What is Content Marketing?

By producing and disseminating pertinent articles, films, podcasts, and other media, content marketing aim to draw in, hold on to, and grow their audience. When it comes time for customers to purchase what you sell, this strategy creates expertise, increases brand recognition, and keeps your company front of mind.

A content marketing plan uses a variety of content creation and distribution techniques to position your company as a thought leader and increase audience trust. One kind of inbound marketing that works well for customer retention is content marketing, which draws in clients and fosters their loyalty.

Content marketing definition: What is content marketing?

The creation and dissemination of pertinent, helpful material for present and future clients, including blogs, newsletters, white papers, social media posts, emails, videos, and the like, is known as content marketing. When properly executed, this content communicates knowledge and demonstrates how much a business appreciates the customers it serves.

Using content marketing consistently helps you build and maintain relationships with both current and potential customers. Your audience is more likely to choose you when it comes time to make a purchase if they perceive your business as a helpful advisor and guide, as well as a partner invested in their success.

Why is content marketing important?

Content marketing is a tried-and-true strategy. It offers a competitive edge as well. Examine the following data regarding content marketing:

• Businesses with blogs get 67% more leads than other companies.
• 67% of business to business (B2B) marketers say B2B content marketing increases engagement and the number of leads they generate.
• 88% of people credit branded videos for convincing them to purchase a product or service.

Businesses can gain from content marketing in a number of ways. When implemented correctly, a successful content marketing plan can:

• Increase online visibility.When consumers are continuously looking for ways to alleviate their problems, having a content strategy can help you draw in more visitors to your website and customers. You may improve your online presence by providing them with interesting and educational information on your website or social media accounts.
• Generate more leads.When traffic is generated through content marketing, leads can rise. As educating clients increases their trust and makes them feel more at ease about making a purchase from your company, you may produce more leads and begin to establish a rapport with prospective customers.
• Boost loyalty. In marketing and business, customer loyalty is crucial since it increases the likelihood of repeat business from your clientele. Providing informative material might help customers start to trust your business and regard you as a thought leader.
  
• Improve authority.Creating content is the best way to gain more credibility and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field. Content not only helps you gain credibility, but it may establish your company as the industry leader on a given subject.

How content marketing works?

Your business can use content marketing to attract leads, make a case for your product or service when someone is researching what to buy, and close sales.

You must provide the appropriate content at every point of the sales cycle, from awareness through consideration to purchase, in order to use it effectively. Don’t worry if this seems difficult; using this approach to content actually makes the process easier.

Here’s how businesses utilize content marketing to engage and close deals at every level of the sales cycle.

Awareness stage:

Your content should be centered around your audience’s primary issues throughout the initial phase of the sales process. Your best chance of connecting with them is to write about their issues, problems, and inquiries. Instructional and how-to content should be included during the awareness stage. Hold off on selling during the stages of contemplation and closing.

For this stage, articles, blog posts, e-books, videos, and newsletters are the most effective content types.

Examples:

• A restaurant publishes a blog entry on how to organize a spring graduation party menu.
• An organization that organizes bike tours makes a quick film titled “3 Ways to Choose the Right Bike Trip.”
• “Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Architect” is an electronic book written by an architecture business.

Consideration stage:

When a potential customer is about to make a purchase, content marketing is crucial. As long as you keep emphasizing why you’re the greatest option rather than merely how excellent your services or goods are, you can concentrate on sales at this point.

Here, the key points to emphasize are your experience, knowledge, and the unique advantages of your offerings.

Best content for this stage: case studies, user-generated content, buyer’s guide, product video, research report

Examples:

• A research report produced by a consulting firm demonstrates that companies who participate in strategic planning, external assessments, and other services that are influenced by the services they provide expand more quickly.
• A design agency showcases its wide capabilities with short videos that highlight the range of industries in which it works.
• Patients are encouraged to provide comments on an orthodontist’s top-notch service and state-of-the-art equipment.

How to get started with content marketing?

Although it doesn’t have to be daunting, content marketing can feel that way. A well-run content marketing strategy has to be sustainable and easy to handle. To get started, follow these steps:

Identify your audience:

You must have a thorough understanding of the goals, difficulties, and preferences of each reader before you can provide content for them. Select one or two segments to write for if you have comprehensive explanations of your other segments. If not, create profiles of your prospects and audience before you begin.

Determine the right formats:

Whichever stage of the sales cycle you’re developing content for, the appropriate format will match. Considering the formats that would best enable you to highlight your worth is another crucial step. This will be a checklist for some people and a video for others.

Your content will be evaluated by an audience, and they need to. Choose the appropriate internal or external resource to produce this work. Employ a professional proofreader to check everything before it is sent out, regardless of who created it.

Determine how you’ll distribute:

Will you send out emails, print material for an event, or post it on your website? Select logical formats and begin “where” you know your audience is most likely to be. For instance, sending an article via email makes sense, posting a checklist or worksheet on social media is a fantastic idea, and following up with a pitch is beneficial with a buyer’s guide.

Choose a sustainable schedule:

After identifying your target readership and the ideal formats for each phase of the sales cycle, develop a short-term (three to six months) plan. Creating an excessively ambitious content marketing strategy is simple. But, given your financial constraints and available resources, the strategy you create should include content aspects that you can actually produce. To include that time into your plan, keep note of the amount of time it takes you to produce each piece of content.

Follow best practices:

Clear writing and the absence of jargon that only you and your peers will understand characterize compelling material. It ought to have thorough how-to instructions as well. Best is a brief, pertinent, and useful piece of writing.

Content marketing and SEO:

Content marketing makes it easy for good prospects to find your business. However, you can boost your efforts with search engine optimization (SEO).

The following are some crucial best practices:

Your SEO campaign is built on keywords. When a prospect searches for a business, good, or service, they enter these crucial terms and phrases into a search engine.

You’ll get more visitors when your article contains the appropriate keywords. The most effective keywords are:

• Plain-language: Language your audience uses to describe their pain points and needs.
• Relevant: Keywords that match the expertise, products, and services you provide.
• Specific: A combination of your focus, industry expertise, prospect pain points, and other relevant details.

SEO has changed over time, and now, part of what makes your content successful in searches is how well it fulfills its promises. Search engines go over the content language, evaluate its relevancy, and see if it lives up to the headline.

The usage of keywords in your content is crucial since search engines give text a lot of weight. Make use of the following recommendations:

• Focus on 1 to 2 keywords. Avoid “keyword stuffing” by writing about what matters to your prospects with a focus on just a few keyword phrases.
• Use keywords in the title. Make what the article is about clear and explicit.
• Use keywords throughout. Find a way of naturally incorporating your keywords into your content.
• Stay on topic. Good-quality content that provides advice related to a headline will perform best.

Social media and content marketing:

Once you have content, it’s time to get the word out about it. Social media—Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Medium, Instagram, and others—is a proven and easy way to promote your content. You write a post and link to your content, and then voila! People are engaged.

You can do this through 3 steps:

1. Focus on high-potential channels. The social media platforms that your audience uses most often are the ones that work best for you. Think about the large, well-known channels as well as the smaller, sector-specific ones that can introduce you to qualified leads. Find out which channels your audience prefers, then compile a workable list based on that information.
   
2. Craft your copy to fit the channel. Every social media platform has its own distinct voice, professionalism vs fun, and other aspects. Take some time to go through posts to become familiar with these elements before you start writing content for a channel. Next, add a little of your own corporate culture to your posts.
3. Test and modify your approach. A winning social media promotion effort involves trial and error. Monitor the volume and caliber of responses coming in from the different channels. A channel may be a suitable fit if there are fewer high-potential engagements rather than a large number of clicks that never result in an audience.

Put content to work for your business:

Let your expertise and unique value shine through by creating content that attracts, engages, and sells. With some planning and systematic content marketing, you can reach the right people and drive brand loyalty.

With Mailchimp, you can produce content that is optimized for social media, your website, and email marketing campaigns, which can help you elevate your online content marketing approach. Utilize our tools to create branded content that may educate your target audience about your products and services, such as landing pages and sponsored advertisements. You may start creating a brand identity and allowing your company to showcase its unique personality to customers by creating your own brand style guide.