What is content marketing and what does it have to do with your online presence? In this article, I’ll go over what it is, how your already doing it, and why it’s important to stay consistent.
What is Content Marketing
Content marketing is marketing that uses content to bring in customers rather than advertising or sales. According the Content Marketing Institute:
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
When done well it will entice readers to your site and customers will actively search for your content.
While blogging is one of the most used mediums for content marketing it is not the only one. Social Media, video, newsletters and more can be key components to a successful strategy.
Consistency is Key – Building a Strategy
There is no such thing as a universal template for content marketing. Your strategy should outline your key business and client needs and how your content will address them. It is vital to set reasonable goals for each step in your marketing strategy. If you are aiming for thousands of new visits you can become discouraged quickly. Smaller, incremental goals will also help you refine what is working with your content and what doesn’t connect with your audience.
Knowing your target audience is not a new concept in marketing but it’s worth repeating. As you understand who you’re trying to attract with your content you will learn how to effectively refine your content to be more engaging and attractive to your target market.
Also, do not be afraid to check back and see if your strategy is working, if not give it a little reworking and see if your results are better.
Adding Value
As I mentioned earlier, there is not a universal plan for content marketing. However, adding value to your content will keep your audience engaged and interested. If you’re not sure how you can add value through content marketing, ask your existing customers what kind of content you can produce that would be helpful to them now, or would have been helpful to them when they were looking for your product or service. They’ll tell you.
The Story of Content: Rise of the New Market
Watch this video produced by the Content Marketing Institute, it gives you a historical view of content marketing. It also discusses several examples of successful corporate content marketing.