writing.
After all, don’t we all scan the headlines and bulleted lists when we come across a landing page or a product offer? Of course, the rest of the content matters as well, but those are the most important aspects that get our attention.
If you take that into consideration, you can see why it’s so important to use a style and tone that are personalized to match your business. Basically, your business will now have a voice. And customers are more willing to listen if your content sounds more friendly, personal, and familiar in their head.
Reusing Content That Hasn’t Worked before
Even eCommerce businesses who are new to content marketing are already thinking about ways to repurpose content in the future. To be fair, it does sound like the ideal strategy with never-ending potential.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work if you just use old content that didn’t make an impact on your clients. It’s even worse if you don’t take the time to at least change the content in some way.
Actually, as a general rule of thumb, you should never post content that is boring, generic, and useless for your readers. You want them to feel like they are learning something new from your business. It should be something that will preferably improve the quality of their lives.
Never choose quantity over quality. And the same goes for the repurposing process. If you don’t make any changes, you can rest assured your readers will notice. And they won’t like it one bit.
That’s because they’ll get the idea that you are lazy. Now, we’re not saying that you are, but that’s the impression something like this will leave on your clients.
One great piece of advice is to look over the old content again, make any necessary modifications, and even change the format. Don’t forget that content comes in many shapes and sizes. Instead of the original article, why not present the content in an infographic? Better yet, make a video about it.
Forgetting They Need to Write for the Search Engines as Well
By all means, it’s important to center your content around your readers. That’s how you get their attention. The more tailored it is to their needs, the better the response rate. However, many eCommerce businesses seem to forget one important aspect. It’s that search engines also matter.
Yes, writing targeted content is a smart move, but how is that going to help you if nobody will see it? That’s why it’s so important to use keywords that are relevant to your industry. Without them, you can’t expect your target audience to find your content online. They might come across it from time to time, but it won’t be a decent return on investment.
Long-tail keywords work best, as they often don’t have high competition. They might be hard to integrate, but if you work with professional content creation agencies, that shouldn’t be an issue. Some of them might even offer reliable SEO research services to help you find your keywords.
By Avoiding These Mistakes, e-commerce Businesses Can Make It Big in 2016
Content marketing can help you get ahead in the eCommerce industry. And now that you’ve learned what mistakes to avoid this year, you will have that extra boost you needed. Just be sure to take your time when planning what content you will use, and how often you will use it. Make sure it perfectly aligns with what your target audience expects from you.
Oh, and one last small mistake you should know about. Don’t make all the descriptions of your products sound the same. Change them up a bit, and add a personal tone. Your clients will love it, and it will show when the sales report comes in.
For extra tips and other eCommerce mistakes that your business should avoid, feel free to contact us or leave your thoughts in the comment section.
Content marketing is a killer user acquisition tactic for e-commerce, indeed.
Don’t miss out on the latest updates!
Thanks for knowing us about these mistakes. I will keep this in mind while using content marketing.