"Is content marketing the right direction for our ecommerce business?"
Yes. It takes a lot time and work, but it can be worth every minute.
It's a method of utilizing SEO: letting Google drive searchers to your website when they search for phrases related to your business.
Movoto wrote a great piece that explains the thinking behind using Content Marketing, and how they took their blog from 2,000 views per month to over 18,000,000 in 2 years.
Here’s the home run that exemplifies the thinking behind content as a marketing initiatve:
>Our first thought isn’t, “Oh, this will be cool” or “This would fit perfectly on The Atlantic” or “This will soooo go viral.” No, our first thought is, “Is there an audience out there that will link back to us?”<
Audience first. Whatever content you publish has to reach and resonate with the right audience.
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"What's is the best way for your suggestion to move forward into content marketing?"
Figure out who you want to reach and what they care about. Then create videos, graphics, and written text (blog posts or educational resources) that appeal to those users.
Then you have to promote it.
"Publish and pray" doesn't work. Andy Crestodina at Orbit Media famously said "It’s not the best content, but the best PROMOTED content that wins."
But that's a separate question altogether.
Hope that helps! Please reach out to me here on Clarity if I can provide any more answers for you.
Good luck!