Before the world realized that the Internet could be used as a tool for advertising, it was all just about content.

Traffic to any website was driven by content.

This still holds true until today—you just have to contend with a lot of clutter. And this ultimately means that content is even more relevant than ever. And when done well, more effective than before. This is precisely why businesses are beginning to focus on content marketing.

Great content will drive traffic to your site, attract leads, be shared on social media, generate referrals and backlinks. Basically, it’s something that will keep working for your site, long after you’ve already finished doing all the work to produce it.

Take a look at our top content marketing tips that should guide your eCommerce strategy:

When it comes to writing headlines…

1. Don’t be afraid to use “power words.” Power words are words specifically used to evoke emotion and trigger feelings. Be careful though of overdoing it. Find the right balance between writing informative, useful content and using power words or your article will come off spammy and unprofessional.
2. Try not to give everything away in your headline. The headline should pique your visitor’s interest—enough to entice your visitors to read more. Your goal is to capture the reader’s interest and still drum up enough curiosity in your audience so they continue reading and engaging with your content. It should be simple and always reflect the actual content in your post.
3. Go beyond your reader’s expectations. If you promise something in your headline, be sure that you actually deliver—and more. When you go above and beyond their expectations, readers are more likely to come back—simply because they recognize the value in your work.

When it comes to content…

4. Trust your content. There’s no formula for writing viral content. But if your article is worth its salt—if you’ve written an informative, entertaining and engaging piece, then it should gain traction by itself.
5. Give your content a little boost. While great content will basically share itself, you can always speed things along by adding a promo at the end or by offering a discount coupon. Whenever possible, you can also run promotional ads to give your posts more visibility. Do what you can to build visibility for your posts.
6. Latch on to relevant content to take advantage of the traffic. A key thing to remember here, however, is that the trending topics you choose must be relevant to your business and your target audience. Don’t just latch on to a topic because everyone is talking about it. You have to make sure that it ties neatly back into your product or service, otherwise, you run the risk of being considered an unreliable content source.
7. The length of your copy will depend on your audience. Generally, audiences have short attention spans and will prefer to read short, concise copy. But lengthier content also has its advantages. Choosing between short and long form copy will depend on what your audience wants and the only way to check this is by gaining insight into their expectations and needs. Your best bet is to format your material so that you cater to your audience’s attention spans. While you may have a long-form copy, if you format it in such a way that people are able to comfortably skim and take in information in small, bite-sized pieces, you should be able to engage your readers.
8. Incorporate visuals into your content. Not so much that it overwhelms the content, but just enough so that it manages to break the monotony of the piece while reading it.

When it comes to managing content…

9. Create a content calendar. This ensures that you take a more organized, strategic approach to producing and publishing content. This is a really great way to lay out your entire editorial plan and ensure that you don’t publish or write doubles.
10. Make use of content marketing tools that are available today. Everything from content creation to curation, publishing to distribution can be supported by tools available online.
11. If the prospect of producing content seems overwhelming, consider outsourcing it. A lot of e-commerce businesses tap into companies whose expertise is in learning about your audience and the kind of content that will resonate with them so they can produce regular content for you.
12. Consider repurposing content and inviting guest bloggers to write on your blog to supplement original content that you produce.

These 12 tips are simple and easily implementable. Try it and see for yourself how quickly they can work for you. We’d also love to hear more about how well it works for you, when you do so leave a comment below.

And if you need help producing and managing content for your site, get in touch with us today.