Adopt a service mindset instead of a selling mindset. That’s the entire strategy. The most valuable content, the kind that builds loyalty and keeps people from unsubscribing, focuses on solving a genuine problem for the user, not just for your business.
On the eCommerce MasterPlan podcast, Travis Zigler of Eye Love explained how his brand’s profits grew 4x after they stopped pushing sales and started serving their audience with educational content. People don’t want to be sold to, they want help. This approach, which Andrew Youderian often discusses on EcomCrew, allows you to build trust and authority. When you consistently provide answers and solutions, customers see you as a credible, helpful resource. They are far less likely to unsubscribe from someone who helps them, and far more likely to buy when the time is right, because you’ve already earned their trust.
The nuance is that this doesn’t mean you never sell. You just have to earn the right to do so. The goal is to create such helpful content that introducing your product feels like the logical next step for the reader, not a jarring advertisement. An episode of Shopify Masters detailed how a single educational article generated over $22 million in sales. It worked because it provided immense value first, guiding readers through a problem, and only then presented the product as the ultimate solution. That’s the key: serve first, then sell.