Content Marketing
Content marketing is an approach that businesses take to draw in interested customers, build relationships with them, and keep them loyal by producing and distributing important material such as articles, videos, podcasts, and more. This technique will make your company stand out, create recognition of your brand, and keep your organization in the minds of customers when they are ready to purchase your product.
A content marketing plan sets up your brand as a specialist in the field, encouraging faith among your viewers by fabricating and circulating material in different manners. Content marketing is an inbound marketing strategy that draws in customers and creates loyalty, therefore it is useful for keeping customers.
Content marketing definition: What is content marketing?
The creation and delivery of valuable, interesting material to current and potential clients is what content marketing involves. This could be in form of emails, videos, blogs, white papers, newsletters, and other social media posts. When done accurately, this material presents proficiency and demonstrates that a company appreciates its customers.
Content marketing that is used regularly builds and strengthens connections to potential and current clients. If your customers view your company as a companion that is concerned about their prosperity and a helpful provider of direction and help, it is more probable that they will choose you when it comes to making a purchase.
Why is content marketing important?
Content marketing is an effective technique that has been shown to be successful. Also, it provides a competitive advantage. Take a look at what the data says about content marketing:
- Businesses with blogs get 67% more leads than other companies.
- 72% of business to business (B2B) marketers say content marketing increases engagement and the number of leads they generate.
- 88% of people credit branded videos for convincing them to purchase a product or service.
Content marketing benefits businesses in many ways. When done right, an effective content marketing strategy can:
- Increase online visibility. A content strategy can help you attract more customers and website visitors, especially when people are constantly looking for solutions to their pain points. Offering educational and informative content about a topic they’re interested in can help you increase visibility online through your website or social media accounts.
- Generate more leads. You can increase leads when content marketing is used to drive traffic. Since educating customers builds trust and helps them feel more comfortable purchasing from your business, you can generate more leads and start to develop relationships with potential shoppers.
- Boost loyalty. Loyalty is essential in marketing and business because the more loyal your customers are, the more repeat purchases they’ll make. Offering content that informs consumers can help them begin to build trust with your brand and see you as a thought leader.
- Improve authority. Developing content is ideal for improving authority and becoming a thought leader in your industry. Not only does content help you build trust, but it can position your brand as the most authoritative on a particular topic.
How content marketing works
Content marketing can be utilized by your company to draw in leads, demonstrate the benefits of your product/service while someone is analyzing what they should purchase, and finalize transactions.
You will have to provide the necessary material throughout the entire sales process–starting from making people familiar to the concept of your product to when they make the purchase. Do not be perplexed if this appears elaborate, since following this method of dealing with content can actually simplify the job.
Businesses utilize content marketing strategies during every step of the sales process to help propagate and promote their product.
Awareness stage
At the beginning of the sales process, the content you provide should address the most crucial worries of the individuals you are selling to. Recording what trouble they are facing, the difficulties they are dealing with, and the queries they are asking gives the highest probability of captivating them. Content during the awareness stage should provide detailed educational information and show people how to do something. Save your selling for the consideration and closing phases.
Suitable materials for this phase should involve articles, blogs, e-books, movies, and email updates.
Examples:
- A restaurant writes a blog post about how to plan a menu for a graduation party in the spring.
- A bike touring company creates a short video on the topic “3 Ways to Choose the Right Bike Trip.”
- An architecture firm creates an e-book called “Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Architect.”
Consideration stage
When contemplating a purchase, content should provide a combination of useful data and promotional material. The article should provide the reader with knowledge about which elements to consider and how specific features can fulfill their needs. Your material should be oriented toward the services and products your company provides.
The most desirable material for this phase would involve illustration of actual events, instructional pieces, videos exhibiting step-by-step directions, and to-do-lists or paperwork.
Examples:__
- A cloud-based phone system company creates a checklist entitled “8 Ways to Improve Your Phone Customer Service” that details the features and functions that make great customer service possible.
- A landscaping company creates case studies about “The Biggest Mistakes Most People Make When They Hire a Landscaper.”
- A catering company features case studies of successful events with a focus on the benefits they offer, such as “How to Accommodate Food Allergies at Your Next Event,” or “How to Ensure Your Caterer Uses Sustainable Practices.”
Closing stage
Content marketing has a big impact when a potential buyer is close to making a purchase. Right now, you can put your efforts towards generating sales, just make sure to emphasize why you are the optimal choice rather than only talking about your outstanding products and services.
The focus of your communication should be on your level of proficiency, the expertise you have acquired, and the advantages of your offerings compared to the competition.
For this phase, it is ideal to use a combination of case studies, user-generated content, a buyer’s guide, product videos, and a research report.
Examples:
- A consulting firm creates a research report proving that businesses that engage in strategic planning, assessments by outsiders, and other services—shaped by what services it offers—experience higher growth.
- A design agency creates short videos showcasing the variety in its work across different industries to demonstrate its diverse expertise.
- An orthodontist practice encourages patients to contribute testimonials about its state-of-the-art equipment and top-notch service.
10 Key Content Marketing Tips
1. Take Generation “C” Into Account (The Millennials)
The letter “C” refers to being connected, and this has been highlighted well by Cisco. The cohort of people aged 18-34 are now in charge of the annual spending of over five-hundred billion dollars on the internet. In a few years, most of the labor force will be composed of them.
Key ways to identify them:
- They’re always connected.
- They don’t engage with traditional attempts by businesses to reach them.
- They trust and rely on friends’ recommendations.
- They won’t be pushed.
- They are looking for reasons to read and share.
2. Keep Your Brand Genuine
People in the present and future of your intended demographics desire honesty. They are looking to discover your identity and who they are dealing with. They want to know who is behind the brand.
3. It’s Time to Get a Cause
Nowadays, customers don’t focus solely on how much money something costs them; what’s vital to them is being associated with a good cause. Talk about your cause. Be a storyteller.
4. People Need to “Get” Your Content
It is a smart move to make your writing easier to comprehend. Clarity is key so that readers can comprehend your content when they access it on any device. It is essential for content strategy to take into account the needs of mobile users. Ensure that all the content you post online is optimized to be used on mobile devices.
5. Keep Them Participating
Aim to hold competitions as often as you can. Urge your audience to “cast a ballot” for your new logo or fill in a questionnaire to demonstrate that their opinion counts. Start a Twitter chat. Participate in Twitter chats as your brand.
6. Honor Customers
Here’s an idea for this point. Why not have a “customer of the month” feature? You wish for your groups to stay connected for the following tale.
7. Visuals are More Effective Than Text
People much prefer to observe what is being communicated rather than just reading it. Whenever you think of fresh material, think about how you could present it in a visually appealing way – such as through an infographic, podcast, video, or any other medium. Present the text next to the original. Google will recognize this and it will have a positive effect on its ranking. Do not leave out any written content, but include bold visuals in your text.
8. Plan How You’ll Generate Content Ideas
Keep a file of content ideas at all times. Formulate queries that your viewers may inquire, tune in to what they express.
9. CTAs Should Garner Email Addresses
Aim to maintain a growing email base. Provide your readers with plentiful chances to provide you with their information. Be imaginative when it comes to your emails, particularly their subject lines to make sure they are read. Additionally, add share buttons.
10. Neuroscience and Sales Psychology
Most of the shopping choices we make are motivated by our emotions, accounting for approximately 85%; the remaining 15% of purchase decisions are based on logical reasoning. Look deeply into the findings from neuroscience that show which regions of the brain are active in response to different stimuli. Use it in your content marketing strategies.
Putting Your Best Foot Forward with Content Marketing (It’s About to Get Ugly)
Various marketers have been carrying on a marketing strategy over the past few years. They have put together a plan and have been writing blog posts on a regular basis multiple times a week. They have achieved notable success in enlarging their mailing list and numerous leads have been translated into actual sales.
Managers are starting to want to know when they can expect to see the results of the content marathon. When will they observe an increase in new leads?
What actions are you taking to raise the standard and effort of your content marketing?
How to Be Smart About Content Marketing
Let’s examine a selection of digital marketing trends; we anticipate that more may be added in the near future. You may be able to allocate less time to your content marketing plan by utilizing these tendencies.
Budgets are Going to Grow, Just Not as Fast
It was anticipated that there would be an increase of 55% in investment in content marketing in 2015. It has been a remarkable span of time for marketing initiatives, with one of the most significant rises compared to the previous year.
But there is a downside. An ever-increasing amount of content is being produced, leading to audience exhaustion concerning content marketing globally.
These days:
- Everybody has a blog.
- Everyone has a video you can watch.
- Everybody has case studies or white papers that can be downloaded.
- Everyone wants you on their email marketing list.
Long-Form Content Will Be in Demand
Experts have mentioned that there has been a rise in the popularity of extended content. Why? Because it thoroughly answers questions.
Right now, not many writers are producing articles that are extensive in length, however, it is likely that this will begin to change. As it stands, this year we’ve noticed:
- The majority of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did in 2014.
- Content over 1,500 words is being shared more often.
- The average length of content for a web page that is ranking within the top 10 results for any keyword on Google tends to have a minimum of 2,000 words.
Many people suggest that blog posts should be limited to 300 to 500 words. Nowadays, it is apparent that the brief entries posted online are not being placed prominently. Not at all. You should be creating content for your readers, but getting them to discover it is also important. One of those surefire ways is long-form content.
Try Blogging Less, With Better Quality
You heard right. Blog less. I don’t mean fewer words, but rather less frequency. Yes, I know this completely goes against everything you’ve been taught, but let’s just think about it:
If the top results for a Google search are all lengthy articles, it is doubtful that posting 700-word blog posts thrice a week will make much of an impact, don’t you agree?
If you’re a blogger who has been steadily publishing content over the last couple of years, it’s now time for a change in your approach. Strategize in a way to make your content stand out from the rest, ultimately improving its ranking. Generating material that is at least 1,500 words in length.
It’s likely you’re speculating: What is the best way to make useful content that is that extended?
Assuming you blog 500 words three times per week, you would be producing a total of 1,500 words.
Instead of writing three individual articles that are brief, base your posts off of the motives and interests of your buyers and create one, longer blog post (1,500 words) once a week that includes all the topics.
