Retail competitors is stiff and companies promoting merely on value or choice will discover themselves in head-to-head competitors with large sellers like Amazon and Walmart.

For a lot of ecommerce companies, one of the best ways to promote extra merchandise could also be to supply a greater buyer expertise.

And content material advertising and marketing — the act of making, publishing and distributing content material with the intention of attracting, partaking, and retaining clients — will be top-of-the-line methods to supply a greater buyer expertise.

For October, take into account partaking your viewers of consumers with useful and informative articles or movies about Halloween, Christmas reward giving, winter preparedness, cookies, and manufacturing.

1. Halloween: Oct. 31

In 2021, about 170 million Individuals celebrated Halloween, collectively spending $8.4 billion on sweet, costumes, decorations, and extra, in keeping with the Nationwide Retail Federation.

To your 2017 content material advertising and marketing, this scariest of holidays is a superb alternative to attach with potential clients and supply some useful how-to articles or movies geared toward Halloween celebrations.

Right here is an instance. Nearly half of American customers will enhance their yards for Halloween, once more in keeping with the NRF. So it makes good sense that home-supply retailer Lowe’s has 50 Halloween-related do-it-yourself articles on its website, together with one which describes 14 other ways to carve a pumpkin.

 

Your Halloween content material would possibly give attention to something from do-it-yourself costumes for canines to what meals to serve at a Halloween occasion.

2. Christmas Guides and Suggestions

For a lot of retailers, the Christmas vacation season would be the busiest time of the yr, as customers collectively spend almost $700 billion in the US alone.

For some retailers, the Christmas purchasing season will account for greater than half of all annual gross sales. Picture: Rodion Kutsaev.

A few of these gift-giving consumers will know precisely what they need to purchase, however others will welcome your recommendation.

To your October content material advertising and marketing campaigns, start to publish particular Christmas reward guides that correspond to the merchandise you promote in your retailer.

When potential, attempt to have an editorial hook on your content material slightly than simply publishing a listing of merchandise. For a considerably unorthodox instance, see TheStreet.com’s “Mistress Present Information.”

3. Winter-is-coming Content material

One other content-marketing focus for October may very well be on getting ready for winter. Listed here are some instance article titles or video matters you would possibly select.

  • A males’s clothes retailer might publish “Three Methods to Put on Winter Coats.”
  • A web based jewellery store would possibly submit “5 Chilly-weather Jewellery Care Tricks to Maintain Your Gems Glowing.”
  • A kitchen provide retailer might write “7 Suggestions for a Nicely-stocked Winter Pantry.”

Inspiration on your winter-related content material might come from established publishers, well-known retailers, and even on YouTube.

Lastly, bear in mind to provide your content material a bit “tilt,” that particular one thing that differentiates what you publish from all the things else out there.

Because the Content material Advertising and marketing Institute places it, your tilt will probably be your “distinctive perspective in your content material area of interest.” And will probably be your tilt that may maintain your viewers coming again.

Watch Eric the Automotive Man clarify how you can winterize your car and see when you suppose he has a novel tilt. Is he somebody you’ll watch once more? Why or why not?

 

4. Nationwide Home made Cookies Day: Oct. 1, 2017

There are a selection of distinctive holidays in October, together with Nationwide Home made Cookies Day.

It will appear it’s not sufficient that Individuals will eat truckloads of sweet on Halloween, the final day of October. They need to additionally eat tender and splendidly chewy cookies on the primary day of the month.

Maybe probably the most direct method to make use of Nationwide Home made Cookies Day in your content material advertising and marketing is to easily supply your greatest recipe or recommendation.

For instance, Ashley HomeStore, a furnishings and residential decor retailer, revealed “5 Suggestions for Nice Home made Cookies” to commemorate this vacation in 2015.

Ashley HomeStore revealed some baking ideas to assist people who would possibly need to have fun Nationwide Home made Cookies Day.

5. Nationwide Manufacturing Day: Oct. 6, 2017

My closing content material advertising and marketing concept for October focuses on manufacturing.

Nationwide Manufacturing Day was created with the intention of each informing customers in regards to the significance of producing of their communities and provoking new manufacturing companies.

Manufacturing is necessary to us all, and Nationwide Manufacturing Day is a chance for on-line retailers to showcase their suppliers.

For retailers, this may very well be alternative to showcase suppliers and talk about how and the place merchandise are made. The main target could also be on the manufacturing course of, on the individuals who personal or function the manufacturing enterprise, or on why a retailer selected a specific provider. It is usually completely acceptable to use a little bit of storytelling flare.

Males’s attire retailer Mr. Porter, for instance, does a masterful job of showcasing its suppliers in fascinating methods.

 

For different inspiring examples from Mr. Porter, see:

  • Constructed to Final, about shoemakers.
  • By Walid, up-cycled bombers and sweatpants.
  • Mr. Barnaba Fornasetti, a candle maker.
  • New to Us: William Lockie, cashmere.