By Brian Rigney, Zmags
Engaging e-Commerce content comes in many forms — imagery, video, user generated — the list goes on. The focus is typically on the product that a retailer wants to showcase rather than the person making the purchase. While this type of content is valuable, it often feels transactional and one-sided, showcasing the retailer’s agenda. Content is more powerful when the emphasis is on the relationship with the consumer instead of a single purchase.
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Leading beauty brand Murad gets this. They’re leveraging a customer engagement strategy that integrates rich digital experiences with a series of unique blog posts. Rather than simply writing a post about Murad’s top skin care products for a weekend getaway — ultimately linking to a curated (tired) landing page — they teamed up with local bloggers. Each blogger detailed a weekend getaway that is completely tailored for the Murad customer base and solely lifestyle-focused. Covering trips to Austin, Palm Springs, Napa and Cape Cod, they deliver fun and informative content without the driving force being “buy our product!”
Instead, the main takeaways from the blog posts are the beautiful locations themselves and how the Murad woman can best enjoy them. With tips like the best swimming hole in Austin or a Cape Cod local’s favorite lobster roll, the content provides lifestyle inspiration outside of skin care. In fact, neither skin care nor Murad are mentioned in the blog at all! This content piece is purely for connecting with the Murad woman in other areas of her life rather than providing product information.
Coupled with gorgeous images, well-known blogger names and, of course, the perfect timing (summer is getaway season, after all), it is rich content without the heavy-handed commerce point of view. The focus is on the consumer themselves, allowing them to relate to the content and the brand on an intimate, personal level. It is about delivering a rich experience, not just a product.
But you can’t ignore the product or the sale completely, as Paul S. Carroll, VP digital and e-Commerce creative at New York & Company, reminds us. Consumers connect with rich digital experiences like Murad’s that provide inspiration on how Murad products fit in their lives. If your content resonates, customers want to be able to explore your products and buy. Don’t make it hard for them to buy after making a connection!
The easiest way to achieve this is through shoppable experiences that launch quick views. Customers can stay in the engaging experience and add directly to their cart. They aren’t scanning through sterile product grids or fruitlessly searching to find the item highlighted in your experience. Murad allows customers to add the items directly to their cart from the experience.
Keeping your content engaging with the consumer throughout your web site — and ensuring that the products are easy to find and purchase — is the key to taking your content to the next level, like Murad. A seamless and organic transition from experience to purchase is essential to turning your rich content into conversions.
Brian Rigney, CEO of Zmags , has over twenty years’ experience leading high performing, entrepreneurial teams in launching new businesses and bringing innovative new products to market. For more information on Zmags, please follow the company on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
