How Content Marketing Can Help Build Your Business
It is no secret that the Internet has become the number one source of information. The Web is the largest marketplace for information seekers and information providers. No matter what your business is, everyone should have a website. If you don’t, you can be sure that you are one step behind your competition.
What should be included on your site? At a minimum, you must indicate who you are (About Us page) and what you do (Home page and Products / Services). All this is fine. But how do potential customers find you?
Two simple words can answer this question: “Content Marketing”. The second word is easy to describe. Marketing is simply promoting / advertising your product or service. However, traditional methods (brochures, TV ads, flyers) are being replaced by more profitable methods. That brings us to the first word: content. Many of us have heard the term before. But what exactly does it mean?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is defined as “a marketing technique to create and distribute relevant, consistent and valuable information to a defined audience.” The keyword here is valuable, which means that it is something the end user wants and would pay for. Compare that to advertising or junk mail (spam) that someone immediately shuts down or throws away because they find no value in it. Content marketing does not explicitly promote a brand like a Nike or Coke commercial does. The information is directed to a specific group that wants or looks for it. Therefore, you are building a long-term personal relationship with your (potential) customers rather than treating them like a sale. Nobody likes to feel sold. They want to feel part of a story and people love stories.
The next question is why would a company create content in the first place? The main answer is to build your BRAND. Your brand is your # 1 asset. 1. It may take years to build, but only minutes to destroy. Your brand shows that you are an expert in your field. It also sensitizes consumers to issues they may not have considered before. Traditional marketing is only effective after the consumer has made the decision to buy. Content marketing moves them through the buying process.
Content creation is much more profitable than traditional marketing, resulting in higher ROI. What are some of the key characteristics of good content?
It’s FREE: users don’t have to pay for it
Attract and retain audiences that will eventually become customers. Your typical: 30 radio or TV commercials are almost immediately forgotten
It contains backlinks to your website, which creates a compound effect as your content is shared with your users ‘users and your users’ users.
It must be mobile-friendly as many internet users surf on smartphones and tablets.
It should be keyword oriented for SEO algorithms used by Google and other search engines (a keyword is something you type in your browser when you want to search for something specific. I am a writer so I hope to show up when someone types in “freelance writer , copywriter or just writer “
Finally, it should contain a call to action (ask the user to do something)
What are some examples of content marketing?
Blogs
Success stories
Podcasts
Youtube videos
White papers
Articles
Social media posts
E-books
Newsletters
I hope this information has been helpful to you as I hope that content marketing will replace traditional marketing in the not too distant future. I’m sure by now all of you will become marketers and see your visitors multiply exponentially, resulting in more conversions.