knitty gritty's of Content Marketing...

Content marketing

“ 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.”

Traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective these days as a new age marketer there has to be a better way. Research shows that vast majority of marketers are using content marketing. In fact, it is used by many prominent organizations in the world like P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems. It’s also developed and executed by small businesses and one-person shops around the globe.

It is often used by businesses in order to:

·         Expand their user base

·         Diversify their user base

·         Establish or Increase online sales

·         Increase brand awareness or credibility

·         Create an online community of users

Unlike other forms of online marketing, content marketing relies on intercepting an existing customer need, as opposed to creating demand for a new need. More specifically, there are few reasons and benefits for enterprises who use content marketing:

• Increased sales
• Cost savings
• Better customers who have more loyalty

The difference between content marketing and the conventional marketing is the informational garbage we get from companies trying to sell us their products or services Companies send us information all the time – it’s just that most of the time it’s not very relevant or valuable. That’s what makes content marketing so intriguing in today’s environment.

Regardless of what type of marketing we use, content marketing should be part of our process, not something separate. Quality content is part of all forms of marketing:

• Social media marketing: Content marketing strategy comes before your social media strategy.
• SEO: Search engines reward businesses that publish quality, consistent content.
• PR: Successful PR strategies address issues readers care about, not their business.
• PPC: For PPC to work, you need great content behind it.
• Inbound marketing: Content is key to driving inbound traffic and leads.
• Content strategy: Content strategy is part of most content marketing strategies.

When creating content, businesses will typically go through 3 preliminary steps:

1. Define a target audience and their needs-

The first step in creating a successful content marketing campaign is to define your target audience, commonly known as user segmentation. Successful content marketers deeply understand their customers' needs and desires, beyond just their sole interest in their products or service.

2. Determine the types of content

The most commonly used type of content is blog posts though other types of content can resonate with your customer as well. Content includes:

·         Videos

·         Quizzes

·         Webinar

·         Surveys

·         Interviews

·         Editorials

·         Podcasts

The appropriate type of content for any business will depend on the business' goals and target customer.

3. Establishing a content management system

Businesses will need to find a content management system (CMS). Though there are many CMS and they each offer a slightly different value proposition, most include functions to help with content creation, publication, and analytics to track the success of posts.

4. Content Distribution

There are distribution strategies for successful content marketing with  customization, reach, and time commitment.

Building your own site

Businesses who build their own website maximize for complete control and customization. This is especially helpful for creative fields like art or interior design, where the primary value proposition communicated to user’s centres on qualitative factors or emotions.

Blog posts

Blog posts are that you submit on other people's sites, often with links or references back to your own business