The Best Content Creation Tools for eCommerce Brands

Good content is the fuel that can launch your e-commerce venture into the stars. And we'll share the best content creation tools to power your rise.

It's not for nothing that content creation has become viewed as such a valuable asset to online businesses. Indeed, the role has proven to be one of the most exciting and engaging opportunities in the marketing profession; allowing for and rewarding endless creativity and exploration. However, your creative potential will be for naught if you don’t have a good foundation for your ideas.

Succeeding as an e-commerce content creator

With the demand for good content higher than ever before, it’s imperative that you have access to the best content creation tools for the job. Sometimes it can feel like there are more content creation software options geared towards e-commerce content marketers than there are grains of sand on the beach and finding the appropriate tools for your niche can create a paralyzing choice.

Specialization is a defining feature of the digital age. Content creation is no different. The tools that might be perfect for someone in the edtech or robotics space might be a far cry from what is required to succeed with an e-commerce blog. Below, you can find some of the tools that will help you rise to the top of the game as a content creator for either your own or other’s e-commerce ventures.

The Best Content Creation Tools for the discerning e-Commerce Content Marketer

These content creation tools are geared towards content creators working in the e-commerce space and who need to drive traffic to a specific storefront and grow their sales.

1: Product Information Management Software

When working for an e-commerce store, having a single source of truth for the products on offer can be one of the most powerful weapons in your arsenal for creating a compelling top-of-funnel brand vision for your store.

This example from Beardbrand’s blog shows the value of understanding the needs of your consumers

While at first glance you might think that product information management (PIM) software might be primarily geared for managing catalogs, these versatile programs go beyond merely providing data to product managers. The insights provided by these tools can help you create specialized content around your store’s offering using insights that get to the heart of what your consumer base wants and needs from your products.

Best Product Information Management Tools:

• PapersOwl: A specialized content company, PapersOwl has helped marketers from different industries create content and essays over the past ten years. When you need brilliant, compelling sales content, their team of more than 500 native-English-language writers from around the world can take the pressure off your deadlines.
• Catsy: As far as PIM software goes, it doesn't get much better than Catsy. Sporting an easy to learn user-interface and a world-class support team, tools like Catsy can help any team consolidate information and layout catalogs.
• Plytix: Plytix is known for its extreme flexibility and easy customization, which means it can be efficiently tailored to meet whatever unique needs your blog or products might needs.
• Salsify: This software option has one of the most options for an eCommerce content creator. The scope of Salsify is massive, and while this can easily overwhelm the uninitiated, an experienced user can work wonders for their brand.
• Bluestone PIM: It brings all product content collaboration in one workspace, with granular permissions settings for team members, external agencies, partners or suppliers. It gives you a complete control of product information at any stage

Read More:

• 8 Easy Rules Write Product Descriptions that Sell
• The Ultimate DIY Guide to Beautiful Product Photography
• Boost Conversions with Engaging Product Pages

2: Digital analytics software

Once you’ve developed a strategy surrounding the insights you’ve gleaned from PIM software, it’s important to capitalize on that by tracking your progress towards your goals.

For content marketers, digital analytics software can be a lifeline in a storm when swimming through the constant influx of data that comes with tracking web visits and traffic. The point of generating content is to get eyes on your writing, and through that, your business. Digital analytics software can provide insight into whether or not your current strategies are working, as well as provide avenues for new tactics to help increase conversions to your storefront.

Recommended Digital Analytics Tool:

• Pendo: Pendo is a great resource for content creators as it tracks customer visits, clicks, and so much more. It can serve as an analytical guide to help you understand how your customer journey and marketing funnel is operating on-page and provides options to personalize content to specific groups of users based on their data profiles.
• Google Analytics: One of the best tools on the market for tracking web visits, Google Analytics has often been a benchmark analytics tool that every analyst has cut their teeth on at one point in their career.
• Adobe Analytics: Adobe Analytics is one of the more comprehensive options for digital analytics. While it has a bit of a learning curve, its myriad functionalities, such as unique A/B testing tools, can be the difference between capturing a lead and letting it slip through your net.
• Rebrandly: Rebrandly is a URL shortener and link management platform that collects source data in the form of clicks. Using their analytics function, you can easily track activity on any link created using the platform and derive valuable insights like the most popular times or days your audience interacts with your content, their language, location, browser, and device.

Additional Resources:

• Everything You Need to Know About Google Analytics for eCommerce
• G2: Best Free Digital Analytics Tools in 2019
• Analyze your Referral Sources like A Data Scientist - Using Only Google Analytics!

3: SEO software

While the aforementioned categories of tools above will help you craft content that will resonate with your audience, there is still work that needs to be done in order to optimize your overall content strategy.

Any content marketer worth their salt will tell you that good SEO is critical for gaining traffic and nabbing those sweet sweet conversions. After all, no one is going to buy stuff from you if they can’t even find your blog. SEO software can help you stay on top of the shifting landscape of on-page optimization by helping you analyze keywords, tracking backlinks, and running competitor analyses.

Suggested SEO Tools:

• Ahrefs: If you're looking for a place to start your software hunt, Ahrefs has proven to be one of the best tools for SEO on the market, time and again for satisfying the myriad of requirements for building a strong SEO strategy.
• SEMrush: SEMrush has long been a household name for SEO specialists. The tool offers the flexibility to conduct keyword research, competitor analyses, and domain analytics, to name just a few.
• Moz Pro: This particular SEO tool has made waves not only for some of its free functionality but high-quality educational tools as well. It's much more suitable for small-scale SEO undertakings and could be the perfect solution for a newer team.

Additional Resources:

• Best Practices for SEO eCommerce in 2019 (You Can Actually Do Today)
• The Ultimate Guide to Shopify SEO in 2019
• (via Ahrefs): 29 Best Free SEO Tools (Tried & Tested) {Disclaimer: we use Ahrefs}

4: Social media suites

While getting organic traffic to your content is a great way to tell how well your strategy is working, there are other avenues for getting eyes on your content and brand that you would be silly to leave untapped.

This example from online flower shop ProFlower’s Twitter page demonstrates a good way to leverage the topical nature of social media for a boost in traffic

Leveraging all available social media platforms has never been easier with the help of social media suites. These tools will allow you to manage posts to multiple platforms at the same time, and even allow you to set up campaigns where you can schedule posts well in advance in order to take advantage of the ebbs and flows of your audience’s social media activity. It’s crucial to monitor your social media activity to stay connected with your brand’s audience. For example, you can see in the chart below how your social media reach will change depending on the day of the week and time of day:

Graph courtesy of Sprout Social's report on the best times to post on social media.

This will, of course, vary wildly from platform to platform; the average Facebook user is incredibly distinct from the typical Instagram junkie. Social media suites will help you navigate these challenges and ensure the most successful social media strategies possible for your content.

Suggested Social Media Suites:

• Hootsuite: Hootsuite is one of the market leaders for social media suites, and it's easy to see why. Its control panel makes it incredibly easy to post content to whichever channels you might need. It also boasts an extensive analytics suite to help you make informed decisions about your social media strategy.
• Zoho Social: This tool is a great option for smaller businesses or individual contributors: you can get the basic functionality for completely free! That isn't to say Zoho Social isn't a powerful social media management tool in its own right and the premium features that come with the paid version help it to hold its own in relation to some of the larger platforms on the market.
• Sprout Social: Sprout Social is one of the most well-known social media management software that combines streamlined workflow processes with a powerful analytics suite. Its 'smart inbox' feature allows you to manage every form of engagement you get on any social media platform from one place.

Additional Resources:

• 9 Examples of eCommerce Companies that Boosted Sales through Social Media
• ReferralCandy Editorial: How to Social Media
• How Social Media Suites can benefit Small Businesses

Tools in the shed

With these tools, you should have everything you need to succeed as a content creator for any e-commerce venture. Standing on the shoulders of giants will help you reach for innovations previously unimaginable.

Piper Thomson works with G2 as a Content Marketing Associate. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in Sociology. Piper spends his free time playing video-games, climbing rock faces, and pondering why people form systems of knowledge in this fast-paced digital age we all live in.