Improving your content marketing strategy

In 2020, £15.6 billion was spent on advertising in the UK alone. 62% of this was spent on digital marketing. As we enter a completely digital age, businesses see the advantage of advertising that wasn't really possible before.

If you have an online store, you might think that all you need to focus on is an easy to navigate website, informative listings and a clear, uncomplicated checkout.

One aspect of digital marketing that has shown great benefit for retail businesses is content marketing. Digital advertising can include many different forms and can be especially useful for retail businesses.

Content marketing requires you to pay attention to the details included on your website and what information you are sharing with visitors and customers.

Why do retailers need content marketing?

With new content marketing sources cropping up every day, content marketing is a wide universe.

Unlike traditional marketing, which strives to boost foot traffic and sales, content marketing engages people by delivering knowledge or amusement.

Although content marketing doesn't directly affect sales like traditional paid marketing, it can help build consumer loyalty, trust and establish your business as an authority in its sector.

If you want to create a good content marketing strategy for your retail business, this post has some great ideas to get you started.

Know your audience

The first step in content marketing is to identify your target audience. A content marketing strategy for an enterprise retailer will be very different from that of a mom-and-pop business or even an eCommerce-only retailer.

The most effective way to gain a clear understanding of who your customers are is to employ analytics software, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, to analyse data from your customers' transactions.

Consider both demographic factors such as age and economic level, in addition to information about past shopping history, while making this decision.

If you can identify the existing audience for your brand, it will be easier for you to determine whether or not you are genuinely appealing to the people you desire.

Create a blog

Starting a blog as a retailer may seem difficult at first, but you don't have to be overly ambitious: just one article each week is sufficient to get things going in the right direction.

As an alternative to marketing items and sales-driven campaigns, your blog should provide educational content tailored to your readers' specific requirements and desires.

One effective strategy is to generate "evergreen" content, which remains relevant regardless of how much time has gone. "How to" blogs, checklists, and the ever-popular "Top 10" lists are all examples of evergreen content that are popular among readers.

To niche it down even more, you should focus on content that supports what you do and what you sell—your company ethics and values and the who and what behind your store.

Utilise SEO for your website and images

SEO is one of the most important factors to consider when improving the quality of your content marketing strategy.

It’s important to remember that the more times your articles appear in Google, the more times your content will be shown to your target audience. You can use SEO to improve the quality of your website and articles by including relevant keywords and tags in your content.

You should also use SEO to optimise your images. It is just as important to optimise your website images for SEO as it is to optimize your website, as it can improve the user experience for the visually impaired and draw a broader audience to your business. 

You can use the alt attribute when you upload images to help readers find the pictures while browsing Google. You should never forget to tag your images with relevant keywords and make your images as descriptive as possible.

Set your strategy and budget

It takes time and money to produce high-quality material consistently, so one of the first considerations you'll have to make is how you'll go about approaching this challenge.

How often can you realistically share material across several platforms? Working with freelance editors or putting together an in-house content team is a better option for you. And how much of your marketing budget should be devoted to content marketing, specifically?

These questions will be answered differently depending on the size of your retailer and a variety of other circumstances. Still, it's a good idea to start small and gradually increase your efforts over time, both in terms of time and money.

You can easily plan and organise your marketing plans and campaigns with a pre-made marketing calendar.

Identify your keywords

A good content marketing strategy relies heavily on identifying keywords relating to your niche. Spend time assessing what you currently rank for, how this applies to our brand and website and what you want to be ranking for.

While different components go into a successful content marketing strategy, focusing on the right keywords is vital. You can use a keyword research service to help you identify the best keywords for your rank for giving you a better idea of how to incorporate these into your marketing campaign for better results.

For example, if you sell organic baby clothing, you want to find out what it is that people who are interested in buying are searching for, what matters to them and what keywords are they using to find businesses and retailers similar to you.

Be consistent

When creating your content, you need to make sure you can share it across multiple digital mediums. This includes social media. The content you put out on your website should be reinforced by your social media postings and your email campaigns.

The messaging should be the same all over, and your content should be repurposed in different ways to appeal to your audience possibly.

So when creating compelling blog posts, think about how you can fit them into your current social media activities for a more consistent and unified approach that will not only be informative for customers and followers but help to support your branding too.

The founder of Channel V Media advises on content marketing strategy: "Consistency is key when it comes to improving your content marketing strategy. Ensure your messaging remains cohesive across various digital platforms, supported by effective content strategy services. Repurpose content creatively to engage your audience across different channels, reinforcing your brand identity and maximising impact."

You should be aware that while you should be consistent in the branding and posting schedules you choose, you should avoid reposting the same content repeatedly.

If you share the same blog post frequently, change the content you use to share it, so it doesn't become boring or stale. Mix it up with other types of posts, such as customer reviews, images, behind-the-scenes videos, etc.

Use influencers

The fact is that influencers play a significant role in today's marketing scene, and businesses are eager to capitalise on the popularity of these personalities by partnering with them to promote their products.

However, spending thousands of dollars to secure an influencer's endorsement is just out of the question for many businesses. But that's not to say you still can't pursue this angle.

Focus on the influencers in your niche and have shown an interest in similar products yours, so you know they have a relevant audience. Plus, once they have created content, you can use it to reinforce your own content marketing by agreeing with influencers regarding cross-promotion. 

Ultimately, many aspects make up a good content marketing strategy, and content marketing is part of this. But focusing on getting it right can enable you to improve your results.