Content marketing is a marketing approach focused on the creation and distribution of valuable and relevant content to attract your target audience. Your goal with content marketing is to improve brand awareness, increase website traffic, and drive profitable customer action.
Content marketing differs from traditional advertising because rather than with direct selling campaigns, it first aims to foster a relationship with the audience through valuable content. Traditional marketing tells consumers about their products and services. Content marketing publishes and promotes content the audience find exciting and useful. Instead of pushing product, you use the material to get your brand noticed.
Top Content Marketing Goals
Content marketing goals are highly individualized. Different companies have different marketing goals. Your priorities are influenced by the size of your business, available resources, and budget. Here are the top content marketing goals for most companies:
- Brand awareness
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Convert leads into customers
- Customer retention
- Sales
- Building an audience/Subscription growth
Know Your Audience
The last thing you want to do is pour hours into a great piece of content, publish it, and have few people read it. Material falls flat when it’s not created with a specific audience in mind. When people don’t feel it was written for them based on the title or the first few sentences, they instantly disconnect.
The essential first step of any strategy is knowing who you are marketing. Your goal should not be to create content for everyone. Do your research in advance. Start by looking at your competitors. Engage in social listening by monitoring reader comments and engagements. You can also try conducting surveys.
Types of Content
There are dozens of different kinds of content. The simplest way to determine what type of material to create is to focus on what your target audience wants and what your specific marketing goals are. Here are the top categories of content:
- Blogs
- Articles
- Webinars
- eBooks
- Case studies
- Digital magazines
- Research reports
- White Papers
- Downloadable guides
- Podcast recordings
- Infographics
- Case studies
- Videos
Start a Blog
Your blog is the center of your content marketing strategy. Blogs fuel SEO because search engines love valuable content. Your blog gives your company a voice, creating a place for you to talk about your business. It’s a platform where you can tell your brand’s story, allowing you to share your company’s philosophy.
Tailor your blog content to your target customer. Ask yourself what type of material they would show interest. Social media is an excellent resource to find out what your ideal customer is seeking. You may also want to check out your competitor’s blog to get some inspiration.
Promotion of your blog is the crucial next step to publishing. There’s no sense in publishing content if you have no intention to get the word out and get as many eyes on it as possible. Leverage your social media to promote your blog to all your networks, increasing traffic to your website and improving brand awareness.
Tracking Your Performance
Because you want to improve consistently, it’s essential to monitor your results. You can prove content marketing ROI. When you follow your content’s performance, you can match your KPIs to your marketing’s unique goals.
Content is one of the best ways to boost brand awareness, bringing you more than just web traffic and leads. With a well-defined content marketing strategy, you can effectively reach your customers, grow your business, increase sales, and establish authority.
