As traditional marketing is becoming less effective, forward-thinking marketers and business leaders are finding a better way to stay competitive in their industry through great content. In a nutshell, content marketing involves the use of different types of content to help companies reach their marketing goals which may include boosting brand awareness and acquiring new customers or retaining existing ones.
Content is King
“Content is king” has been a highly popular buzz-phrase in the digital marketing industry. It emphasises how important content is. Many of the areas of digital marketing such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and social media marketing are only around because of content.
Without content, SEO specialists would have nothing to optimise for search engines and social media marketers would have nothing to share on social networking sites. Every tweet, landing page, email newsletter, blog, and product description are all examples of content.
Also Read: What are the Key Essentials in Established Brands’ Content
It can be said that content is at the heart of digital marketing, as it allows businesses to connect with their customers and potential clients.
Advantages of Content Marketing
Content marketing not only allows you to expand your company’s reach, but also brings about the following advantages:
- Inform your prospects and existing customers about the products and services you offer
- Convert leads into actual customers
- Establish a strong relationship between consumers and your business
- Connect with your audience and entice consumers
- Build a sense of community around your company’s brand
Traditional Marketing vs Content Marketing
Traditional marketing involves strategies that interrupt your audience to get noticed. The approaches may include magazine ads, billboards, TV commercials, radio advertisements, among many others. These approaches interrupt potential customers as they’re doing something else, such as driving or watching their favourite show on TV. However, these outbound marketing strategies aren’t as effective in converting leads as before.
The primary reason is that this approach in marketing doesn’t provide value to the audience, and there is no inherent reason for consumers to view them and take action. They rely on extreme creativity, clever wording, and excellent placement only to capture attention for a brief period, hoping for that few seconds to be enough to communicate the brand’s message and entice consumers into trying the products or services offered. Traditional marketing strategies also present limitations to the insights and the analytics that could be gleaned from how your audience engaged with your content. For instance, it will be hard to measure how many passersby looked at a billboard.
Meanwhile, content marketing provides a way to connect with customers without interrupting them. It is a viable alternative to traditional marketing efforts as they engage customers who willingly read, watch, or listen to your message rather than doing everything they can to avoid it.
Content marketing provides actual value either in the form of educational content or entertainment content. No matter which form of content, potential customers usually have free access to these.
Types of Content Marketing
It is essential to understand the different types of content marketing to come up with creative and persuasive ways to establish a solid relationship with your potential customers. Below are the most popular options that you can add in your content marketing strategy.
Blog Content Marketing
Blogs are an effective type of content for inbound marketing and can be educational, product-related, or company-related. Blog posts can be promoted by linking to different relevant posts, sharing on social media sites, and linking to your partners’ websites.
Social Media Content Marketing
With billions of people from all over the world being active on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it is easy to understand why companies invest on social media efforts. By sharing your content on these various platforms, you will be able to take advantage of opportunities to connect with consumers.
Infographic Content Marketing
Infographics display content, data, statistics, and other forms of valuable information in a graphic format, making it easier to understand. By combining simple wording, descriptive and relevant images, and short statements, infographics communicate your brand’s message effectively and creatively.
Video Content Marketing
Most people retain information better when presented visually. Because of this, video content marketing is effective in improving conversions and ROI. These videos can also be shared on social networking sites, your company website, and your partners’ site pages.
Converting More Prospects With Content Marketing
Content marketing will only allow you to reach your target audience and boost lead conversions if you implement the right content marketing strategy.
A content marketing strategy focuses on your company’s vision and the ins and outs of how and why your content will be created. Before you even start with the execution of your content marketing efforts, it is crucial to put in place a thoroughly planned content marketing strategy that will satisfy your unique business needs and work towards your goals.
From brand building to lead generation and client nurturing, high-quality content is undoubtedly the key to reaching your company’s marketing objectives. While it helps to optimize content for search engines, what is ultimately even more important is to create content that is relevant and valuable to your target customers, as well as help them through the sales funnel.
At Verba Content, we have a team of content marketing specialists who can determine the type of content that will work best for your business and craft a content marketing strategy that will boost your bottom line. If you want to learn more about how we can help you, reach out to us today and let’s talk about your business needs.