Your content marketing strategy is what drives your ecommerce brand. It boosts your SEO, engages your customers, and gives your online store value. With so many unique content types available today, it's hard to determine which has the potential to convert your traffic.

We’ve identified the six top forms of content that your customers will love. Read on for some inspirational ideas that you can start using for your content strategy today.

1. Embrace the many benefits of user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is an easy win for ecommerce brands right now. With a plethora of social platforms available for customers to create and share content across, brands can collect the best content from loyal fans of their brand.

UGC isn’t just a scalable way to source content for your marketing strategy. Incorporating UGC into your content strategy builds your community by involving your customers in your brand. It shows them that you value their input, strengthening your relationship with them.

User-generated content also provides strong social proof for your ecommerce brand, implicit approval from the scores of eager customer who submit their photos and videos. What's more – UGC can be used in email campaigns, product description pages, on your homepage, or on an in-store display. UGC can strategically connect multiple channels in an effective and authentic way.

Takeaway tip: UGC can be a core pillar of your content marketing strategy. Looking for inspiration? See how brands like HYLETE, Annie Selke, and Charlotte Russe use UGC to make their content marketing stand out.

2. Offer branded product guides for customers’ research

With so many shopping options available online, customers are spoilt for choice. So when they’re navigating the research stage of the sales funnel, they will often jump from site to site to compare prices and research products before committing.

This is your chance to educate prospective buyers about your product on your own terms with a product guide. Detailed walkthroughs of different products aid shoppers during the research stage, whilst simultaneously positioning your offering as the best with UGC, and customer text ratings and reviews.

Takeaway tip: product guides let you scope out and head off any objections from the customer before they even arise. Identify possible problems and use customer ratings and reviews to overcome those objections at the early stage in the buyer’s journey.

3. Show your brand's humanity with mission-driven content

Customers are increasingly favoring mission-driven brands that align with their community values. Businesses with visible ethical commitments strengthen customer loyalty by showing their human side — it gives them a layer of authenticity that today's customer requires for brand loyalty.

If your brand isn't ready to completely align with one mission, start by creating a visible charitable initiative as part of your marketing strategy. It doesn’t need to be comprehensive. Either through time, product, or proceeds, your brand can help align with a cause that resonates with your customers.

Share your charitable commitments through your content to get your community involved. A charity spotlight, Q&A session, videos of the great work your team does for charity — all these make for strong brand affinity and loyalty.

Takeaway tip: customers resonate with mission-driven brands, but taking a small step towards charity is a good start for brands.

4. Create essential guides for evergreen content

Why did a tire company craft a local guide of restaurants, maps and other resources for the motor-bound consumer? By providing valuable content for their customers, they were able to increase usage of their product (tires) and position themselves as content leaders in their space.

By creating essential guides that provide value to your customers, you place yourself in a position of knowledge and authority. This, in turn, encourages customers to return to your business, not just for your product or service, but for your erudite and informative content.

The best essential guides are evergreen: always relevant, regularly updated, and consistently ranking highly on the SERPs. Providing this to your audience improves customer retention and strengthens brand loyalty, no small feat for a burgeoning ecommerce brand.

Takeaway tip: identify your customers’ interests and concerns and create content that provides value for them. It should be thorough and detailed, with natural headings and an FAQ section too.

5. Live in the moment with social stories

Social stories have shot up in popularity of late, and the trend shows no sign of slowing in 2019. Ephemeral content is massively popular with consumers, as it gives brands an authentic edge that sets them apart from the competition.

For ecommerce, you can utilize Pixlee's uploader capability to collect Stories via contributor uploads. This helps drive brand awareness and allows you to collect UGC from customers on the ground.

The social selling benefits of Stories are manifold, but it’s not just about sales. Use your Story to give sneak previews of new products, behind-the-scenes looks at your brand, or to promote competitions. Above all, Stories strengthen your community to build a customer base that is locked into your brand.

Takeaway tip: regularly update your Story with dynamic content that resonates with your audience. Make use of the various Insta stickers, such as countdown timers and questions, to involve your followers with your brand and boost your social ROI.

6. Lean on interactive content to build a community

Interactive content engages your audience, fosters social sharing, and it’s a breath of fresh air for content-saturated customers. And with such a variety of interactive formats at your fingertips, it’s easy to create as well.

Social media contests are the most obvious form of interactive content. The possibility of a prize makes them popular, and with a low barrier to entry, it’s easy to get your brand some much-needed exposure online.

But equally popular are polls and surveys. Brands often share Twitter polls online to get customer opinion on new products, conducting market research, or simply creating a conversation with their followers.

Takeaway tip: use simple interactive content for insight into your customers' needs.

A good content strategy is diverse and engaging. Use the ideas above as inspiration for yours, and create hot content that resonates with your customers. You’ll see higher traffic, increased sales, and you’ll develop an ecommerce brand that will always delight.