How using a blog for marketing can benefit ecommerce

Have you ever wondered whether using a blog to market your ecommerce business could be an effective strategy? 

Attracting new customers is a priority for every ecommerce business. Because potential buyers often go online to search for information or learn more about particular product options, blogging has become one of the most effective marketing tools a company can utilize. 

In fact, 59% of buyers surveyed by Google said they research a product before making an online purchase.

This post will discuss the many advantages of blogging as a marketing strategy and how you can get started by creating interesting and relevant content that brings traffic to your site and customers to your door.

Let’s dig in.

How are blogs used for marketing?

While blogging is not a quick fix for your marketing challenges, it is a long-lasting and highly effective strategy. 

Marketers who use blogging as part of their strategy are 13x more likely to see a positive return on investment (ROI) than marketers who don’t include blogging in their marketing.

Blogging, especially when used as part of your marketing strategy, can:

• Help drive traffic and new leads to your website, 
• Be re-purposed as content for your social media
• Build trust with potential customers 
• Convert website traffic into leads
• Build backlinks to your website to improve your search engine ranking
• Promote your company’s products and services.

Your business blog can also be an excellent anchor for the other online marketing channels you are utilizing. Blogging is an important foundational tool for your social media marketing, email marketing, and inbound marketing. A blog provides a steady stream of content and traffic you can use over and over again to benefit your ecommerce business for years to come.

What is the importance of blog marketing for my ecommerce business?

Blog marketing can be crucial for your ecommerce store.

One of the key benefits of blogging is that it helps your ecommerce site rank for relevant keywords. When your website ranks for search terms most relevant to your products, it makes it easier for your customers to find you. 

Another benefit is that a blog can give you the opportunity to answer important questions for your customers and potential buyers as they seek information about an upcoming purchase.

Blog marketing works. Businesses that incorporate blogs in their marketing efforts are incredibly successful in generating new leads. Ecommerce marketers who blog generate, on average, 67% more leads than marketers who don’t blog. That’s money no ecommerce business wants to leave on the table.

Is blogging a good marketing strategy?

Blogging is an excellent marketing strategy because it helps entice new buyers, increases loyalty with existing customers, and establishes an engaged online community.

It can help you to differentiate yourself from your competitors. When you are fighting to stand out, a blog can help communicate your brand voice and personality. This will help make your ecommerce business unique and memorable, and help you  stay top of mind for your buyers and potential customers.

Blogging can also help you establish social proof with your potential customers and establish your ecommerce business as the authority in your niche..

According to BuzzSumo, long-form content gets more shares from people. If your content is 3,000 to 10,000 words long, the average share is 8,859 times on Facebook.

One key benefit to note is that content that includes data is 73% more persuasive than content without it. Readers want blogs that provide real value. Including research in blog posts helps attract more readers and establishes your eCommerce business as an authority. This strategy can result in additional backlinks to your site.

Here’s another tip: According to Backlinko, long-form content gets an average of 77.2% more backlinks than shorter articles.

Whether you’re a start-up or a big corporation, a blog can provide your business with a highly effective and cost-effective method of producing and engaging content that can be shared across your various social media platforms, and delivering an ongoing stream of traffic directly to your website.

Another benefit is that your content stays relevant for months or even years, continually bringing in new visitors to your site without any further work required from you.

Additionally, updating or improving old content can also give you social media and SEO benefits.

How can blogs drive more traffic to my website?

Blogs can drive more traffic to your ecommerce store in a variety of ways.

First and foremost, a blog allows your ecommerce business to promote your new, featured, and most popular products. You can also feature products that have dropped in sales to give them a boost. 

The most effective content marketers effectively place products within engaging, useful, and informative posts. These blog posts drive sales, give customers more reasons to stay on your site longer, and keep coming back for more.

Another key benefit of blogging is that it allows you to boost your SEO by providing you with a platform to build both internal and external links within and from your website. Linking to higher ranking non-competitor websites and linking back to your products on your ecommerce site helps to increase your website authority and improve your ranking on Google.

Some ways in which blogs drive traffic to your ecommerce store include:

• Driving customers from your social media pages to your site
• Directing customers to specific items in your store
• Increasing your “findability factor” for search terms related to your product
• Improving your website’s Google, and other search engines, ranking
• Providing answers to potential buyers who are seeking information
• Reacting to news or changes within your industry or niche

How can a blog get me real customers and not just traffic?

Once your blog begins to drive traffic to your website, you’ll have numerous opportunities to convert that traffic into actual customers.

Each post offers your ecommerce business an opportunity to generate new leads. 

How does it work?  

• First, a visitor comes to your ecommerce website because of content on your blog that interests them
• Next, the visitor sees your call-to-action for a free offer or discount
• Then, the visitor clicks on your call-to-action (CTA) and is redirected to your landing page
• Next, once on the landing page, the visitor fills out a form with their name, email, and other information
• Last, the visitor submits the form and receives your free offer

The CTA is one of the most effective strategies for turning web traffic into customers. Because of this, you will want to add a lead-generating CTA to every post. A CTA should be relevant to the content of your blog post and ask the reader to do something or provide a special offer.

Your CTA draws your customers in by offering goodies such as:

• Free eBooks 
• White papers
• Infographics 
• Webinars 
• Free trials 
• Special discount codes or limited time offers on your products or services  
• Any other content assets you can utilize to entice customers onto your email list

The CTA is your secret weapon to help separate the casual reader from the interested buyer. In addition, the content or offers you use for your CTA gives your ecommerce business even more opportunities to build relationships with your customers and potential buyers.

Effective CTAs provide your blog’s readers with something of value (information or deals) that is highly enticing and difficult for them to pass up.

One effective strategy is offering a free download of more in-depth content or information your audience seeks on a specific topic. For example, in this SkuVault Core post about Top Marketing Strategies 3PL Businesses Can Use to Reach More Customers and Grow, the CTA offers a free eBook download entitled, Warehouse Management Software: Must-Haves for Your 3PL Business to Grow.

Are blog posts considered content marketing?

Blogging is considered an essential part of your content marketing strategy. 

Other types of content marketing include:

• Videos
• Podcasting
• Social media posts
• Infographics
• Email newsletters
• Quizzes/tools
• Checklists
• Courses
• Webinars
• Ebooks
• Whitepapers
• Slideshare presentations
• Slide decks

When you create content for your customers in different forms and across different media, you optimize your business’s chances of connecting with customers at the time they’re ready to buy. 

This puts your company top of mind so that you’re the first option they think of when they’re ready to finally make a purchase.

If your ecommerce site sells sound equipment, you might do a blog post on the best podcasting microphones, comparing a number of different products available in your ecommerce store. In this example, the site is comparing a variety of microphones ideal for podcasting, listing the pros and cons of each one, and providing links for purchase.

It’s easy to see how a visitor searching for information online would end up on the website, peruse the available options and make a purchase.

But what if your ecommerce business took things a step further, and offered a free downloadable eBook about how to set up a home podcasting studio as your CTA? Your visitor might also click to download the eBook and give you their contact information. Now you’re able to add them to your email database!

Next, you might share that blog post across all your social media channels, driving more traffic to the post, and more sales to your business. 

Finally, the content you provided might be so valuable that other business blogs, such as this one, would link to your site helping to improve your website’s SEO.

See how that works?

Your business’s content marketing efforts will:

• Drive traffic to your key landing and product pages 
• Help to create awareness of your brand and increase recognition
• Build and solidify relationships with your customers and potential buyers
• Drive revenue for your ecommerce business, and 
• Generate social share and backlinks for your ecommerce website

How do blogs use advertising?

Most ecommerce blogs use advertising to drive traffic to their blogs utilizing particularly popular or “sticky” blog posts or by advertising their content magnets, the same free giveaways you’ll drive your readers to in your CTAs.

Is blogging good for advertising?

Blogging is probably the most effective, cost-efficient advertising you can do for your online business.  But unlike traditional advertising, blog posts continue to drive traffic for weeks, months, or even years after publication.

According to Hubspot, about 90% of the leads they generate every month come from blog posts published in previous months or even years.

What are 3 great strategies for promoting your blog?

There are several ways to promote your ecommerce business blog, starting with creating excellent content that provides value for customers.

Some of the most impactful strategies for promoting your blog include:

• Do effective keyword research 

  Some of the greatest opportunities for your eCommerce blog will come from answering the questions that your potential customers are searching for. While you don’t want to “stuff” your keywords (repeating them over and over again), you do want to make sure to include them in your headlines and subheadings. Some popular keyword tools you might consider include SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Moz Keyword Explorer.

• Guest blog on other popular blogs

  Once you’ve established yourself as an authority in your field, offer to write posts for other blogs. This will increase your reach and bring new readers and customers back to your site, where you can convert them into customers.

• Promote your latest blog to your email list
  This has two advantages.  First, you’re solidifying the relationship with your existing customers, but you’re also returning them to your site where they can purchase more goods and services from you.

Final Thoughts

Blog marketing can be an inexpensive and highly effective marketing tool that will drive targeted traffic to your eCommerce website and encourage customers to hit that “buy” button.