Content marketing's purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.
Regardless of what type of marketing tactics you use, content marketing should be part of your process, not something separate. Quality content is part of all forms of marketing:
Perhaps more important than understand what content marketing is, is understanding why content marketing is important to your business. First we need to understand the four steps of the buying cycle:
Add value. That's the secret. It's not really a secret at all. We've already talked about it throughout this piece. Although when you look at some of the marketing companies engage in you wonder if they're purposely avoiding the obvious. We skip advertising when it provides little to no value.
If you want to learn about advertising that doesn't get skipped, find a skateboarder and ask him if you can watch him look through a skateboard magazine. You'll see that he spends as much time looking at the ads as he does looking at the articles and photos. Or check out The Berrics website. Much of the content is advertisements, but skaters don't skip these videos, they watch them just like they watch the other videos, because they're getting the value they want--good skating.
As a skater I'd like to say skateboard companies pioneered content marketing decades ago, but I know they were only doing what came naturally, and selling more product was secondary to the fun of creating videos and magazines. If you want to hire someone onto your marketing team who understands content marketing intuitively, hiring a skateboarder might not be a bad step.
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:
Content marketing has become one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes and industries. However, when it comes down to developing your strategy, it can be difficult to decide which types of content marketing you want to use to grow your business.
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.
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.
Short and attention-grabbing informational videos can help you engage consumers in the awareness stage. While how-to videos and product demos are great for influencing purchasing decisions among consumers in the decision stages.
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
The infographic also uses eye-catching visuals that are relevant to the topic and make it easier for the viewer to understand the information that's presented.If you're interested in producing more infographics for your business, contact us to learn more about how our team of talented designers can help.
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
The infographic also uses eye-catching visuals that are relevant to the topic and make it easier for the viewer to understand the information that's presented.If you're interested in producing more infographics for your business, contact us to learn more about how our team of talented designers can help.
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.
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.
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.
