For retailers, the internet has rewritten the marketing rulebook – it’s getting more difficult to differentiate themselves online.
Some say that great online content is the answer.
Ed Bussey, founder and CEO of content creator Quill, says retailers need to become publishers: “Brands are becoming increasingly aware of how valuable content creation can be. If you can use content to engage with customers online – specifically to help inform their purchasing decisions – you can find new ways to reach your audiences, often more cost-effectively than is possible through traditional advertising or paid media.”
He says the boom in content marketing exists because it hands customers a genuinely useful tool. “While the internet has given consumers unprecedented choice, both in terms of retailers and products, it has also brought a paradox of choice,” he adds.
“Beyond a certain point of choice, consumers become overwhelmed and stop buying at all. Good content allows a retailer to overcome that barrier by providing what’s missing online – the equivalent of a shopping assistant.”
The content needs to be good quality, however. Customers will switch off quickly if it is poorly conceived or executed.
Net-a-Porter, for instance, hired Harper’s Bazaar editor Lucy Yeomans to lead its magazine, Porter. Bussey says: “Cutting corners simply isn’t an option. Users have exacting standards, and if you’re not meeting those standards and delivering content of consistently high quality, your customers will turn to somebody else that is.”
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