7.01 – Getting Content Marketing Right
Understanding Content Marketing
Content marketing is a strategic approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, ultimately driving profitable customer action. This method positions businesses as leaders by sharing information, ideas, and insights, fostering dialogue that can generate leads and sales.
Goals of Content Marketing
Effective content marketing aims to:
- Build brand awareness.
- Spark conversations about your brand.
- Position your brand as a top authority in your field.
- Encourage influencers to discuss your brand.
- Engage core consumers both online and offline.
- Achieve high levels of mentions, shares, and social media interactions.
Achieving these goals can lead to increased sales and revenue by providing customers with valuable content worth discussing and sharing.
Differentiating Content Marketing from Marketing Content
Content marketing involves campaigns that share informative rather than promotional content with customers and prospects. These campaigns typically consist of educational pieces like checklists and guides, positioning brand leaders as subject matter experts and thought leaders.
Marketing content, on the other hand, includes assets created to deliver messaging, offers, and personalised communications, such as email campaigns, blogs, banner ads, digital ads, print ads, social media posts, and signage.
Creating Engaging Content
Content marketing is crucial for the success of various marketing initiatives, including:
- Social Media Posts: Having a messaging strategy that defines relevant content to share with followers helps your social media posts gain attention and engagement.
- SEO Results: Publishing content on third-party websites and social media networks improves SEO results, enhancing your website’s search engine ranking.
- Public Relations: Media outlets seek content for their websites and print publications. Links to media websites drive SEO results, brand awareness, and consumer credibility.
- PPC Ads: Investing in pay-per-click advertising models that link to your content increases impressions and clicks, generating a strong ROI.
- Inbound Marketing: Providing content that supports decision-making and offers action items draws people to your brand, establishing your team as authorities and your brand as trustworthy.
Formats for Educational and Actionable Content
Effective content can take various forms, including:
- White papers
- Webinars
- Newsletters and news briefs
- Industry trend updates and summaries
- Media releases
- Blogs
- LinkedIn posts and articles
- Feature articles, mentions, and guest columns in print and online magazines
The message, tone, and persona of your content must be relevant to the receiver and suited to the chosen channel.
Channelling Your Content
Delivering relevant content requires choosing the right channels. For instance, personal milestones and news are suitable for Facebook but not for business channels like LinkedIn.
Consider these channels for your content:
- Third-party online news sites (mainstream and industry news outlets)
- Broadcast media (TV and radio news outlets)
- News wire services (e.g., PR Newswire)
- Blogs by your team and influencers followed by your target audience
- Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook
- Informational ideation websites (e.g., Pinterest, Reddit, Quora)
Leveraging Influencer Sites
Influencer marketing involves using social media figures with loyal followings to promote your brand. People often get their news, information, and lifestyle ideas from influencers they follow online. Monitor influencers followed by your target audiences for topic ideas, then create content around those themes and share it with influencers for increased visibility.
Identify emerging online celebrities and influencers, and consider sending them product ideas to write about. For instance, if you’re selling men’s high-end fashion and travel accessories, connect with bloggers covering men’s fashion, travel tips, and minimalism.
Instead of indiscriminately sending stories and news releases to every blogger, target those with high follower counts and respected brand ads on their sites. For example, The Fashion Spot features ads from major brands like Volvo and Nordstrom and covers both men’s and women’s fashion, making it a credible site for your products.
Conclusion
Content is a relationship-building tool. To engage customers and foster relationships that lead to sales and loyalty, produce content that is meaningful to their lives beyond the products you sell. Avoid purely promotional content to ensure customer engagement and long-term success.
