Content Marketing Advice & Strategies for Dropshipping Stores

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, where consumers are bombarded with endless streams of information, how can an online store using a dropshipping business model stand differentiate itself from  competitors and truly engage its audience?

Content marketing has emerged as a key strategy that can help you beat your competition, improve your search engine ranking, establish authority, build trust and credibility, and eventually drive traffic and online sales. Adopting a carefully crafted and well-thought-out content marketing strategy for dropshipping can give you the edge you need to be successful. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss some effective strategies for content marketing for dropshipping stores. We’ll highlight which content marketing strategies you should implement in your dropshipping store to increase website traffic, generate leads, improve conversions, and boost sales. But before we proceed, let’s understand how content marketing can benefit dropshipping businesses.  

What is content marketing?

As defined by the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience - and, ultimately to drive profitable customer action.” Content marketing has become an essential strategy for ecommerce businesses looking to attract and retain customers, enabling businesses to reach their target audience effectively by providing helpful information tailored specifically for them. 

Your potential customers expect relevant and valuable content that feels natural, rather than sales-focused. Regardless of the products you sell, providing valuable and relevant information is non-negotiable for any niche market. Content marketing reaches consumers throughout their buying journey, helping ecommerce entrepreneurs to engage potential customers, encouraging them to make a purchase and develop loyal customers afterwards. Good content needs to resonate with your target audience by addressing their needs and showing them how your products can be the solution to their problems, thereby driving sales and brand loyalty.

How does content marketing benefit dropshipping stores

In today’s digital world, content is the backbone of all marketing efforts and is woven into every aspect of your marketing strategy. High-quality and relevant content attracts and engages your target audience and builds trust and credibility, driving your brand’s messaging forward. 

Content marketing has been around for over 300 years. It’s one of the oldest forms of promotion and can help foster trust and establish a permanent space in your potential customers’ minds. 

Let’s explore why you should implement content marketing in your dropshipping business strategy.

Benefits of content marketing strategy for dropshipping stores

The following are some of the benefits of developing a content marketing strategy for your dropshipping business.

Boosts search visibility and drives organic traffic

Relevant and high-quality content is favoured by search engines and can help drive organic traffic to your website. But, do you think good quality content is just about copy? Good content is about combining a solid SEO strategy with unique and engaging content that provides value to your target audience, answers the right questions, and keeps them on your site for long periods. 

As a dropshipping store owner, you should prioritise producing content that effectively targets specific markets and uses specific, targeted keywords. Having SEO-friendly content on your site will help your dropshipping business climb up those search engine results pages (SERPs), driving 55 per cent more traffic than your competitors.

Builds brand awareness and trust

Brand awareness is one of the most important aspects of running a dropshipping store. It directly impacts how many customers your business acquires. Even after building brand awareness, if customers don’t trust your brand, your dropshipping business will ultimately fail. 

Content marketing is a surefire way to increase brand recognition and foster trust, ensuring your business stays top-of-mind when they start searching for a product in your niche. It helps businesses stand out from the competition and attracts potential customers.

By consistently creating and distributing quality and valuable content pertaining to the ICP’s (Ideal Customer Profile) interests, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche and build trust with your target audience. Over time, it can result in more repeat purchases, positive reviews and referrals from satisfied customers, and brand recognition.

Generates more leads and increases conversions

What’s the point of driving more traffic to your site if it doesn’t generate leads and convert them into sales? A successful content marketing strategy can generate leads and improve conversion rates, resulting in increased revenue. According to the Aberdeen Strategy and Research Group, brands utilising content marketing have six times higher conversion rates than other brands that don’t use content marketing.

As a dropshipper, you can provide your potential customers with valuable content and resources to help them make informed purchasing decisions. By creating content that addresses their pain points and provides a solution to their problems, you can help them move through the consideration stage of the sales funnel more quickly and effectively. You may not see results from utilising content marketing in your marketing strategy instantly, but it can be a driving force for boosting sales and revenue in the long run.

Develops meaningful relationships and retains customers

Developing positive relationships with your target audience can help retain customers and build brand loyalty. A well-crafted content strategy enables you to showcase the value proposition of your products, effectively appealing to the customer's emotions. Through your content, you can establish meaningful connections with your audience, provide value at every touchpoint, and solidify your position as a trusted partner. 

As an ecommerce business owner, you can provide content that’s focused on solving customers’ problems, engage them in meaningful conversations, and personalise your communication. This creates a space where your customers feel valued, understood, and appreciated, which fosters loyalty and encourages them to become passionate advocates for your brand.

Increases customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Customer lifetime value is a metric that estimates how much a customer is worth to your business over time, considering their purchase frequency, average order value, retention rate, and cost of acquisition. It helps you gauge customer profitability and loyalty, guiding your decisions on investment in acquisition and retention. A well-developed content marketing strategy nurtures customers and positions you as a reliable brand, encouraging repeat purchases.

Your marketing efforts shouldn’t end once a new customer makes a purchase. You must continue engaging them with content to keep your brand top-of-mind for future purchases. Creating content tailored to customer segments and aligned with their journey will help you resonate more effectively with your target audience.

Businesses must create content that highlights their unique value proposition and differentiates them from their competitors, as it can encourage repeat purchases, upsells, cross-sells, referrals, and reviews. creating high-quality content will attract and convert customers and retain and delight them, thereby increasing their lifetime value for your business.

Lowers acquisition costs

High-quality content is the cornerstone of the content marketing strategy. Good content serves as a magnet that can effectively inform, educate, entertain, and engage your target audience. Ecommerce and dropshipping businesses can leverage content marketing to draw in prospective customers and nurture them until they’re ready to make a purchase. Furthermore, it has the potential to have a wide reach on search engines, which can substantially lower customer acquisition costs. Research shows that customer acquisition costs from content marketing are 15 per cent less than paid customer acquisition.

Creating an effective content marketing plan

Content marketing can be really effective at all stages of the customer journey - when done well. You’ll need a solid marketing strategy if you want to be successful. The State of Content Marketing report shows there’s a correlation between success and having a documented content marketing strategy.

Here’s how you can create a content strategy in 4 easy steps.

Understanding your stores audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for crafting a successful content marketing strategy. You need to understand who you are talking to and their pain points before you can develop content. Creating buyer personas can help you figure out the needs of your customers.

Your customers' needs can be emotive (desire or fear), social (FOMO or vanity), or logical (financial gain). Figuring out the needs of your customers can help you tailor your content, messaging, and tone to the specific needs, behaviours, and problems of your target audience. 

Google Analytics (GA4) can be useful in examining who your audience is, what percentage is male and female, what devices they are browsing on, what ages they are, what interests they have, and what sites they are looking at. This can help businesses create content tailored to the specific needs and problems of their customers.

Determining content marketing goals

Having clear business goals provides a roadmap for your content marketing tactics, ensuring all steps are aligned and purposeful. It enables you to set benchmarks to evaluate the success of your content strategy. Without having defined goals, it’s challenging to measure ROI and the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. 

You need to set content marketing goals that focus on your audience’s needs and behaviours. This can enable you to create relevant and targeted content, which can get more engagement and build stronger relationships with your audiences. Setting content marketing goals is essential for driving strategic, measurable, and impactful marketing strategies that align with your overall business objectives. You’ll be able to allocate your resources efficiently, ensuring optimal use of your marketing budget, as well as maintaining consistency and cohesion in your brand messaging.

Creating a content marketing calendar

A content marketing calendar is different from a digital marketing calendar. While a digital marketing calendar plans out all of your marketing strategies for the year, a content marketing calendar focuses solely on the content aspect of your marketing strategy. Creating a content marketing calendar can help businesses manage their content marketing strategies better. 

Content marketing helps businesses think more critically about their goals and resources. According to HubSpot, you should be writing one to four posts per week if you want to create brand awareness and three to five posts for improving search engine visibility. Whether you are creating content for brand awareness or improving search engine ranking, you can outline content types that align with your goals in advance in your content calendar. This also makes it easier to repurpose and convert content into social posts, emails, or even videos for different channels. 

Creating a content calendar enhances communication and collaboration among team members. It acts as a centralised platform, where everyone can work towards achieving the same goal. Additionally, it makes it easier to allocate your resources and time effectively and meet deadlines easily.

Executing, reviewing, and optimising

Executing, reviewing, and optimising your content marketing plan are the essential steps for your success. Execution brings the strategy to life, effectively engaging your audience and establishing your market positioning. Businesses must perform regular reviews to measure their content's performance and identify strengths and weaknesses, as it can provide actionable insights to improve.

Google Analytics can be used to measure your traffic performance. For YouTube, businesses can use YouTube Analytics to see how their videos are performing. Optimisation is also an essential step that helps enhance efficiency, improve results, and adapt the strategy to current trends. 

These steps create a loop for continuous improvement, ensuring your content marketing strategy remains dynamic, relevant, and effective in achieving growth and better ROI.

Different types of content marketing

Marketers use different types of content marketing strategies to connect with their audiences across different platforms. The type of content a business creates depends on the products they are selling. Here are some of the most preferred content formats that you can use for your business.

Blog posts

Blog posts and how-to articles are excellent written resources that brands use to promote their products, reveal industry trends, or highlight their expertise. Having blog posts on your ecommerce website that correspond with your products and its market attracts both new customers and existing customers looking for the answer your business solves. Blog posts not only educate and inform your target audience but also help drive traffic and improve search engine rankings. It’s a low-cost way to boost organic traffic.

To get the most value out of blogging, businesses should focus on just one topic per blog post. You can create a mix of short-form (500-1000 words), medium-form (1200-2000 words), and long-form (2000 words and above) blog posts. Ideally, long-form blog posts tend to perform better on search engines. When creating blogs for your website, make sure to write content that’s relevant to your prospective customers and target market and optimise your content for SEO by performing keyword research.

Guest posting has been a popular content creation technique for many years. 93 per cent of marketers consider guest posting effective for their businesses. It allows you to build relationships with other businesses and influencers. Through guest posting, you can reach new audiences, increase brand awareness, increase traffic to your ecommerce website, and establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

Videos

The demand for video content is increasing. A recent study shows that 91 per cent of consumers want to see more online videos from brands. Short and visually appealing video content gets a good level of customer engagement on social media channels. It effectively engages and entertains customers who don't enjoy reading.

Ecommerce businesses can leverage video marketing throughout all stages of the customer buying journey. Whether it’s on your website or social media platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, brands can communicate complex ideas and feelings with their audience in just a few minutes through their visually appealing video content.

Infographics

Infographics can be helpful when it comes to sharing instructions or highlighting product features in a visually appealing format. Businesses can create infographics for blogs, where they highlight important information in an easily digestible format. 

Infographics are helpful because they break down complex concepts and convert them into engaging visuals that are easy to read and share, making it easier to consume your brand’s content in just minutes. You can create infographics using online designing tools such as  Adobe Express. Use bright colours and appealingly present the information.

Email marketing

Email marketing continues to be a staple of businesses looking to connect with their target audience and grow. It helps to increase reach and visibility. Unlike social media channels where content can get lost in a newsfeed, email marketing campaigns go directly into the recipient's inbox, enabling them to engage with the content. Additionally, through email marketing, you can speak directly to your target audience on a one-to-one basis, which allows more personalised and targeted communication.

Ebooks and whitepapers

Ebooks and whitepapers are other popular forms of content marketing. Ecommerce brands can use ebooks and whitepapers to educate shoppers about their products and their features and address other issues such as sustainability. It can also be used for lead generation, where businesses can collect readers’ email addresses for lead nurturing. To get the most value out of these resources, make sure to include exclusive information that readers can’t get anywhere else and relevant content. When executed correctly, businesses can generate more leads and increase brand authority with ebooks and whitepapers.

Podcasts

Ecommerce and dropshipping brands can leverage podcasts to demonstrate their expertise and authenticity that resonates with their audiences. It’s a popular form of content marketing that can be used for showcasing your brand personality and bringing brand awareness to difficult-to-penetrate audiences and markets. For massive reach, you can apply podcast SEO best practices when sharing it with your audiences through podcast networks. Apart from using podcast networks to share your audio content, you can incorporate these episodes into your website and social media platforms. This allows you to reach both podcast-listening demographics and those who consume digital forms of traditional marketing.

Social media posts

Did you know that 40 per cent of consumers use social media channels to find new businesses and products? In fact, Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X prefer finding products on social media over any other channel. 71 per cent say it’s where they most often discover new products. This data suggests that social media is the present and future of online shopping. According to HubSpot’s State of Consumer Trends Report, 49 per cent of Gen Z consumers prefer to discover new products via Instagram stories. They rank Instagram as their favourite social media channel. In the second place, 41 per cent of Gen Z consumers discover new products through short-form Instagram Reels and TikTok videos. 

Social media plays a big role in the decision-making process. People spend a considerable amount of time scrolling through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Retailers should take advantage of this opportunity by creating social media posts that spark engagement and directly interact with customers. This can increase brand awareness, improve customer satisfaction, and increase social media followers for your brand.

Brands can also leverage social media ads and create paid ad campaigns. Publishing social media content without a strategy can be inefficient and lead to poor results. Developing a social media content strategy and tailoring it to align with the needs of your target audience can help you achieve great results. Creating high-quality content and delivering it through the right social media channels should be your priority.

Recommended distribution channels

As defined by HubSpot, content distribution channels are the channels through which you share and promote your content. The channels you use for distributing your content will vary depending on your audiences and resources. Most content distribution channels can be divided into three categories: owned, earned, and paid. Let’s look at how these channels can help improve your content marketing results.

Owned media channels 

As the name suggests, owned media channels are the channels that your ecommerce or dropshipping business owns. Your business holds authority over these channels, and you can control when and how your content is published on your owned channels. For instance, regular newsletters featuring special offers, new blog posts, or product updates.

Owned media channels are the simplest distribution channels that require fewer efforts. They are cost-efficient, however, these channels might take their own time to escalate.

Some examples of owned channels include:

• Your ecommerce website

• Social media channels 

• Email newsletter 

• Mobile app

• Podcast

• Lead magnets

• Landing pages

Earned media channels 

Earned media channels, also known as shared channels, involve third-party businesses or individuals sharing your free content. These third parties could be your customers, journalists, bloggers, or anyone who promotes your online content for free. 

Earned media channels are organic and unpaid avenues that an online store has to earn by generating loyalty or interest in your brand and demonstrating credibility. It can be a powerful way to reach new audiences and build your brand. However, it can be challenging to predict and control. 

Some examples of earned media channels include:

• Media coverage or press releases

• Interviews or Q&A on podcasts

• Social posts, shares, mentions, or links to your online content on other websites

• User-generated content, reviews, and customer testimonials 

• Guest articles

• Product reviews on other websites

Paid media channels 

Paid media channels can be an effective way to distribute your content. It can help you tap into a targeted audience and reach the consumers most likely interested. Generally, earned media channels dominate over paid media channels. This could be due to the paid media channels being expensive. However, they can provide a good return on investment when used strategically. 

Some examples of paid media channels include:

• Pay-per-click (PPC) ads or paid advertising

• Sponsored content 

• Paid social ads 

• Paid influencer marketing 

Creating content with best practice SEO

Content marketing works best when content and SEO go hand-in-hand. Businesses need to create high-quality content that not only educates and nurtures their audiences but also leverages SEO best practices to improve their online visibility. 

The following are some SEO best practices to help you create high-quality content that brings desired results: 

1. Conduct audience research, keyword analysis, and market research. Once you’ve identified your target audience, performing keyword research can help reveal SEO opportunities and identify which terms you should target. Using a keyword research tool can make the process easier. 

2. Create high-quality content relevant to your brand and target audience and include keywords that search engines can easily interpret. 

3. Publish and distribute new content consistently to maximise your returns from SEO. According to a content marketing survey conducted by Semrush, more than half of respondents said posting more content helped them boost their rankings.

4. Add backlinks to your content from reputable and topically relevant sources to improve your performance. Furthermore, evaluate your backlinks to see if they’re adding value. Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool is a great option to evaluate your site’s backlink profile.

Where can you find content marketers to help your store grow?

If you’re looking to grow your online business, you should consider hiring a content marketer. Finding experienced content marketers is as easy as advertising your opportunity on popular job boards and vetting them through their portfolios or paid writing tests.  

List of marketplaces to find content marketers to grow your online business

The following are some popular marketplaces where you can find top content marketers to grow your online business.

Upwork

Upwork is the leading online workplace home to thousands of top-rated content marketers. You can write a job post with a detailed job description and get personalised bids or browse through available content marketing consultants and shortlist candidates you may want to interview. You can screen profiles on criteria such as industry fit, experience, and reviews from past clients. Ready to create quality content that will resonate with your target market? Sign up and post your content marketing job today.

Fiverr

Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. It connects businesses with freelancers offering digital services in 500+ categories. You’ll find on-demand content marketers for your online business who will get your project done just right. 

The freelancers are vetted, ensuring quality work, reliability, expertise, efficiency, and professionalism, giving you peace of mind and a better return on investment. Browse through available content marketing specialists and shortlist candidates you may want to interview to find a freelancer you’d like to work with. You can use Fiverr pro catalogue to review profiles, portfolios, ratings, and reviews of content marketers. You can also post a brief and let freelancers come to you with a proposal. 

Another option is to use Fiverr’s customer support chat to explain your needs, and they’ll share a shortlist of talent. If you’d like end-to-end project management, the support team will pair you with a business partner who assembles a team of freelancers and oversees your entire project.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business and employment-focused social media platform. Founded in 2002, the site connects the world’s professionals and can be used to search for jobs and look for new hires. LinkedIn users can create professional, resume-like profiles that allow other site members to know more about their business and areas of expertise. 

If you’re looking for a content marketer for your business, browse through available service providers or answer a few questions to receive up to 5 proposals from trusted providers. Select the best provider by reviewing their past experience, recommendations, and connections.

X

X (formerly known as Twitter) is one of the world's most widely used social networks. It’s where people share their views and opinions on trending topics and where businesses connect with their loyal customers to share updates and deals. 

Most businesses use X to promote their products and services. According to Statista, 46 per cent of B2C marketers and 54 per cent of B2B marketers used X to market their businesses. Freelancers can connect with marketers and business owners to promote their services and get valuable leads.

To find candidates with specific skills, search relevant hashtags, for instance, #ContentMarketing and #FreelanceWriter. Follow industry experts and join their discussions. Post your job requirements or a job listing. You can even use X’s advanced search to find your ideal candidate.

Summary

Content is the key to providing value to your customers. Quality content creation with paid advertising creates a highly profitable strategy for building brand awareness, attracting new customers, and increasing sales for ecommerce businesses. Businesses should leverage content marketing as part of their marketing strategy to effectively engage their audience, address any hesitations or doubts their customers may have related to the products, and encourage their customers to take the desired action.