Content marketing
Abstract
Content marketing is a strategicmarketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Whats content marketing
Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used by businesses in order to:1.Attract attention and generate leads
2.Expand their customer base
3.Generate or increase online sales
4.Increase brand awareness or credibility
5.Engage an online community of users
Content marketing attracts prospects and transforms prospects into customers by creating and sharing valuable free content.
Content marketing helps companies create sustainable brand loyalty, provides valuable information to consumers, and creates a willingness to purchase products from the company in the future.
This relatively new form of marketing does not involve direct sales. Instead, it builds trust and rapport with the audience.
Different between online market and traditional market
Unlike other forms of online marketing, content marketing relies on anticipating and meeting an existing customer need for information, as opposed to creating demand for a new need.
As James O'Brien of Contently wrote on Mashable, "The idea central to content marketing is that a brand must give something valuable to get something valuable in return.
Instead of the commercial, be the show. Instead of the banner ad, be the feature story.
Content marketing requires continuous delivery of large amounts of content, preferably within a content marketing strategy.
Types of content marketing
Blogging is one of the most popular types of content marketing for small businesses. And for good reason! Blogs are one of the best ways to improve SEO and drive more organic traffic to your site from the search engines.
This can help you make the most of your limited marketing budget by supplementing any advertising with inbound content.
In fact, according to Forbes, websites that include a blog typically have 434% more indexed pages than those that don’t.
This means that sites with blogs have a greater chance of ending up on the first page of search engines like Google when consumers search for relevant keywords.
Additionally, business sites with blogs have 97% more inbound links, which also helps with search engine optimization.
2.Infographic
Infographics help businesses educate their audiences and provide useful information that can add value for leads and customers.
This visual content marketing format helps viewers better visualize data such as statistics so that they can have a better idea of why something is valuable or how something works.
3.Case Studies
Another one of the most valuable types of content marketing is the case study. Case studies are basically customer stories that illustrate how your business has helped a specific client or customer become successful.
Businesses can use case studies to highlight special applications or uses for their services and products.
Consumers like case studies because this type of content helps them better understand how your brand can add value in their lives or businesses.
Though you can provide general applications or uses for your products or services, a real-life example is often more valuable as it helps your business build trust with new leads.
4.Video
Video is a great content marketing tactic for small businesses because it provides such an appealing return on investment.
According to BrightCove, brands that use video can expect to see an average increase of 157% in organic traffic from search engines.
Video also helps increase time spent on site by 105%. The more time your customers spend on your website, the greater your company’s chances of making a sale. In addition to that, check out these statistics:
According to Effy, social videos has an increase of 1200% more shares compared to other content types.
Based on research by Think, consumers now prefer to watch a video about a product first before buying it.
Whether it’s a product review, unboxing or how-to videos, they will surely look for it online. It just shows how videos can greatly affect their decision to buy a product or not.
In a study by Insivia, it was stated that landing pages with video content has a higher
5.eBooks
eBooks are an effective type of long-form content that businesses can use to provide value for their leads and customers.
The keyword here is value. Your eBook should not be a 5 to 10 page ad. Instead, it should provide some type of useful information and insight for your target audience about their needs and challenges.
Like many other types of content marketing, it’s not about selling to your audience, it’s about building a relationship with target consumers so that they trust your brand and come to you when they’re ready to make a purchase.
eBooks are one of the best types of content marketing for collecting lead information. That’s because they are typically gated, which means that visitors must provide some type of information about themselves in exchange for the eBook download.
6.White papers
White papers are similar to eBooks in a lot of ways. The whitepaper is another type of long-form content that can be effective as a lead magnet.
However, the main difference between eBooks and white papers is that white papers tend to be a bit more information-dense, data-driven, and detail-focused.
This makes whitepapers one of the best types of content marketing for B2B and other small businesses that want to build thought leadership and gain more respect in their industry.
One of the greatest benefits of white papers is that they can help your small business gather information about new leads.
7.Checklists
Checklists are a type of worksheet that provide a list of things to do in a step-by-step process in order to achieve some type of desired outcome.
These are great content assets for small businesses because they are easy to create and promote, yet still provide a significant value for the target audience.
8.Interviews
Interviews with industry experts or even your own customers are another one of the most high-performing types of content marketing.
Interview content provides valuable information for your site visitors that can help them better understand their challenges and needs.
Not to mention, it is a great way to position your company as an expert in the industry.
9.Social Media Posts
At this point, it’s no longer a secret that small businesses can harness the power of social media to reach their target audiences.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram help businesses reach new audiences and nurture relationships with customers.
The content of your social media posts play an important role in how your company engages new leads and existing customers.
How you use social media posts as part of your content marketing strategy will depend on what your goals are. When it comes to conversions, there are a few different ways that the various social media channels can be used to influence your target market’s purchasing decisions.
Social media posts can be used to help new leads discover your products, alert consumers to sales and promotions, and provide leads and customers with additional information about your products.
10.GIFs and Memes
It seems like everywhere you turn, someone is sharing one of their favorite memes.
These types of content have become extremely popular among consumers and have solidified their importance in popular culture. Not to mention, memes and GIFs are some of the most shareable types of content marketing on the web today.
Becom content markiting
1.Start by building your writing skills
It may seem obvious that someone overseeing content should be comfortable with words, but the importance of this skill cannot be overstated--which is why it’s first on our list.
If you’re new to the content marketing world, start by taking a copywriting position (or another job that involves a large amount of writing) to build your writing skills.This will give you the foundation you need to succeed in content.
Over time, you can expand your skills to span other digital marketing areas, but great writers are hard to find and even harder to replace. Make sure you’re one of them.
2.Learn from the experts
Content marketing is a relatively new field that is constantly evolving and involves a ton of experimentation.
Because of this, it’s important to follow the experts, learning from both their successes and their mistakes.
3.Develop your technical skills
Technical skills are increasingly sought-after. Content marketers often work in WordPress or other content management systems.
Other coveted skills include SEO, html, Google Analytics (and similar analyticsplatforms), as well as CSS, demand generation, and coding.
Many companies are willing to train individuals who possess basic technical aptitude to use specific programs, but other technical skills can be learned before you ever start your first position through online training programs, reading, and practicing.
4.Brush up your research skills
Anyone who writes for a living will tell you that research can make or break a piece of content.
Valuable research is always attractive to an audience, while poor quality or outdated research can ruin your reputation as a writer.
But research goes beyond just looking for relevant stats; it’s also about researching your target audience.
Great content marketers truly understand their customers and create the kind of content they crave.
Use research to understand buyer motivations, pain points, and the types of content they prefer to consume.
You should also identify your competitors, how they’re positioning their brands, what type of content they’re producing and the content gaps they’ve left open that you can fill. You should also research and fully understand your company’s products and how they are unique.
You can do research online, within your company (through meetings with thought leaders or product experts) or by interviewing your customers.
You might also choose to use tools such as BuzzSumo to better understand your industry and its influencers.
5.Get creative
Many people believe creativity is some kind of innate skill, but this isn’t true.
While some individuals have more of an inclination toward creative endeavours than others, a creative spirit can be cultivated.
Start by reading books, painting, or writing poetry--something you enjoy. Then take things up a notch. Many small companies are looking for content marketers who also have brand development and design skills.
Not only must these marketers have a creative eye (which is necessary for almost any content marketing position), they must actually do some of the creative work themselves.
