Content marketing for E-commerce is no longer optional. It’s a make-or-break channel for brands competing in a crowded digital marketplace. 

But in reality, not all content works. In the early days of my time as a digital marketer, I wasted so much effort creating endless blog posts, videos, and social updates that never produced tangible results. 

Something had to give; and, over time, I learned how to cut through the noise with my content and truly deliver for my E-Commerce clients.

Did you know that brands that prioritize content marketing see conversion rates of almost six times higher than those that don’t (Red Line Digital)?

A brand I’ve seen that really focuses on the type of content they use is Skin Control, an Australian skincare start-up that spotted a content opportunity on TikTok when influencer Phoebe Spiller lost her Skin Control products while travelling. 

The brand quickly sent replacement products to Spiller and documented their good deed on TikTok and Instagram. In turn, Spiller reposted it on her account to her thousands of followers. 

This piece of content alone went viral and created a reported $11,000 in mask sales (news.com.au), showing the power of successful content marketing when done correctly.

This guide will let you in on all of my content marketing secrets, primarily regarding E-commerce content marketing. Whether you’re running your own store or managing content for a client, the insights you’ll learn from this piece will help you focus on what matters: content that sells.

I’ll explain which content marketing strategies you should focus on, the things I’ve learned from testing different tactics across a range of E-commerce sites, and why email is hugely underrated in E-commerce marketing.

The right content marketing strategies don’t just attract clicks – they drive sales.

I’m going to break down the different strategies that actually delivered results for my E-commerce clients, from high-converting product guides to trust-building email sequences.

When done correctly, product-focused blogs do more than just build awareness. They directly drive search traffic and transform casual readers into enthused buyers. 

The key to getting this strategy right is pairing keyword targeting with smart product tie-ins to ensure that your blogs feel natural and not forced.

The first step is to start researching content ideas for E-commerce that your ideal audience is already using.

One of my clients works in home improvement, so I decided to target the following search terms:

I found tools such as Ahrefs and Semrush to be invaluable when carrying out keyword research, as they enabled me to learn the best long-tail search terms with clear purchase intent, often at a lower level of competition than super high volume keywords.

These keywords helped me understand which searches implied that a reader was ready to buy, but just needed a little bit of guidance first.

My top tip for creating great content that converts is to educate your reader first and then solve their problem by tying in your product as the solution.

For example, if you’re running a skincare brand, you may create a guide to healthy skin and link to your product as a top pick.

A brand that does this really well is CeraVe. CeraVe regularly partners with well-known dermatologists to publish super educational guides, informing consumers about certain skincare ingredients and how they affect different skin types.

CeraVe’s guide on “What Are Ceramides?” features information from board-certified dermatologist Dr. Jenny Lui, giving the article authority and building trust with educational content. 

CeraVe then goes on to guide readers to use their Skincare Solution Finder Quiz (also developed with dermatologists), plus a range of CeraVe products containing ceramides.

CeraVe has reported increased traffic from content that features advice from dermatologists and noticeable sales increases when linking back to their products after using educational content (Influencer Marketing Hub).

Make sure each blog ends with a clear, relevant call to action (CTA). Below are some of my favorites:

DIY brand DeWALT demonstrated the importance of the right CTA when they carried out an A/B test to see whether ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Shop Now’ was a more effective CTA.

DeWALT saw a 17% increase in users clicking on the ‘Buy Now’ CTA, showing that just a small change in the content of a CTA can make a huge difference (Keep It Usable).

Also, remember to use high-quality images, product embeds, and customer reviews throughout your content to build value and drive your conversion rates up.

In an overly-saturated E-commerce market, facts alone don’t sell – stories do.

Storytelling is a powerful way to resonate with your audience, building human connection and making loyal buyers of your following. 

People don’t just want to know what your product is; for them to buy into your brand, they want to know why it exists, who it helps, and what it stands for.

Here are a few of my favorite content marketing examples for E-commerce to build connections through storytelling:

Smart E-commerce brands are using email newsletters to focus on content that converts.

The beehiiv platform is a great one for E-commerce as it encourages brands to grow, engage, and convert subscribers using a clean design, plus features such as automation and robust segmentation.

Product launches often get lost in social media feeds and other marketing channels. Email puts them front and center.

Email platforms like beehiiv are popular with brands looking to do the following:

You can use beehiiv features such as automation and scheduling to create an entire campaign ahead of time and watch the great results come through!

Email is the best marketing channel for engagement.

You can use email strategies to offer exclusive deals to your most loyal customers, driving engagement rates and boosting conversions, too.

Offering early access to new product drops and subscriber-only discount codes creates a sense of exclusivity that will drive conversion rates while also having a positive impact on open rates and engagement.

One of my favorite features of email is that you fully own and control your email list.

Owning your audience means you don’t need to worry about algorithm changes or rising ad costs that could thwart your subscriber-growth strategy.

I like to focus on how platforms like beehiiv can help me grow my lists organically, using tools such as referral programs and embeddable sign-up forms to build a relevant, highly-interested audience that is all mine.

In a world full of perfect, overly polished ads, authentic UGC (User-Generated Content) stands out.

UGC helps E-commerce brands build credibility and trust, in turn driving social proof and conversions. 

In my experience, E-commerce brands that use UGC see stronger results because this type of content is authentic and harder to fake. It can also provide reassurance to hesitant buyers by showing how real people have benefited from your products.

Influencer collaboration can be a highly effective method of UGC. 

In the past, I’ve partnered with micro-influencers who have small, engaged followers in niche markets. This has provided me with reusable content, including unfiltered reviews, product demos, and lifestyle content that feels super relatable for my audience and builds trust.

Another method of UGC that I love is embedded reviews. 

I’ve found that my landing pages that include snippets of testimonials from satisfied customers have a much higher conversion rate, particularly if the reviews include a photo or a video review.

Encouraging your customers to create UGC is a highly authentic way of building trust on your marketing channels.

I’ve seen many brands launching customer photo contests that ask consumers to share photos of themselves using their products in real life and incentivize them by rewarding the best photo with an exclusive prize. 

One of my favorites is Starbucks’ #WhiteCupContest campaign. They challenged customers to decorate their iconic Starbucks cups and share them on social media, with the winning design being used on a limited-edition reusable cup.

This campaign made customers feel part of the Starbucks brand, rewarding loyal customers and building trust with new ones.

It also allows Starbucks to showcase its reusable cup range and sell more products in turn.

Today’s consumers don’t just want a product -- they want to believe in the people and the process behind it.

Behind-the-scenes content gives your audience a window into your brand’s world, building transparency, trust, and humanizing your business, which can all be useful in driving more sales.

Here are some examples of effective behind-the-scenes content:

This type of content works particularly well on platforms like Instagram Stories and TikTok, where authenticity is key.

When consumers see what’s behind a product, it can deepen their connection to a brand and build trust, which can ultimately result in more sales.

Short-form video has been reported to have the highest return on investment (ROI) of any social media marketing strategy in 2024 (HubSpot), particularly when answering buyer questions and product uncertainties.

In 2025, brands are becoming increasingly reliant on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. 

Some of the most successful E-commerce brands are using short-form video to quickly and directly engage shoppers and provide bite-sized product education that drives purchasing decisions:

I always recommend trying this format because it mirrors how people shop. Consumers scroll quickly, looking for information fast and answers to pain points that may be preventing them from clicking the ‘Purchase’ button.

The quicker you can solve a buyer’s hesitation, the more likely they are to convert.

TikTok is especially good at making products go viral through organic storytelling, while Instagram reels are better at retargeting audiences that are already following your brand. 

Think of short-form video as a conversion tool, rather than a trend, and you can build trust, reduce buyer doubt, and give your product a spotlight in which to shine!

Customers who engage with educational content are 131% more likely to buy from a brand, even weeks later (Conductor).

Teaching before selling is a powerful strategy for E-commerce brands looking to boost trust and conversions in their marketing.

I’ve included some of my favorite methods of producing educational content based on what’s worked best for my clients:

A great how-to guide can address a real customer dilemma and solve a pre-purchase problem that multiple people may be facing.

Think “How To Choose the Right Running Shoes” or “DIY Home Gallery Wall Set-up.” These pieces would perform well in search, build credibility, and guide readers towards making a confident purchase.

Not only would this increase the conversion rate, but returns are unlikely, as you’ve solved a problem people may experience after purchasing.

If you’ve read any of my articles before, you’ll know I’m a fan of interactive content.

Webinars and interactive sessions are some of my favorites. They allow brands to answer questions in real time, building authority, demonstrating expertise, and nurturing engagement before a consumer makes a purchase.

Give your audience plenty of notice of when your live event will take place to improve turnout and take the opportunity to speak to your audience directly.

Quick product tutorials, such as ‘5 Ways To Style a Leather Jacket’, can help customers visualize the use and value of your product.

Another benefit is that these tutorials can be repurposed into emails or social media posts to further extend reach and reinforce messaging -- win-win!

Comparing your product against offerings from competitors is highly effective.

I love producing guides on my products to give my audience clarity and simplify their buying decisions, while subtly promoting my products and aligning them with customer needs.

Some examples:

Inviting credible people from your industry into your content can add authority to your brand, building credibility and positioning your brand with well-known experts.

Think about how experts may be able to contribute to your content - e.g., fitness trainers, interior designers, or skincare pros. 

Whoever these experts are, they should be popular in your world and trusted by your audience, helping to educate people and align your brand with expert recommendations.

PadelUSA has mastered this by publishing expert-written guest posts on high-authority websites such as the Time Business News, focusing on paddle tennis techniques and training tips. The guest posts linked back to PadelUSA, driving traffic and creating relevant backlinks for the brand.

This drove increased traffic and improved search rankings for the brand, plus a revenue growth of 40% over the course of this campaign (Dotmirror).

Partnering with brands that are complementary to your own can dramatically expand your reach and positively impact conversions.

So why do partnerships matter?

A great way of using brand partnerships for E-commerce is by creating a mutually beneficial offer for like-minded brands, such as coupons, gift-with-purchase options, or content swaps. 

I helped a gin company with their marketing a few years ago, and one of our most successful strategies was connecting them with a well-known tonic brand. We included their tonic as a free gift when consumers bought a gin, and they would include promotional content for my client’s gin brand in return.

This strategy worked well in opening up new markets, as well as creating reusable content for our social media channels. This linked our brands with well-known products in the same industry that our shared audiences would be interested in.

Remember to always form authentic collaborations that feel organic to your customer and make sure that the brands you partner with share your brand’s mission/ethics as closely as possible.

Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for nearly 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!

After years of building and testing content for different E-commerce brands, I’ve seen clear patterns emerge in what drives sales and what falls flat.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned? Pretty content doesn’t always convert.

Early on in my marketing career, I focused on beautifully designed blog posts and high-production videos. 

Here’s what surprised me when testing this…

These posts and videos looked great, but they didn’t solve buyer problems or drive action, so my conversions were dwindling.

Today, I prioritize clarity, utility, and timing.

My best-performing content often isn’t the flashiest, but it is the most relevant. 

Product-focused articles that target long-tail keywords consistently drive sales, and simple demo videos filmed on my phone but show real use always outperform overly stylized reels.

I’ve also learned that content fails when it tries to do too much at the same time.

Generic ‘lifestyle’ content that focuses on many different categories may result in good traffic, but rarely leads to conversions. 

Instead, pieces that have one clear job offer better performance, whether it’s answering a question, removing doubt, or launching a new product.

Here is some key content that consistently pulls in great results:

In short, my belief of what matters  –  design perfection, brand polish, and traffic volume – has shifted. 

What really matters is knowing your buyer, understanding their problems, and earning their trust in order to get them to convert.

Despite the rise of social platforms in recent years, email is one of the most effective and underutilized tools in E-commerce marketing.

Email platforms provide direct, uninterrupted access to your audience. Plus, you own the list, giving you more control over how you communicate with your subscribers.

Platforms like beehiiv make it super easy to grow and build owned audiences. Whether you’re a solo operator or a brand with a team, you can launch highly targeted campaigns that focus on customer loyalty and repeat purchases.

Here are some of my favorite beehiiv features for E-commerce brands:

The most effective E-commerce marketers today aren’t guessing. They’re building lean, repeatable systems, treating E-commerce content strategy like a media engine by consistently publishing, repurposing content across formats and learning from past mistakes.

The smartest E-commerce marketers focus on owned channels over rented ones, use storytelling to build a connection, and create intentional journeys that turn casual readers into loyal customers. 

If you want to scale your E-commerce brand with content, email needs to be at the heart of the strategy, and beehiiv is where the smartest brands are heading.

Start a free trial with beehiiv today to make the most of their built-in tools for growth, automation, segmentation, and monetization. 

With beehiiv, it’s easy to turn your newsletter into a true revenue channel for any E-commerce store.

Content marketing in E-commerce is the use of valuable, relevant content to attract, engage, and convert online shoppers into customers.

Popular types of content include blog posts, videos, emails, and social posts.

The 5 Ps of content marketing are Plan, Produce, Publish, Promote, and Perfect.

These steps guide content strategy -- from planning and creating content, to distributing, promoting, and refining it.

The 5 Cs of E-commerce marketing are Content, Commerce, Community, Convenience, and Conversion.

These pillars focus on helping E-commerce brands create engaging experiences that drive traffic, build loyalty, and increase sales.

The 3 Cs of content marketing are Creation, Curation, and Consistency.

Together, these points help marketers create original content, curate content using third-party material/tools, and maintain a consistent publishing schedule to drive trust and engagement.