You hear a lot of marketers talk about content marketing. It may be the most prominent form of marketing activities used today. Sure, there is a lot of information out there on how important it is. Rather than adding more noise to an otherwise broad topic, let’s dive into what content marketing really consists of.
Content marketing includes:
| Blog posts | Videos |
| Articles | White papers |
| Photography | Webinars |
| Infographics | Podcasts |
| Case Studies | Paid Advertising |
| eBooks | Email Newsletters |
Whether you promote your content on social media or email it to your prospects, it is a great way to get people to engage and learn about your products and/or services. While this list of content types seems exhaustive, determining your KPI’s and goals is key to selecting the right strategy for your business.
You might be thinking, why is content marketing so important?
People are consuming content on a historical level in 2020. Never has content been so directed at consumers at the micro-level where you can engage with them through their smartphone at every minute of the day. Where big brands succeed, constant content that can be consumed by their target audiences every day of the week.
There is a lot of supplementary benefits to content marketing. One example being that long-form blog posts can proactively boost your Google SEO ranking. Think of it like a narrative that your customers can follow, and potentially shared with their network. It allows the broader audience to not only find your business but can also offer a peek into the culture of your brand, updates to products or services and drive leads to your website.
Where do I start?
Of course, working with an agency like ours to leverage previous success and technical acumen would be your best foot forward. With an agency, there is a skilled team well versed in consumer psychology, copywriting, automation, graphic design, video production, and public relations to name a few.
If you were to explore your own content marketing strategy, best practices for beginners would be to simply start with social media and review the reaction after a specified amount of time. Maybe try your skills with free tools such as Canva and create some of your own unique infographics.
There are plenty of reasons why it is executed by the worlds leading brands and marketers. Whether or not you keep it in-house or outsource your content marketing to an agency, social media platforms continue to grow, and even more time consuming, they continue to change. It is our job to keep up.
The one thing that will continue to be the key driver of marketing efforts as we move towards a new normal is content. Take some time to think that extra iota when scanning your preferred sites. What are your favorite brands doing to engage with customers online?
