Content Marketing Tips for Retailers

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The quality and relevance of the content of a retailers’ web pages can mean the difference between a sale and a bounce. One of the main reasons that people use the internet is to get information about something.

Content, which is the information part of a website, is one of the ‘trade-offs’ that is used by retailers to attract customers to their sites. If it’s good, the customers may make a purchases and visit the site again.

The value of good content

According to Drew Hubbard, writing in iMedia, content will only deliver value to a brand if it delivers value to the consumer and consumers are not ignorant of bias when it comes to content.

Drew suggests that consumers want information that is presented in an objective manner and based on documented facts – not a brand’s contorted version of those facts. The best marketers do their research and cite their sources.

Answering the customers questions

The content of a retailer’s website should anticipate the questions that his/her potential customers will ask. The content should guide the reader to the answer the questions that he or she is seeking as concisely and clearly as possible.

To anticipate the answers that the customers require, retailers should think about the people they are communicating with. If retailers understand their audiences they will know what to write, how much to write, and what vocabulary to use.

Sometimes, writing less is better than more

A great tip from Janice Redish is that you should remember that you are having a conversation with real people. Those people bring all of their previous experience and knowledge – and also their lack of experience and knowledge – to understanding what you are writing.

Also, people surfing the web want to get to the answers they seek as quickly as possible therefore retailers need to avoid articles that contain unnecessary information that may cause the readers to lose interest and bounce the page.

Non-stop.net lists the following advantages of writing short blogs.

• They’re easy to outsource
• Readers can finish them quickly
• They take less time to write
• They are cheaper, therefore you can buy more of them
• You can devote an entire post to one keyword for better SEO
• You have more to share on social media and your website

Other times, writing more is better than less

Long-form blogs are usually upwards of 1000 words and typically focus on more in-depth topics. Indeed, long form evergreen articles can give you that edge over your competition who focuses strictly on short form content, says Neil Patel:

• The majority of blog posts published are 500 words or shorter. You can stand out in the noise by putting an extra 1500 words worth of work.
• Longer articles generate business leads for a longer time frame. This is because they attract back-links and organic traffic from Google timelessly, organically making it evergreen content.
• You’re perceived as an authority in your industry. Your audience appreciates comprehensive posts that delve into intricacies of their pain points. They won’t need to jump on 10 different websites to get the same information.
• Long form is sustainable. You can launch a marketing campaign solely by re-purposing these epic content pieces.

Concluding

It’s your decision to create short or long content. However, what is most critical is to create content that matters…

A Marketing Plan helps you to communicate the right content to the right audience.

We offer Web Writing services can help you to create content for your site.

Read more: Content Marketing – Stories that Add Value to Your Target Audience

Note

Redish, J.G., 2007. Letting go of the words: Writing web content that works. Morgan Kaufmann.

Image: Flickr