Top 10 Must-Read Ecommerce Marketing Tips of the Week – YouTube, SEO for Shopify, Email Marketing, and More!

Unbelievably, it is almost February, and the year is definitely heating up in the marketing and ecommerce world. Once again, digital experts and leading industry professionals were here to help, sharing a wealth of information, advice, and strategies that you can use to stay competitive and capture the interest and attention of your audience.

This week’s article round-up features a write-up on video content and how to analyze it, an article on Shopify SEO and keyword research, a look at hot digital marketing trends, tips on creating exceptional content, and more. 

“Video Trends in 2022 – How to Crush it With Video This Year” by Neil Wood-Mitchell 

Video content is highest on the agenda of almost all major social media platforms this year. Whether it’s starting with Instagram reels, taking a stab at TikTok short-form videos, or creating a YouTube channel, there are plenty of ways to use videos in your social media marketing strategies. To help you get started, video marketing expert Neil Wood-Mitchell gave his advice on how to ensure your videos will crush it this year.  

Top of Wood-Mitchell’s list is (unsurprisingly) to first narrow down your audience before selecting your approach. This should be the first step when trying out new content, as knowing your audience will help you determine when and what to post. Other tips he noted include nailing down your call-to-action, knowing when to bring in additional video production help, using vertical videos, and giving live-streaming a go. 

If adding video content into your marketing strategy is new to you, be sure to check out this article for suggestions on how to get started. 

“A Beginner’s Guide to YouTube Analytics: How Data Can Help Improve Your YouTube Performance” by Elena Cucu

Once you’ve decided to give video marketing a go, the next step is to make sure you know how to analyze it correctly. Digital marketer Elena Cucu produced an excellent guide on YouTube analytics this week which will give you a solid foundation for what you need to get started. 

Cucu’s guide is broken down into several sections that each cover the important data needed to analyze your YouTube videos. These include how to conduct reach and audience reports, how to analyze different metrics such as engagement metrics, and also information on deeper methods of reporting. And to make your lives a heck of a lot easier, all of this can be done directly in YouTube’s video studio!  

Understanding your YouTube analytics is what will help improve and grow your channel. If you’re in need of a refresher on these analytics, Cucu’s article is a great place to start. 

“The Only Shopify SEO Checklist You Need to Rank Your Site” by Manick Bhan 

Are you looking to improve your website traffic to increase online sales? One surefire way to do this is by making sure your Shopify SEO is up to scratch, which data scientist Manick Bhan covered this week.

According to Bhan, the top mistakes ecommerce websites make that can negatively impact SEO are duplicating content, poor site architecture, not utilizing schema, and having thin content. However, all of these issues are just as easily fixed. Some tips on how to do so, as suggested by Bhan, include installing helpful Shopify SEO apps, optimizing URLs, leveraging internal links, and regularly auditing your website. 

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Search engine rankings play a huge part in how easily shoppers can find your store, which is why having a good SEO is so important. Do you use Shopify for your ecommerce website? If the answer is yes, Bhan’s checklist is well worth checking out this week. 

“Good SEO vs Great SEO: Experts Share 6 Key Differences” by Abby Villarica 

Having good SEO is simple, however achieving great SEO is where things can get tricky. Several experts shared their advice in an article written by Abby Villarica on Search Engine Journal this week, that’s sure to help you up your game. 

According to the experts, the best way to keep your SEO thriving is by staying on top of SEO changes and new tools. This sounds self-explanatory, but taking the time to educate yourself on the new updates and analysis platforms that have been released will ensure your SEO is continually functioning the best it can. Some other tips include making sure you are putting the user first, focusing on problem-solving, nailing down your keywords, and conducting regular reports. 

Are you ready to take your SEO to the next level? This article is full of excellent tried, tested, and true advice to help you out.  

“The Ultimate Keyword Research Guide for SEO” by Rob Woods

Tackling the mighty subject of SEO keyword research this week, with a superb guide to ensure you’re monitoring everything, was SEO consultant Rob Woods on the Semrush Blog.

Woods covers it all in this mammoth of a guide, including what keyword research is and its importance, several tools to help narrow down your keywords, how to evaluate and classify your organic keyword research lists, general FAQs, and some tips and predictions for keyword research moving forward. 

If keyword research is an area you could improve on when it comes to nailing down your SEO, or if you want to be sure all your bases are covered, I recommend heading in to read this guide. In fact, you’ll want to bookmark it too.

“The 10 Best Email Marketing Campaign Examples to Learn From” by Harikrishna Kundariya

A great way to learn is by looking at what’s been done before. Marketer Harikrishna Kundariya did just that this week in his article that covered ten excellent email marketing campaigns and what you can learn from them. 

In the article, Kundariya analyzed several big names’ email campaigns including BuzzFeed, Airbnb, and Starbucks. However, in my opinion, the most useful takeaway from the campaigns Kundariya lists is the one done by Netflix. 

Netflix’s emailing marketing strategy is all about personalized emails, which is a great way to develop a connection and sense of commitment between your brand and customer. Time and time again, they have had success by sticking to this approach, personalizing each email based on what the user watches to bring about results. 

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If your email marketing could do with a bit of a shakeup, having a look at what’s been successful for other big brands, such as those Kundariya mentions, is a fantastic approach to take. 

“5 Huge Digital Marketing Trends To Watch In 2022” by Alex Catoni 

Back at it this week was digital marketing expert Alex Catoni with her top five digital marketing trends to watch out for this year. 

Number one on Catoni’s list is an oldy but a goodie: email marketing. According to Catoni, email marketing has been proven time and time again to be the most preferred marketing channel that consistently delivers the highest ROI returns. Others on her list include online events and live video, LinkedIn, influencer marketing, and focusing on the value of your content. 

For a further rundown on each of these trends and how you can best implement them into your marketing strategies, give Catoni’s article a further read – especially if diving back into email marketing is on top of your mind this new year.

“10 Tips To Write Engaging Content Previews for Social Media” by Lesley Vos 

Having a great photo or graphic isn’t always enough to get your audience to click on your social media posts. Your captions and text need to be engaging too, which many marketers often neglect or forget about entirely. Luckily, this week, content strategist Lesley Vos gave her advice on how to produce winning preview captions to help you out. 

Vos’ tips for captions includes emphasizing your content’s popularity, mentioning a bonus inside the content, revealing the table to contents to introduce an article, and tagging in well-known sources. All of these tips, including the others Vos lists, are great and simple tactics to boost your social content, no matter what platform you’re using. 

Is it time to look back at your social content to see if some improvements could be made? Vos’ guide is sure to help you out. 

“How to Invest in Episodic Content that Promotes Itself” by Rand Fishkin

A trend that’s been around for a while now and is here to stay is episodic content. But you may now be asking, what is that? As put by marketing genius Rand Fishkin who covered the subject this week, episodic content is content that is produced as part of a series or distinct episodes.

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The chances are that you are likely already engaging in episodic content without even realizing it, such as a podcast series or a collection of YouTube videos all focused on one subject. But engaging in such content is completely different than producing it. As truth be told, it’s quite difficult – but not impossible, as Fishkin points out. 

In his article, Fishkin lists out his top tips to produce such content and then distribute it, including involving guest contributors, focusing on topics your audience is already talking about, and featuring the work of others.

If you’re thinking of giving episodic content a go, I recommend giving Fishkin’s article on the subject a read beforehand to help you off to a good start.  

“15 Creative and Killer Content Marketing Ideas (with examples)” by Natasha Lane 

Stuck for inspiration when it comes to your content marketing? Content specialist and Digital Marketer Natasha Lane had some fantastic ideas to freshen up your social channels this week on Neil Schaffer’s Blog. 

Some of her ideas to get some inspiration flowing include sharing behind-the-scene’ content, posting  eBooks or other resources related to your brand, and working with influencers and creators. However, one of her ideas that is incredibly popular and well worth exploring is how-to guides. These are popular across a wide range of platforms including TikTok and Instagram, and are being used by many businesses to connect with their customers. 

If you’re still stuck for inspiration, try giving Lane’s article a further read and then test out a few ideas to see what works. 

The Next Steps

Is your content as effective as it should be? Consider taking a look at your content and evaluating whether you should be using any of the corrent trends that the experts have outlined this week. This includes using video, doing keyword research, and taking advantage of social media platforms like TikTok.

However, remember: this isn’t to say that you must follow each and every one of these trends. In fact, forcing content that is possibly not well suited to your overall brand could instead be a backwards step. It’s all about observing what’s worked well for others, determining whether it’s a good fit for you, and then reshaping it to suit your business. 

Here’s how to get started:

Step one: Check in on current methods and trends (such as video content ideas or email marketing design) used by your competitors and big businesses alike. 

Step two: Consider how you could reshape these trends or methods to create new and exciting content, then start trialing! Analyze how well this works for you by A/B testing, and adjust as needed. 

Tip:  Trial and error is always a good approach when it comes to testing out new content. Sometimes your ideas may not work out the first time, but with a slight adjustment, you might find that you’re getting good results. Don’t forget to analyze each post once it’s up, which will help you to figure out what you may need to change. For example, maybe it wasn’t the content itself that was lacking, however the time that you chose to post was not a peak time for your specific audience.

Do you need help crafting a winning growth strategy? Or maybe your current digital marketing approach just isn’t working. Reach out today for your free 20 minute consultation, and let’s find a solution to scale your business.