When it comes to Content Marketing, it is all about information. It is the marketing of a brand or business by sharing educational, insightful and entertaining information which adds value to the lives of readers. It could be in the form of a purchase decision or change in personal consumer behavior. The truth is that content marketing is not about forcing a sales pitch at prospective customers, but it is about helping them take the best course of action (which could be buying from you).
Strategic Marketing Approach
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach which focuses on the creation and distribution of consistent, relevant and valuable content in order to attract or retain the target audience so as to drive profitable customer action. It is an ongoing process which should be integrated with the overall marketing strategy. It is about owning the media and not renting it.
Content Marketing Vs Inbound Marketing
The difference between content marketing and inbound marketing depends on the person. Many marketers believe that content marketing is in a way, a subset of inbound marketing. In simple words, the difference in content marketing is that it is the act of sharing advice, entertainment or knowledge in a consumable format and it includes the following.
- Quizzes
- Cartoons
- Infographics
- Webinars
- Emails
- Social Media Marketing
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Blog Articles
- Apps
- Assessments
On the other hand, inbound marketing focuses on using tactics such as content marketing for nurturing and generating leads in order to make a sale. It includes all the aspects of sales and digital marketing. Another difference between content marketing and inbound marketing is the way they conduct marketing. Inbound marketing focuses on specific buyer personas and content marketing focuses on a broad target audience.
The Foundation of Content Marketing Is Blogging
Ever since the emergence of blog articles, content marketing started to form. In the business world, blogs have become commonplace as well as for our society in general. Blogs allow people to access quality information for free. By sharing informative content through a business blog, one inevitably appears as an industry expert which would generate traffic and convert the visitors into potential buyers.
By sharing free content, the business is able to build trust with readers. Besides, the business is providing industry information and tips for free.
Videos, eBooks and Email
Blogs are one of the gateways for other content marketing mediums. Although, blog articles are often short, they address industry topics thoroughly. There are other forms of content marketing which provide detailed information and help convert customers.
Videos provide an engaging way to interact with the buyer personas. Great videos tend to go viral and help generate plenty of attention and traffic for the brand.
For instance, eBooks allow extensive information to be shared. The most frequently asked questions about the business are shared through them and they go to great lengths for explaining key points to readers.
Tone of the key goals of content marketing is to obtain contact information from readers. Whether the readers subscribe to the newsletter or they fill out forms to get access to eBooks and tools, it helps grant future contact with them as they provide their personal email address. By having email subscribers, the brand would be able to share more content and nurture more leads to close those leads and convert them into sales with the help of various email campaigns.
So Why Content Marketing?
In order to understand the importance of content marketing, it is vital to be familiar with the four steps of the buying cycle which are awareness, research, consideration and purchase.
The thing about traditional marketing and advertising is that it is effective for the second two steps only and after that it simply trails off. This is where content marketing comes into place. It taps into the first two stages by creating awareness of the solution and educating the customer about the product.
If one looks at the return on investment for content marketing, they would be amazed. Content marketing fully utilizes SEO and if you have heard of SEO, then you would know that content is king.
Improves Customer Service
Content marketing is also about improving customer service by providing vital information that helps customers to use the products etc. The following are some of the ways through which this is done.
- Community Updates
- FAQs
- Tutorials
Benefits of Content Marketing for SEO
SEO can be improved by different tasks but nothing makes a powerful impact like content marketing for the SEO power of the website. Content is information.
If we look at Google, then we will realize that it aims to provide the highest quality and most relevant information for the user search queries and if you do not create content which shares this information then chances are that you will not be found due to poor ranking. SEO is all about content which includes verbiage, keywords, substance, articles and words.
Ranking
When one ranks on search engines, they rank for specific keywords that they have written content about. When you have more content, you have more keywords and it creates more opportunities for ranking on Google. Hence, keyword research is fundamental to the success of content marketing.
Backlinks
Another advantage of SEO is getting backlinks. It is when other websites link their post to your website. Google views the backlink website as a respected authority and boosts its rankings. The best way to get backlinks is by creating great content which educates and yet entertains readers at the same time. It leads to more people sharing the link.
Update Websites Consistently
Google works in the favor of websites that are consistently updated. The website would rank much higher when one published content on a regular basis. Keep in mind if you do stop creating content, Google would assume that the website is outdated and would drop the ranking in order to prevent people from viewing mediocre content.
Read Further
Check out the following article reviewing the best accessories to create video content with your phone.