Content marketing is – you guessed it – a type of marketing strategy.
But what makes it different from other types of marketing you know?
On the one hand, think of it as the polar opposite of traditional marketing methods like advertising.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the process of planning, creating, and distributing valuable content (such as blogs, videos, podcast episodes, ebooks, guides, etc.) to attract and engage a specific audience.
- Brands and marketers conduct research to learn more about their customers' pain points, questions, and information needs about their industry, product, or service.
- They then create content to alleviate pain points, answer those questions, and provide that information.
- Over time, as potential customers interact with the product, read its content, and interact with it, their trust and affinity with the brand grows.
- Ultimately, that loyalty leads to the ultimate goal of any content marketing strategy: a profitable sale or other action on behalf of a brand.
Content Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing
We briefly refer to traditional marketing as opposed to content marketing.
What is the difference?
In terms of return on investment, content marketing costs less to maintain than traditional marketing, but delivers three times as many results.
Also note: Desktop ad blocking is at an all-time high, which means more people than ever are using ad-blocking software to remove traditional ads from their online experience.
And 70% of consumers in the General Demand report said they use three or more pieces of content as part of the buying process.
Content marketing is the present and future of marketing. It exists differently than normal marketing.
Traditional marketing
Traditional marketing uses external methods to deliver brand messages and products/services to consumers .
It's the kind of marketing you see every day of your life. Brands keep reinventing themselves, so much so that most of us have learned to adapt.
External methods include:
- TV commercials.
- billboard.
- Publish an advertisement (e.g. in magazines and newspapers).
- Display advertising (e.g. banner or pop-up advertising on websites).
- sweet call
- Industrial fair.
- Door to door sales.
content marketing
In contrast, content marketing is an inbound approach, meaning that brands create and publish content with the expectation that excitement, interest, and engagement will organically generate leads for them .
Content marketing is all about exposing your audience to the right content at the right time.
This helps them build brand awareness, increase engagement, and engage them in the brand's marketing channel and profitable actions (like a purchase).
Why Use Content Marketing?
You are probably already using content marketing. No matter where you are, the benefits of investing in content speak for themselves.
1. Get more (and better) leads
Content marketing does not generate three times more results than traditional marketing.
Additionally, leads from content are often qualified (ie, more likely to buy) based on the nature of the content.
Consistently good content that enlightens, reminds, or inspires helps keep audiences engaged with the brand over the long term. This association creates trust in the competence of the brand and creates brand recall.
Building a brand with content in the first place is paramount for a leader—especially if that content is relevant, relevant, and of high quality to their pain points. It's just a great experience that keeps you coming back for more...and more.
Finally, when they are ready to buy, who do they turn to? A brand they trust gives them great content.
2. It is more affordable and durable
Traditional marketing often pays for visibility. Giving a message or a name to the masses. And no matter where you advertise, advertising space costs money.
The moment you turn off those ads and stop paying, that visibility is gone.
Content marketing couldn't be more different.
The cost is mostly upfront: if you can't build it yourself, you'll have to pay someone to do it for you. Depending on the content, you may need to hire a writer/editor, graphic designer, video editor, or even an animator.
Once content is created and published, the possibilities are endless.
- If the topic is persistent and the material is SEO-optimized, it can drive passive traffic on autopilot for years. This equates to passive leads that come in without the brand working for them or paying much.
- This content can be reused and reused, reducing the cost of creating new content.
- An element of strategic and cost-effective improvement like a small rewrite can remain important over the long term.
Now imagine an entire website optimized for long-tail keywords and filled with evergreen content that drives highly targeted traffic that can convert. With the right structure, strategy and content, this site becomes a lead generation machine.
And it still costs 62% less than traditional marketing methods.
3. What is consumer choice?
Let's be realistic. Surprisingly, consumers avoid traditional marketing (like advertising) when they are as passive as possible. Methods people use to block them include:
- ad blocker.
- Change your media habits to see fewer ads.
- Pay for a subscription that promises no ads.
What do consumers like?
Content marketing of course.
70% said they would rather promote a business through content than through traditional advertising. They want to see and actively seek out valuable content from their favorite brands as they move from awareness to consideration in the sales cycle.
Finally, with consumers smarter than ever when it comes to sales tactics, hitting them where they are with content is a smart game.
Discover the trust of daily newspaper search marketers.
How to start implementing content marketing
Are you ready to get started with content marketing?
Don't go there blindly. You need a strategy to ensure you get the results you want.
Here are the first steps to implementing a content marketing and SEO strategy.
Step 1: Define your goals
First, decide what you want to benefit from content marketing. Pick one or two specific goals and decide how to track and measure them.
For well-known brands, you may need to conduct a website and content review to determine goals that will drive your (or your client's) business, where you are, and what you need to do to better meet both.
For new brands, remember that content marketing takes time and consistency. Setting goals means considering what can be achieved with the available resources.
Here are some common content marketing goals and related content types:
- More Traffic : Combine content marketing and SEO with keyword-optimized blogging to get more relevant traffic from Google.
- Additional Principles: Leverage existing traffic on your website by nurturing visitors by creating consistent content on relevant topics (targeted blogs, videos, podcast episodes, guides, reports).
- Upsell : Create content aimed at proving the value of your business (testimonials, case studies, white papers) to potential customers at the decision-making stage.
Step 2: Define your target group
Next, make sure you know exactly who you're creating content for.
You need to understand their needs, likes, challenges, and pain points to create content that empowers them. The only way to gather all the information? To research.
Personality research in particular can help you understand who visits your website, who is interested in what you/your customers are selling and what motivates them.
Also helpful: One-on-one meetings with ideal customers provide insight into industry-related brand challenges.
Step 3: Choose your platform and content format
Don't take the next step without knowing where your online audience is located and what content formats they prefer. Plan your content marketing accordingly.
For example, do you blog? A podcast? Video? Where is it published? Which platform will be your main focus?
Remember, you don't need to be on every platform to be successful. Pick a few to focus your efforts on and the results will be far better than trying to show up everywhere.
I recommend focusing on your real estate—your website and blog—as well as a supporting social media channel or two.
Step 4: Plan content based on keywords
The golden rule of content marketing:
Don't guess what to do. Follow the information.
Therefore, plan your content topics and verify them through research (or primary and, if necessary, secondary research). Find out what your audience really wants to read, watch or hear...then create it.
With that in mind, some of the best content comes from direct research from your audience. Use these topics to create engaging content that directly answers their questions and solves their problems.
Finally, match your content topics to relevant keywords that can win you over in search engines.
Use SEO techniques to optimize your content for these keywords and you will get people to respond directly to the issues and questions you address in your content.
Step 5: Decide who will write/create
For content to work, you need the highest possible quality. This means your content will engage your audience and protect your reputation while building your authority.
It's a tall order, and you'll probably need some help with it (of course, I recommend you never write your own content!).
At this point, brands may need to hire an innovator (or two or three, depending on scale) to disrupt creativity. Decide what tasks you want to outsource (writing? editing? video editing? graphic design?) and plan how the overall content will be created.
Step 6: Plan your content publishing schedule
The last thing you need to plan is your content release schedule. However, a common mistake is overestimating how much content you are safe to post on a regular basis.
Remember: Consistency and quality are just as important as quantity. If the former suffers because you overdo it, it will affect your strategy and your results.
The key is to find a good balance where you create quality content on a weekly (or bi-weekly or monthly) basis.
While more content on your website means more traffic, engagement, retention and conversion don't work when the content is low quality.
Content marketing is a smart way to grow.
Content marketing is smart, plain and simple marketing.
It's about planning, creating and delivering great content that attracts an audience, engages their interest, builds their confidence and ultimately gives them a reason to buy.
Compared to traditional marketing, it's less expensive, brings in more qualified leads, and is easier to maintain. Consumers love seeing it from brands they love and associate with
Getting started with content marketing isn't hard either—as long as you have a game plan and stick to a strategy. Content marketing should never be pursued with a “fit in our pants” approach. Careful planning is key to achieving goals, seeing success, and realizing a return on investment.
With the right ingredients, your content marketing efforts will pay off with better leads that stay on the page longer and convert to customers over time.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. The employed authors are listed here.
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