This is why Content First is a Good E-commerce Strategy in 2025

Several of the largest players in the B2C market are producing far more content than they have in the past. For example, Zalando has a plethora of videos with styles and "Inspiring Stories" – videos are especially prevalent in their app universe, and it makes a lot of sense. Content is indeed one of the best ways to create loyal customers.

Traffic You Control

Traffic is becoming increasingly expensive and harder to obtain. Last year, digital ad prices rose significantly – especially due to Temu's massive advertising pressure. At the same time, traffic from social media is always declining – or at risk of being hit by the next algorithm changes. Just because Instagram has been generous with leads and likes doesn't necessarily mean it will continue to be so.

There is simply greater competition for consumers' attention, both on social media and advertising platforms. The solution could therefore be to create a content universe that is so good and exciting that customers click through it before they start scrolling reels elsewhere.

What is Content First?

Content First is about selling through content. It's about using your own platform to create inspiration and entertainment for customers, so they always stop by your shop first. In 2025, it is also about being able to personalize or hyper-personalize the content so that the customer is served the content that fits exactly him or her. When content first works, it creates deeply loyal customers who identify with your brand because you provide them with engaging content about exactly what they are interested in.

Practically speaking, a content-first strategy also means that customers simply do not see as many products in their feeds when they visit your shop. There needs to be room for inspiration. For articles, quizzes, images, and especially video content – preferably also on the product pages, so customers can really delve into the products before they buy.

What Does Content First Require?

First and foremost, content first requires a lot of content. It must come from either your suppliers or yourself. If you create it yourself, it is a significant investment in either influencers, in-house production, or both to create the necessary content. At the same time, it is also necessary to know that it is a long-term strategy. It is not enough to produce the first batch of content and hope that it attracts customers to the store. It is about continuously creating new and engaging stories that make customers return again and again. Last but certainly not least, it also requires technology that can handle the content.

A Modern CMS Geared for Content First E-commerce

The CMS must be able to support good video experiences, personalize content for the individual customer, and support a good e-commerce experience so that the customer also has the opportunity to convert from the content. The system must make it easy to work with content, so it is simple to engage customers and get them to convert. It is particularly important that the content team can easily try new formats and test new content types – without requiring development hours and long waiting times. The content team must be able to act freely while having the opportunity to collect relevant data through, for example, split tests, so they can see exactly what works.

Not all content management systems are capable of this today. Often, the systems are designed either as a "blog system" or an "e-commerce system." However, it is necessary to break down this kind of silo division if one is to live up to a content-first strategy. Customers expect to be able to quickly and efficiently purchase an item if they have just seen an excellent reel about it.

Be Ready to Act Quickly

The market today is characterized by very fast trends that arise on social media like TikTok and Instagram. A product can go from being uninteresting to being the hottest item in hours. This places high demands on your ability to produce content that fits into the new trend and have an infrastructure that allows you to make the product easily accessible on your webshop as quickly as possible. Customers almost expect to be able to buy immediately. Even if the trend is brand new. There is not necessarily much understanding of logistics chains and loading times among hyped consumers.

This requires that you stay updated on trends and perhaps also try to create them with your content, so you can better predict which products it is necessary to have a head start on. Regardless, the speed customers expect requires that you have top-tuned systems so you can act quickly if you want to sell while the trend is current.