A necessary condition for promoting any business is to create a stable connection with the clientele and form a positive perception of the brand and curiosity in the products/goods/services of this manufacturing, trading or service company.
To accomplish such a strategic task, a number of methods are used, among which content marketing occupies a prominent place.
The following text describes in detail the relevant methodology, which is many times more effective than traditional advertising, the classification of content marketing, its role, features, and promotion channels.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a set of marketing techniques based on the creation and/or dissemination of information useful to the consumer in order to gain trust and attract potential customers.
The essence of the relevant methodology is the distribution of valuable, useful and interesting information content for the consumer, which can sometimes become viral or provocative.
Unlike direct advertising, which is often perceived negatively by users due to its intrusiveness, relevant content marketing created and distributed by companies looks attractive to users and generates interest in the company, product, or service.
Specialists whose specialization is content marketing, pay primary attention not to the quantity of this information, but to its quality.
There are several key factors of a professional approach to its creation:
- constant monitoring of audience needs;
- maintaining flexibility in choosing the method and time of content delivery;
- maximum compliance with the dynamic conditions of the modern market;
- taking into account consumer priorities.
Such a relevant marketing strategy can be used in literally all areas and industries, because it can be adapted to the characteristics of different types of businesses.
Basic principles
The ultimate goal of a strategic content marketing approach is to promote consumer activity aimed at the company's profitability.
To make marketing content promotion To be as effective and successful as possible, professionals follow several rules and principles.
1. Determine the main goals of content marketing.
This can be expanding users' knowledge about a specific brand, increasing the audience of buyers through new customers. Sometimes the key goal of the relevant work is to increase sales and generate leads.
Content planning and distribution channel selection depend on the intended goals. This aspect is also directly related to methods for determining effectiveness.
2. Clarification and research of the target audience.
Competently and clearly defined target audience – the key to creating content that will work effectively.
Various factors are important – from demographic characteristics to psychological profiles, interests, needs and behavioral factors of consumers who could theoretically join the brand’s customers. A comprehensive study of the relevant features is the starting point for creating content that can resonate with potential and existing customers.
3. Priority attention to content quality.
It is worth abandoning an excessive amount of low-quality content. This approach is wrong because it creates high risks of alienating the audience.
Only high-quality content can increase brand awareness and customer loyalty. It can only become so if it is carefully researched, interesting, and useful to readers/viewers. An additional criterion that proves that content marketing for business professionally executed – ensuring its maximum visibility as a result of optimization for search engines.
By using and following these principles, you can create a solid foundation for a marketing strategy that will help you achieve your business goals.
Classification
There are several types of content used in content marketing, each with its own means of displaying information and format.
- Text content. This type includes articles, social media posts, and emails. Appropriate content marketing for blog or other websites provides detailed reporting of information, for example, about the development of the brand and its achievements. This type of texts demonstrates the results of expert assessments and satisfies the information requests of the readership.
- Audio content. A type of content marketing with a sound specificity. It can be presented in the form of audiobooks, musical compositions, audio instructions, etc. This is an effective and convenient solution for attracting those who prefer to listen to information on the go, while traveling in a car, jogging, etc. This content will interest people who actively use smartphones and other mobile gadgets.
- Graphic content. Its forms are diverse - from photos, infographics and illustrations to the currently popular memes and other visual formats for transmitting information. The advantages of visual static content are the ability to instantly attract attention and establish an emotional connection with the audience. Bright and aesthetic infographics are the answer to the question, how to do content marketing quite complex content accessible and easy to understand by average viewers.
- Video content. This refers to creating interviews, conducting live broadcasts, video blogs, making educational videos, advertising videos and video reviews - for example on the platform YoutubeThe appropriate form of content marketing is considered by experts to be the most effective in terms of conveying emotions and messages.
It is recommended to combine the types of content listed above to expand your audience and ensure deeper connections. This tactic will allow you to reach consumers with different lifestyles, preferences, and habits.
About promotion channels
You can spread content marketing to attract customers by using various types of informational Internet platforms.
1. Websites and blogs. Systematic publication of articles in blogs or in the news sections of a commercial portal is not only an effective lever for retaining the existing audience. If this information is presented in a clear and interesting form (and it should be), it can attract new visitors and maintain and improve the position of the web resource by publishing SEO materials with keywords and optimized meta tags.
2. Social media. It means published content marketing on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, Facebook and other social networks to promote their information to the broad masses of their users. The methods, thematic focus and nature of presenting relevant information on such portals can be diverse. Examples of these currently popular promotion strategies are presentations, advertising campaigns, stories, live videos, celebrity quotes and organic posts.
3. Channels in messengers. Another relevant method for maintaining contact with the audience and providing them with urgent information in the form of news and other information that should be sent regularly.
4. Paid advertising campaigns. Platforms for placing and using advertising include the popular Google Ads service, social networks, etc. These channels are a good choice for promoting content and attracting new customers.
5. E-mail. For effective marketing, loyal email newsletters with useful and interesting content will come in handy. Such emails with personalized offers will contribute to attracting the attention of the audience and facilitating interaction with customers.
6. Video hostingMany leading companies successfully develop their own brand by posting and distributing profile video information on YouTube channels. This is another effective method of attracting an audience.
7. Guest posts. This involves publishing content on blogs and other media or company websites. This is a proven tactic for increasing brand authority and generating interest in a brand and its products/services.
8. Communities and forums. A good way to discuss topics that are directly related to the work of a particular brand is to participate in forums. The topics of these online discussions should relate to your industry. Such communication helps build expertise, contact with the audience, and allows community members to inform about their products or services.
9. Online courses and webinars. To demonstrate a company's expertise and expand its target audience, such forms of online education and outreach are often used.
10. Information from experts in the form of speeches and articles. Sources for posting such content can be different – it is not only the Internet, but also television, periodicals, radio channels and other media. The result of such practice is a significant increase in brand awareness and trust in it.
The list above contains the most popular, but not all possible, content marketing promotion channels. They are chosen taking into account the specifics of the target audience, the company's advertising strategy, and the type of content that its marketers prefer.
Advantages and challenges of content marketing
Modern content marketing is currently considered a trendy and powerful online advertising tool that performs many functions that can be called its advantages:
- increases brand authority and makes this company more well-known, visible, and recognizable with the help of search engines;
- attracts customers to the right site and keeps them, gaining more chances for conversion - this is possible thanks to the value and relevance of the relevant information;
- improves SEO indicators – professional content marketing is the key to success in search engine optimization, it promotes a web resource to higher positions in search engines;
- builds and strengthens customer relationships – if content marketing is provided regularly, it becomes a real opportunity to maintain long-term, strong, and positive relationships with customers.
However, such a marketing strategy is not without its own pitfalls that its implementers have to overcome. Relevant challenges include significant competition, the need to adhere to high quality standards, and frequent measurement of ROI effectiveness using comprehensive analytics.
In today's realities, content marketing can only be effective and competitive if information innovations are constantly introduced. A relevant marketing strategy will not succeed if it is not flexible and cannot adapt to conditions and trends that are changing very dynamically nowadays.
Interesting facts
Content marketing is a phenomenon with a long history that began long before the advent of electronic technologies. For the first time, content strategies for attracting customers began to be used in the late 19th century. These were magazine articles that gave consumers useful advice, mentioning certain commercial products.
Content marketing on Facebook targets users based on their location, demographics, and personal profile information. Many of the relevant options are available only on this social network.
According to experts, the nearest trends and innovations of such a marketing strategy will be the widespread implementation of personalized and interactive content, supplemented by virtual reality. Artificial intelligence will be widely used for generation and optimization for SEO in the near future.
When creating content marketing, you should not ignore such an elementary aspect as the absence of grammatical errors. This nuance is evidence of your careless attitude to work and disrespect for readers. Since many site visitors leave it due to incorrect spelling and punctuation, all articles require careful preliminary checking.
Often, the attractiveness of the headline is crucial for a potential client – it should not only be clearly formulated, but also creative, with a hint of intrigue.
According to analysts, over 51% users search for products or services using mobile phones. This means that an information site needs to be adapted for such devices.
Currently, many specialized companies offer online content marketing for businesses. When choosing, it is worth considering the experience, reputation of these performers, and reviews about them.
