Content, The Heart and Soul of Your Online Brand

Many men have trouble choosing the right clothes and quite often they abdicate the responsibility for their clothes purchases to the wives and partners.

The reasons for this is due to the fact that men haven’t the time or the inclination to educate and inform themselves about the pre requisites for dressing fashionably.

This situation is not helped by fashion stores that seem to hire and train shopping assistants that  accost you immediately upon entry and are so annoying that all you want to do is flee the store never to return!

How Content is Vital for an Online Store

A recent online retailer start up “Mr Porter”  which commenced trading 9 months ago, is assisting the fashion illiterate male to learn how to dress with style. (Mr Porter is the little brother of the Women’s online store “Net-a-Porter” whose founder Natalie Massenet recently sold a majority stake for $560 million)

They do this by providing great content in various media formats that educates, informs and provides iconic examples of how to dress for success.

They must be doing something right because in the 9 months since starting they have

• Acquired more than 1 million unique browsers
• The store now include 150 brands
• Ship to 170 countries

The genius behind the content is Jeremy Langmead who was previously the editor of the British edition of “Esquire” magazine.

Jeremy says that “Men will ask a lot of questions before buying something and if you give them the right answers they will spend”

The heart and soul of the success of “Mr Porter” is its content

So what Content Inspires Men to Buy?

Mr Porter takes content marketing to a new level for online stores that provides stylish multimedia content that assists the buyer make the right decision.

Here are the major content sections of the online store that they develop, publish and promote.

1. The Journal

This is an “Online Magazine” that  is published on the site weekly and includes tips, interviews and articles that are both stylish and educational.

2. Style Icons

This section of the site provides iconic examples of movie stars and famous men such as Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and David Bowie that provide inspiring examples of fashion and style.

3. Style Advice

Don’t know what shoes to wear or what watch you should buy? This segment provides tips on the essential elements of male fashion sense

4. Style Council

There is nothing like promoting other well connected people to power your network and this content section both leverage’s these networks and  displays their sense of style?

5. Video Manual

Want to learn the art of smart yet informal dressing or how to choose the right tie. Mr Porter uses video tutorials to provide guidance on some fashion basics.

The Marketing Distribution Platforms for the Content

Having inspiring and educational content is one thing but distributing and marketing that content is vital to promote a global brand. Here are some of Mr Porter’s social media and marketing channels that provide low friction sharing and distribution.

1. YouTube Video Channel

Mr Porter currently has 32 videos with 10,026 views that gets their content onto channels where their audience is hanging out.

2. Facebook

The Mr Porter Facebook network has over 100,000 likes and is optimized and designed to capture “likes”.

3. Twitter

With over 36,000 Twitter followers Mr Porter is establishing a focused tribe that assists in distributing theirr content in real time.

4. Email

Not only are social networks vital for content marketing and driving sales but email subscription is essential for online stores as you have control over time and structure of the delivery. The Facebook page is designed for capturing vital emails with an incentive.

The Takeaways

What are some lessons to takeaway from this great example of content marketing?

1. Don’t sell but Educate and Inform
2. Capture email subscriptions
3. Provide Multimedia formats
4. Take advantage of and utilize other peoples networks

How do you use content marketing for your blog, website and online store?

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

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