Content marketing

: how product presentation and search engine optimization techniques can improve the online customer experience : case study of Mercadão

Abstract

The e-commerce market’s growing competitiveness forced companies to stand out with strategies that meet consumers’ needs. In fact, the online channel is still not well accepted by many as it involves some challenges related to the “need to touch” products. With that in mind, this work seeks to understand the relevance of content marketing strategies to consumers' online experiences, proposing two research questions: “How product presentation can influence the online customer experience?” and “How SEO techniques can influence the online customer experience?”. To address these, case study research was carried out based on Mercadão’s activity and, to understand the e-commerce market and the company’s activity, some data was collected by direct observation, considering my internship at the company. Quantitative studies were developed that allowed to acquire important knowledge on the brand responses and the importance consumers attach to online product presentations and SEO techniques. Studies’ results showed that consumers identify product presentation and informative product descriptions as important and decisive factors in their online shopping experiences. They also demonstrated to be sensitive to brands that appear in 1st in search engines and considered important to have easy and efficient access to websites. These outcomes allowed to conclude how crucial it is for online companies to consider those strategies to meet consumers' needs, developing better online customer experiences.

Date of Award	11 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Filipa da Rocha de Castro e Côrte-Real (Supervisor)