The customer path to purchase, often called the customer jour-ney, is the driving force of ecommerce success. It’s the process by which a new and unfamiliar shopper goes from casual visitor to loyal customer. At its most basic, the customer journey can be divided into three buckets digital marketers know well: attract, engage, and convert.

The content that you produce to get attention from consumers also fits into the path to purchase – in fact, content can be the driving force of the customer journey. With the right content, you can guide shoppers from one stage to the next, organically and enjoyably. When done well, content can turn an often predict-able and standard three-part process into a rich and powerful brand experience.

In this ebook we will review every stage of the customer journey. And, utilizing real-life ecommerce examples, we will review how leading brands deliver content that results in impressive reve-nue and engagement metrics.

Rich content is the engine that drives shoppers through their customer journey

Attract, Engage, Convert:Generating Revenue Through Content

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Attract

Acquisition begins the moment a consumer is first introduced to your brand. In the digital world of ecommerce, this is likely through email mar-keting, social media campaigns, or banner ads. These are often the most difficult campaigns to create because you need to first reach the right shoppers, and then convince them to take a risk and click to your land-ing page to learn more. You are asking for their time and attention, and consumers are conservative about sharing either of those. The key to getting the time and keeping the attention is compelling content.

Customers who click a link in an email or Instagram ad should be re-warded with a landing page experience that delights. Retailers often misstep by simply dropping these consumers onto a product grid page on their site. This provides no inspiration or guidance, and an uninspired shopper will abandon this experience. Retail leaders who know that this limited interest must be cultivated will create innovative landing pages that make shoppers take notice. These pages may include features like buying guides, quizzes, lookbooks, or videos – formats that inspire these curious shoppers to give your products a closer look.

A great example of a brand that creates compelling acquisition cam-paigns is leading cosmetics retailer Murad. Their email and social cam-paigns are bright, exciting, and instantly engaging, but what makes Mu-rad’s campaigns drive conversion is the content that they deliver after the click to the landing page. One Pinterest campaign surrounding their Vitamin C skincare line brought interested shoppers to a rich multimedia landing page, complete with user reviews, video, and instant shoppabil-ity. Users were brought to this product-specific educational page that made them glad they clicked and eager to engage with the rest of the website.

Social and email campaigns that direct shoppers to a rich digital landing page will make shoppers glad they clicked, and more inclined to do the same in the future.

Featuring Murad

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Engage

As far as effective customer experience goes, the product grid has been rendered outdated. Grids are too time consuming for today’s quick consumers because they require shoppers to scroll through page af-ter page of products, searching for one specific item. They’re frustrating, and leave little room for retailers to guide the customer journey. From an engagement standpoint, they’re well on their way to becoming the dinosaurs of digital content.

Your website should serve up rich content, in ways that encourage your shoppers to interact. Customer expectations have surpassed product grids; shoppers want to be entertained, educated, and inspired while they shop. In short, they want more than products in their buying process.

How do retailers deliver this sort of engaging content? One of the best solutions is the buying guide. Instead of forcing customers to search through hundreds of products on their own, buying guides narrow down the options and help them move more quickly down the path to pur-chase by providing inspiration in addition to products. Buying guides can be adapted for any type and size of retailer, from fashion to furniture.

UK fashion retailer Hush takes the buying guide to the next level in their “How to Wear Color” digital experience. Shoppers click through clothing in a variety of color combinations to discover outfit inspiration and ex-pert styling tips. Instead of navigating through a product grid, the buying guide serves up clothing items that are hand-chosen by fashion experts and highly curated. Customers learn and interact with the Hush brand while they shop, keeping them engaged and on the page. Above all, the experience makes online shopping fast, easy, and fun.

As shopper expectations evolve, the product grid is becoming outdated. Brands that deliver rich digital experiences will stay ahead of the curve.

Featuring Hush

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Convert

Once shoppers have found inspiration in your content and have suc-cessfully traveled down the path to purchase, the last step is to make sure they are able to complete their purchase in as few clicks as pos-sible. The buying process should be fast and easy, and when it’s not, customers may abandon the purchase altogether.

The solution lies in instant shoppability through quickviews. Integrated quickviews allow shoppers to add a product to their cart without ever leaving the rich experience that inspired this purchase in the first place. By clicking an image, shoppers activate an ecommerce-enabled light-box where they can get product details, select their size, and add to cart with one click.

Instant shoppability means customers can add products to their cart without interrupting the discovery process. Instead of being directed away from the rich content experience you’ve provided them, they stay on the page and are able to continue exploring and shopping.

A great example of instant shoppability done right is Ethan Allen’s shop-the-room collection. Each experience features images of fully designed and furnished rooms from multiple angles, providing shoppers with eas-ily replicable inspiration. But what makes these experiences generate results and revenue is their inclusion of instant shoppability. Simply click a plus sign to activate a quickview and add the item directly to the shop-ping cart, without ever leaving the experience. Customers stay on the page and continue to explore and shop, without interruption.

Integrated quickviews allow shoppers to make purchases faster than ever, without disrupting the product discovery process.

Featuring Ethan Allen +

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ConclusionFrom start to finish, digital marketers need to realize the import-ant role of content in driving the customer journey. Some ques-tions to consider when planning your shoppers’ path to purchase include:

• Is my content complimenting my acquisition campaigns? • Is my content engaging and delighting customers beyond the product grid? • Is my content instantly shoppable the moment customers reach that “gotta have it” moment?

Rich digital experiences can make or break the customer jour-ney. Content will deliver shoppers seamlessly from one stage to another – beginning with acquisition, then to engagement, and finally to conversion. And when done right, dynamic content will turn your site visitors into loyal customers.

Attract – Murad’s Vitamin C Skincare Social Campaign

Engage – Hush’s “How to Wear Colour” Interactive Buying Guide

Convert – Ethan Allen’s Shop-the-Room Experiences

About ZmagsZmags helps ecommerce marketers create and publish rich digital experiences through a user-friendly interface that requires no IT involvement. Using Creator by Zmags, brands can create fresh, shoppable

content that drives product discovery and inspires consumers to purchase. Creator integrates with all leading ecommerce and content management platforms enabling marketers to optimize their website

content. Leading brands like Ethan Allen, Harvey Nichols, New York & Company, Vivienne Westwood, All Things BBQ, and Godiva use Creator by Zmags to deliver interactive and entertaining shopping

experiences with rich content like buying guides, quizzes, lookbooks, video, and more. To learn more, visit www.zmags.com.

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