Shauna Mei, founder of AHALife, says her business has grown 600 percent in the past year in large part because she focused on using content marketing to convey her company's story.

In an increasingly digital world where remote (online) shopping is becoming mainstream, one entrepreneur proves that content marketing affords busineses the chance to create a connection with consumers. Shauna Mei, founder of AHALife, told American Express Open Forum that her business has grown 600 percent in the past year in large part because she  focused on using content to convey her company’s story.

AHALife is an online store that curates merchandise from its “network of influential taste-makers [who] search the globe for the best, most innovative and hard-to-find products.” Mei began documenting the history of her business and the story of individual products through images and narrative text in a company blog

She explains that the context about the company and individual pieces conveyed by content marketing makes people more inclined to make purchases. For instance, she ties the successful sales of a scarf with a $1,000 price tag to the story about the scarf published in the AHALife blog. She suggested to Open Forum that the products with the best stories are the ones that always boast the highest sales.

In addition to publishing blog posts on her site, Mei recognizes the value of distributing this content across social media channels. “We get emails and Tweets saying that they love the story behind our products … Then they share our stories through their social media streams.” Shared content has helped AHALife spread the word about its brand, and Mei feels this has enabled the company to grow “600 percent this year while staying true to who we are.”

Mei is not alone in finding that content brings customers. As Brafton has reported, 57 percent of marketers say blog marketing has led to new customer acquisitions this year, and social and blog marketing budgets are set to rise accordingly.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.