Content has emerged to be a powerful tool to garner customer attention and interest. However, over the period of time, marketing content the right way has become equally important for brands especially from the E-Commerce perspective so as to attract and retain customers. It helps in not only reaching out to the target audience but also helps educate, convince, convert and retain them.
Despite having good quality and relevant E-Commerce content in place, the challenge for brands lies in delivering it strategically and making it effectively reach the target audience. This is where marketing content steps in as an ideal solution. It acts as a mediator between the customer and the brand and also leads the buyers throughout their customer journey thereby leading them to the purchase of the product or availing the service.
Marketing content ensures an amplified reach of the content and also helps in providing a high-end post-sales experience. It is this experience that affects the business metrics especially customer retention rates. It works with a customer-centric approach and focuses on their requirements and preferences. It is marketing content that helps cover the journey from that of a potential buyer to a customer and eventually converts them into loyal customers.
Trends and innovations in content creation
During the pandemic, every business understood the importance and vast reach of the digital space and hence, they had to modify their communication plans. The consumers’ behaviors and preferences during and post-COVID also underwent a major shift and to adapt to this change, brands were pushed to step out of their comfort zone and adopt the ‘digital-only’ approach.
It’s been more than a year ever since the pandemic hit us and brands continue to be all the more flexible and agile in their communication and marketing strategies. They are increasingly focusing on the quality of content and high-end marketing content strategies to connect and engage with their consumers. They have realized that ‘innovation is the key’ and ‘interactive content’ is a must and hence, the demand for global quality, aesthetic and effective E-Commerce & marketing content has witnessed a surge.
Here we share with you a few major trends and innovations that will pick up in the E-Commerce & marketing content for brands-
Empathy and compassion in brand storytelling
The brands sensed that the uncertain times are here to stay. They also understood that consumers love to interact and engage with brands that radiate humanness and do not only indulge in upselling. Hence, they strategized to tap the human emotions and decided to stress on empathy and compassion in their storytelling keeping into consideration the unforeseen situations and grim mood of the consumers. Hence, the communication shifted from highlighting only the USPs to striking an emotional connection with the consumers through generosity, positivity, and a sense of belonging.
Creative shoots
To weave a story and share it effectively with your target audience so as to convince them to purchase your offerings, creative shoots come as a savior for the same. Theme-based and prop-centric shoots help add the quirky and aesthetic flavor and have revamped the classic shoots to give them a contemporary and vibrant touch. They help showcase the USPs along with benefits of the products and portray the brand’s mission, vision and story aesthetically. They also help share the brand messaging in a creative manner and instill conviction amongst the consumers so that they are lured to purchase the product or avail the service of the brand. Creative shoots are one of the ideal solutions to use the storytelling technique and present the brand as the go-to destination for the requirements of the customers.
Infographics
One of the best visual content formats to garner audience engagement and ensure their retention is via infographics. Until a few years ago, they were considered just an ordinary type of content and their use was fairly average. However, the trend of interactive infographics has picked up pace significantly and brands now are inclined towards curating creative content in the form of visually appealing infographics. They are informative and simultaneously extend the much-needed vibrant, visually stimulating, and fun element thereby making them one of the feasible options while creating innovative E-Commerce & marketing content for brands.
The era of motion elements
Passé are the days when static elements ruled the content creation space. It is now the era of moving elements and they will occupy a prominent position in the E-Commerce & marketing content strategy of brands due to their quirkiness and engagement features. Primarily, it is motion graphics in the form of creative videos, product explainer videos, carousel banners, and GIFs that will be increasingly preferred and focused upon by the brands in the times ahead.
Videos will take the limelight in 2021
The modern times’ consumers prefer interactive content and videos serve just the right purpose as they offer an immersive experience to the audiences. They have a long-lasting impact and not only attract the consumers but also keep them hooked. The customers can easily relate to and connect with the video-based content. They also extend the credibility of the product and the brand, boost customer confidence and lead to high conversion rates.
Meanwhile, they also give creative liberty to the brands in terms of their messaging. They can be created either by highlighting the product or by using the storytelling technique to communicate the brand messaging to the target audience. Owing to their creativity and interactivity features, videos are emerging as one of the effective ways to ensure that our content reaches effectively.
The pandemic pushed the consumption of videos at the global level and this trend will continue to increase significantly in the coming times as well. A report by Smart Insights points out a similar trend and estimated that the consumption of videos will increase rapidly in the future and an average person will spend 100 minutes every day watching online videos in the year 2021. A study by Cisco Visual Networking Index also shares that there will be nearly 1.9 billion internet video users by the end of 2021 and that globally consumers will be watching 3 trillion minutes of internet videos per month making the total count of video users approximately hitting 1.9 billion mark by the end of 2021.
Hence, brands will increasingly align their content conceptualization in tandem with this trend and videos will take the center stage for communication with their consumers. Creative and aesthetically shot videos using props, stop motion along with catalog videos will occupy an important place in the E-Commerce & marketing content strategies of brands in the times ahead.
Product explainer videos
They help share information about the product and highlight its USPs along with its usage in an innovative manner. Videos work comparatively well especially for complex products as compared to printed textual instructions which can be lengthy and confusing for the consumers. Hence, product explainer videos will be incorporated as one of the key elements in the brand’s storytelling and they will use such videos to showcase the benefits of their product. They will also add their magic of creativity to make these product-focused videos interesting and attractive.
Landing pages to get an artsy touch
The landing pages being the digital storefronts of the E-Commerce websites will get a clean, crisp, and appealing makeover. They are one of the key components of the website that help grab the customer’s attention and keep them hooked onto the site, and thereby play a pivotal role in converting the potential customer into a buyer. Hence, global quality, innovative and useful content in the form of high-quality images, carousel banners, videos, GIFs, infographics along with a clear call to action is the need of the hour and will be majorly visible in the E-Commerce & marketing content strategies of brands.
Carousel banners
The first few seconds of the user’s interaction on your websites can have a major impact on their behavior and retention. This is where carousel banners come into the picture and help extend an enhanced user experience. They play the role of visual cues by directing the customers towards the appropriate messaging. Hence, these banners will not only be in sync with the brand communication but will also be visually attractive, quirky, informative, concise, and clear.
GIFs
GIFs or Graphics Interchange Format have the potential to liven up digital conversations. They are fun, mobile-friendly, and help communicate the message effectively by making use of a movable element which makes it easy to grab the attention of the customers and retain in their mind for long. They are one of the versatile formats of content and will be increasingly used either on the websites, banner ads, carousel banners, or will be integrated with social media and will add the much-needed spice and vibrancy to the content mix.
Summing Up
Consumers don’t want to interact with intrusive banners, ads, and popups. They want global quality, creative, relevant, and intriguing content that will add value to their lives. Hence, brands and content creators are focusing on incorporating moving elements and creative video shoots using props, stop motion videos, infographics, product explainer videos, carousel banners, and GIFs in their E-Commerce & marketing content plan as doing so will help them establish a connection with their target audience. The creators are also putting in their best foot forward to add their creative touch to these techniques so as to fulfill the brand’s requirements for state-of-the-art and realistic content which is relevant, appealing, and engaging for the consumers. To cater to the needs of the customers and to foster good connections with them, E-Commerce & marketing content creation for brands will get all the more creative and innovative in the times ahead.
Contributed by – Mr. Narinder Mahajan, CEO & Founder, ODN Digital
