Laura Hennigan
Contributor
Imagine this: you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed when an ad pops about a great sale your favorite outdoor retailer is having, complete with a picture of that kayak you had been eyeing that’s now 30% off. Content marketing is why you saw this ad, took the time to pause and absorb what it was saying, and are now making plans to buy a new kayak. In this article, we’re breaking down what exactly content marketing is, why it works and the best ways to implement it in your business.
What Is Content Marketing?Content marketing is a strategy that utilizes a wide variety of channels, including social media, websites, videos, infographics, podcasts and blogs, to attract potential customers. By creating, publishing and sharing relevant content, companies are building their brand, establishing trust, increasing engagement and ultimately influencing more people to buy their products and services.
With an influx of options everywhere we turn, establishing and nurturing a strong, sustainable relationship with customers is more important than ever. Buyers need to feel not only satisfied, but also truly cared for, in order to stay loyal to a business. In addition to supporting this customer relationship, content marketing also helps make it easier for your customers to become champions of your brand and assist in boosting awareness.
Why Is Content Marketing Important?Content marketing is important because it has the power to make your business stand out from the competition. Say you searched for “camping chairs” and saw the hundreds of results that pop up. How will you decide what links to click on first and, eventually, which to purchase from? Company A has an outdated website, low-quality graphics, no social media presence and minimal product descriptions. Company B, on the other hand, has a fast-loading website with top-quality photos, ample product information, easy-to-find reviews and an active Instagram account that advertises periodic promotions. There’s no competition: Company B is going to almost instantly establish trust, start conversations and convert more browsers into buyers.
By using content marketing as a cornerstone, businesses can create a long-term strategy to build a larger, more loyal customer base. Through producing and distributing relevant, curated content, you are offering information, transparency and reliability to repeat customers, along with people who may not be familiar with your brand.
What Is a Content Marketing Strategy?The best way to stand out is to identify your potential customers’ needs, create valuable content that addresses those needs and distribute that content to the exact platforms that your target audience frequents. In order to be effective, your content marketing strategy must address all three of those pieces, otherwise it will fall flat.
Content marketing strategies will vary widely depending on your industry, audience and goals—there is no one-size-fits-all approach to it.
Steps to Creating a Content Marketing StrategyThe most effective content marketing strategies are made up of four pillars: customer, cost, convenience and communication. Working together, these pillars help you to set goals, understand your audience, determine the best types of content to use and measure success. Here are the steps to creating a content marketing strategy:
Plan: Start by developing a content marketing plan that establishes your mission and sets specific, measurable goals.
Research: Next, you need to identify your target audience and research the best ways to communicate with them by using the forms of content marketing they prefer to interact with.
Audit: Take a look at your current content and see if it’s meeting the goals you set in the planning phase. If it’s not, improve upon or replace the parts that aren’t working.
Manage: This is the time to start using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform in order to collect leads, manage information and automate personalized marketing campaigns.
Create: Create high-quality content in the forms that your research showed will be most effective in reaching your target audience.
Engage: Convert your audience into customers or leads through interactive engagement with your content.
Analyze: Analyze your results and, when necessary, adjust your content marketing strategy accordingly.
What Are the Benefits of Content Marketing?There are numerous benefits to content marketing, many of which are long-term advantages that will continue to increase in value over time. While there is a fair amount of upfront research, investment and implementation required, content marketing ultimately holds the possibility of reaching new audiences and building strong customer relationships. Some of the benefits of content marketing include:
Boosts Audience RetentionThe most effective content marketing always starts with providing engaging, memorable experiences for an audience. What medium is used will depend on who you are trying to reach, but will likely include a few different forms of content in order to maximize both attention and retention.
Lands Higher Conversion RatesOnce you have the attention of your target audience, it’s time to convert all those leads. Content marketing is one of the most effective tools available to guide potential customers through the buyer’s journey and finalize purchases.
Increases Brand AwarenessThe beauty of content marketing is that it’s an accessible strategy that any business, no matter how large or small, can implement. Using it to increase brand awareness can take many shapes, but one of the most rapid techniques is developing a strong social media presence. By examining social media statistics and trends, you can determine which platforms are the best fit for your brand.
Establishes Your AuthorityCustomers want to buy from a brand that knows what the heck it is doing, even if that means spending a little more. A highly effective content marketing methodology makes it clear that your business is the authority for a certain product or service, and that you have the data, reviews and online presence to back that claim up.
Creates Customer LoyaltyWhen your content marketing is so good that you have established a loyal customer base, the benefits won’t stop there. All those devoted buyers have family and friends who need brand recommendations from someone with a positive first-person experience. This means far-reaching perks for you, with no extra work needed.
6 Content Marketing ExamplesThere’s no shortage of forms of content marketing to choose from, so the sky is truly the limit in the different ways you can share your messaging with the world. It’s definitely best to take an educated approach, however, since certain types of content work best for particular audiences or industries. Knowing who you are targeting and how those people prefer to receive information can help you determine the right methods to use.
Some of the best forms of content marketing right now are:
BlogsBlog articles can be incredibly helpful in answering questions related to a topic or product, particularly when they have been written with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. It costs very little to add a blog to an existing website and is an excellent place to share views from experts, reflect on your brand values or house an FAQ section. Once written, blog posts can be used over and over to create new content, such as infographics and videos.
Example:
https://www.colormecourtney.com/not-a-fashion-blogger/InfographicsMany audiences enjoy obtaining information and learning more through bright, eye-catching infographics. This type of content is designed not only to be absorbed as-is, but also broken down into smaller snippets that are easier to digest. Infographics are a great way to dispense complex information, and make it simple to share that information with others.
Example:
https://www.towerelectricbikes.com/blogs/pages/most-bike-friendly-citiesVideosVideo is so versatile because there aren’t many rules when you choose to use this type of content marketing. Videos can be short or long, have speaking or music, go live or be prerecorded—the choices are totally up to you. Some audiences may want quick how-to hacks on TikTok, while others prefer longer instructional videos on YouTube. The secret to successful videos is to make them accessible to everyone.
Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZEvZKtJlwQWhite PapersIf your business is looking to share high-level data or research, white papers are solid content marketing options. White papers are ideal for providing details in the form of graphs and charts, as this content marketing angle seeks to share as much information as possible in a persuasive way. This marketing method can serve as a great lead generation tool, as users typically must sign up with an email address in order to access the content.
Example:
https://www.sungardas.com/en-gb/resources/white-papers/four-step-plan-business-continuity/User-Generated ContentThese days anyone with a smartphone can be a brand ambassador or influencer. Many customers enjoy consuming content created by other people whom they view as “real,” as opposed to picture-perfect marketing put out by companies with unlimited budgets. User-generated content has the potential to reach audiences who may have no interest in reading a blog article or deciphering an infographic, but can absolutely be persuaded to buy a product that is trending on social media.
Example:
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/airmaxmondays/Reviews and TestimonialsAlong the same lines of user-generated content, customers are also influenced by others’ reviews of products and services, making positive testimonials a powerful content marketing tool. They can help sway potential buyers into actual ones by addressing concerns, confirming or disproving assumptions and providing real-life examples of performance.
Example:
https://www.bamboohr.com/customers/crbr/PodcastsSome people prefer to listen to their content, instead of reading or watching it. Podcasts have opened a new avenue to content marketing, helping to increase brand awareness by reaching an audience through authentic conversations. From expert interviews to offering unique engagement opportunities, podcasts make it easy for brands to share information and establish authority.
How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?Because there is such a wide range of content marketing approaches, there is an equally wide range of price points. Depending on your content marketing strategy, you may have an in-house team dedicated to working on it, opt to outsource to an agency or consultant, or start with a more DIY approach. No matter which path you choose, it’s essential to have an adequate enough content marketing budget that will allow you to create effective campaigns and start seeing results. Here’s a breakdown of how much some of the different forms of content marketing can cost:
Blogs ($50 to $6,000)Blog posts can run the gamut in terms of pricing because they have the most options. From a freelancer on Fiverr to a full-service firm, this form of content marketing is usually well worth the investment. Because a well-written blog post enhanced with search engine optimization (SEO) can be repurposed again and again, your return on investment (ROI) will be higher over time.
Infographics ($100 to $2,000)The cost for infographics depends on who is creating them, how much information they need to include and if there are any special features such as charts or graphs. No matter how simple or complex your infographics are, it’s important for them all to be visually consistent in terms of style and branding, since customers tend to recognize brands more quickly that way.
Videos ($250 to $3,000)The pricing structure for videos looks a little different because they often run on a PPV (pay per view) or PPC (pay per click) system. This means that you pay each time a video is run or someone clicks on a video ad. For example, if you are paying 25 cents per click and your video is clicked 2,000 times, your cost would be $500.
White Papers ($300 to $3,000)Also often operating on a pay-per structure are white papers, although in this case there is a charge per download. For this content marketing method cost, you’ll also need to factor in any fees associated with the website host providing storage for the document.
User-Generated Content ($0 to $2,000)If customers love your brand and are creating content about it on social media, you reap the benefits of getting some free marketing. If you are wanting to take that up a notch and begin partnering with influencers as a content marketing strategy, you’ll likely need to pay. Rates vary and are based on several different categories, but generally start around $150 per piece of content.
Reviews and Testimonials ($0 to $4,000)When happy customers leave positive reviews on your website or Google, that’s another free and effective marketing strategy. For many businesses, those organic messages are plenty to help build authority. But in other cases, some brands opt to pay for higher-level content, such as video testimonials. These costs will add up, since you’ll need to budget for a videographer, editing and location, plus paying the talent who appears in the video.
Podcasts ($15 to $3,000)The standard for podcast advertising is calculated using Cost Per Mille (CPM), which is the price you pay per one thousand listens. Ads are typically available in three placement options: pre-roll, which airs towards the beginning of a podcast; mid-roll, which runs halfway through an episode; and post-roll, which plays after a podcast has finished. Mid-roll spots are the priciest, since listeners and engagement are at their peak during these times.
Bottom LineCreating and sharing valuable content with your target audience is the key to generating more leads, securing higher conversion rates and increasing customer loyalty. Through content marketing, businesses of any size can begin connecting with customers in new ways, helping to grow brand awareness and close more sales.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)What is content marketing?Content marketing is a type of inbound marketing that seeks to attract, engage, delight and inform a target audience. It’s the process of creating and sharing content that potential customers will enjoy and find valuable.
How does content marketing work?Content marketing works by offering informative and useful material that provides value. Using blogs, white papers, infographics, user-generated content, videos, podcasts and testimonials, content marketing attracts potential customers, keeps them engaged and moves them through the buyer’s journey.
What are the four pillars of content marketing?Also known as the 4 Cs, the pillars of content marketing are customer, cost, convenience and communication. All four work together in order to delight and retain your target audience.
What are the benefits of content marketing?Content marketing has numerous benefits, with some of the top ones being elevated retention and conversion rates, better brand awareness and increased customer loyalty.
Source: Forbes Media LLC
Original Content: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/content-marketing/
