7 Ecommerce Companies That Are Using Content Marketing to Take on Amazon. You can use content marketing to: Target and attract a very specific audience with the type of content you publish Build and cultivate a community Inform, entertain, and delight potential customers Involve your customers in your company and give them ownership in your brand Expand your SEO footprint Let’s look at 7 online retailers who are using content marketing to the fullest to compete against the Amazon and other mega-retailers. They stick to their niche and use content to grow a huge community of outdoor enthusiasts, bring them to their site, and keep them coming back. Lessons to learn from REI: Focus on your customer, not your product(s) Use your niche to build authority with a certain audience Use search as a driver for connecting with your audience Connect your content to something bigger than selling stuff–make it about identity and lifestyle #2: Herschel Supply This premium brand knows that people buy their products not because they’re the cheapest or the easiest to find, but because of what they represent. Their customers don’t buy other brands or shop around for a better deal, because no one else offers the entire experience and lifestyle that Herschel is selling. Lessons to learn from Herschel Supply: Focus on brand, lifestyle, and experience as differentiators Use content to deliver value beyond just your products or services Reinforce your core brand identity #3: Betabrand Betabrand offers a one-of-a-kind online shopping experience because they collaborate directly with their customers and aspiring clothing designers all over the world to create their products. You may be thinking that Betabrand doesn’t have to compete with Amazon because they are selling unique products thought up by their community. Each of these sites has built up a massive footprint within a targeted niche piece of the online shopping world. Lessons to learn from Scarves.com and Ties.com: Targeted niches can be a powerful way to compete Providing simple, informational content can attract the right buyers at the right time Never apologize for focusing your energy on a single vertical or market #7: One Kings Lane Once again, we see that a retailer can offer content that Amazon simply doesn’t have as a way to differentiate themselves. Not only will they help support your business, but they’ll be less likely to shop around or buy from a competitor because they feel connected to you and your brand.
Ecommerce can be a brutal space.
Depending on your niche, you might be competing against monsters like Amazon, Target, New Egg, or other well-established players. You might be competing against all of them. It can seem like it’s impossible to win.
Even if you have a great product or a fantastic brand, you don’t have the budget or the name recognition to muscle out these giant retailers.
As a ecommerce store owner, you probably feel that pain every day.
But one secret weapon that many ecommerce retailers are using to win the David vs Goliath battle is content marketing. It’s an extremely effective way to carve out a niche and build a following of loyal customers.
Done well, it can turn your struggling store into an online powerhouse.
The Power of Content
Content marketing is something that spans almost every industry, including both B2B and B2C companies. At it’s core, it’s built on a simple idea. If most companies drive business through advertising on pages of magazines and newspapers, what if the company just published their own content and then had free reign to advertise their products without the pricetag or the competition of buying ads? Why rent attention when you can buy it?
With time, content marketing has become more sophisticated and strategic than simply publishing articles slathered in product ads. But the central reasons why content marketing is effective have remained largely unchanged.
Content marketing–unlike ads, sponsorships, and other forms of traditional marketing–give you a few huge advantages that work well for ecommerce brands.
You can use content marketing to:
- Target and attract a very specific audience with the type of content you publish
- Build and cultivate a community
- Inform, entertain, and delight potential customers
- Involve your customers in your company and give them ownership in your brand
- Expand your SEO footprint
Let’s look at 7 online retailers who are using content marketing to the fullest to compete against the Amazon and other mega-retailers.
#1: REI
REI is one of the largest and most successful retailers in the world. Their name has become nearly synonymous with outdoor gear and lifestyle. Even so, on the internet, they are the underdog.
Many of the products they sell can also be found on sites like Amazon and they have a smaller digital footprint. So, how do they stay relevant online?
They stick to their niche and use content to grow a huge community of outdoor enthusiasts, bring them to their site, and keep them coming back.
Their site includes a massive collection of articles related to almost any outdoor activity you can imagine–camping, hiking, canoeing, bicycling, snowboarding, and many more. If you want to learn about how to do something outside, you can find the answer on the REI website.
While they are obviously a company that is interested in selling goods, their strategy is to provide value first–to create content that attracts the right people. And then to worry about selling. But it’s secondary, not the primary focus on their content.
On social media, they’re taking a content-first approach, building trust and community with their fans rather than hocking products in every post.
Check out this unique spin they put on a Valentine’s Day post, complete with massive engagement and participation:
Source: REI on Facebook
This points to one of the most important ways to use content marketing, which is to cultivate a community. The more trust and connection that you have with your customers, the more likely they are to want to buy from you rather than shopping around for a better deal.
People value relationships and they can influence purchasing behavior in a big way.
Lessons to learn from REI:
- Focus on your customer, not your product(s)
- Use your niche to build authority with a certain audience
- Use search as a driver for connecting with your audience
- Connect your content to something bigger than selling stuff–make it about identity and lifestyle
#2: Herschel Supply
This premium brand knows that people buy their products not because they’re the cheapest or the easiest to find, but because of what they represent.
Aesthetics, looks, and feelings matter. They transform customers into advocates–they’re the reason people buy the same shoes from Nike for twice as much as the knock-offs. Because they have transcended selling products and services and now sell an idea or a concept.
This is called branding. And Herschel Supply has mastered it.
Source: HerschelSupply.com
They use their content as a way to transport soon-to-be buyers to a life of leisurely travel and sophistication. They align these values with the products they sell it becomes part of the experience.
Their customers don’t buy other brands or shop around for a better deal, because no one else offers the entire experience and lifestyle that Herschel is selling. And that’s the main reason why they’re able to fend off Amazon and carve out their own piece of the market.
Lessons to learn from Herschel Supply:
- Focus on brand, lifestyle, and experience as differentiators
- Use content to deliver value beyond just your products or services
- Reinforce your core brand identity
#3: Betabrand
Betabrand offers a one-of-a-kind online shopping experience because they collaborate directly with their customers and aspiring clothing designers all over the world to create their products.
Source: Betabrand.com
This is a novel business model, to be sure. But it’s also a great way at using content to cultivate a community–in this case, user-generated content.
Source: Betabrand.com
Users can submit designs for new products and then the community votes on which ones they like. It’s a huge boon to Betabrand and also involves the customers in the direction of the company–ensuring that they create products that their customers will end up buying.
And, guess what most of these designers do after they submit an idea for consideration? They share it like crazy with their friends, of course–they want to win! So, that content becomes…
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