What is content marketing and why do I need it?

What is content marketing and why do I need it?

Have you heard or read about content marketing and would like to know more? In this case, this article is for you.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a digital marketing channel. But not any digital marketing channel.

According to research, digital marketing requires the existence of content marketing. Also, the success or failure of each firm/company/business's electronic communication with its customers depends to a large degree on the quality of its content marketing.

There is no universally accepted definition of content marketing, but according to the Content Marketing Institute, "content marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a well-defined and understandable audiences, with the aim of guiding profitable actions by that audience".

According to another definition, "content marketing is about delivering the content your audience is looking for, in all the sources they are looking for. It is the effective creation and distribution of quality content".

If definitions get you confused we could, in simpler terms, say that "content marketing is the process of creating and distributing quality content to attract customers and increase profits".

But beware! Don't confuse content marketing with copywriting.

Content marketing aims to increase the recognition of a business, a brand or an organization to a targeted audience while increasing the loyalty to the business/brand/organization by providing information or knowledge.

Copywriting aims to guide the targeted audience in a specific direction (usually the sale of a particular product or service).

Content marketing can take a variety of forms, the most common of which are:

• Articles on a blog
• Videos
• Infographics
• PDFs
• eBooks
• Social media posts
• Interviews

Why Do I Need Content Marketing?

In essence, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and creating opportunities without selling.

Instead of trying to sell your products or services, provide information that makes your buyer smarter.

The conviction of strategic content is that if we, as a business, provide consistent and valuable information to buyers, they will ultimately reward us with their dedication and loyalty.

For more information on your customer engagement and how important it is, you can read our article "The Secret to Increasing Sales in an Online Store".

Another reason you need content marketing is that content marketing is a marketing channel where you do not have to constantly consume resources to continue to produce results.

What I mean;

If you stop eg. pay-per-click, your ad will stop. Similarly, if you no longer manage to post on social media or send emails (email marketing) or your email goes to spam, you will not win visitors.

Content marketing, on the other hand, is about creating content. The content you create when developing your content marketing strategy will always be online and will continue to serve its purpose.

If this content is text in a blog, along with the proper SEO can have multiple positive benefits to your business. More information on content and Search Engine Optimization can be found in our article "What is SEO and why do I need SEO".

How Many Are Using Content Marketing?

In terms of the percentage spent by North American companies on content marketing, it accounts for 28% of the total amount spent on total marketing.

The importance of content marketing is constantly increasing as 70% of marketing experts report creating more content than last year.

According to another survey, 60% of B2B decision-makers say that their business content helps them make better decisions. The same survey also reports that 61% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies that offer unique content.

What goals can a content marketing strategy have?

The content marketing strategy to follow and the goals it should have are different for each business. However, in order to design a content marketing strategy you need to consider the following:

• What your goals should be
• What are the types of content marketing you can use
• In what frequency you should publish new content
• Which social media channels you'll choose
• What is your target group
• How can you measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategy?

Every successful marketing strategy has SMART goals. As we said in our article "8 steps to an effective social media marketing plan", SMART goals are goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timed

Common goals of a content marketing strategy are:

• Increase business/company/brand awareness
• Increase customer loyalty
• Build a trusting relationship with your target group
• Creating a sense of necessity for a new product
• Testing a new idea or a new product
• Solving problems related to having a small audience
• Attracting new opportunities

Content marketing experts identify 9 key areas to consider when creating a content marketing strategy:

• Choose topics for your content that are of immediate interest to your target group
• Focus on quality, not quantity
• Don't ignore Search Engine Optimization - SEO
• Remember to advertise the content you create
• Use a variety of content types (videos, articles, social media posts, etc.)
• Build a social base: Take advantage of social media to republish your content
• Tell your employees to republish the content on social media
• Find people who comment and share
• Measure and record audience reactions

In conclusion, we could say that, in order to create a strong brand, you need to earn the trust and admiration of your audience. By creating valuable content you can inform and educate your audience with the goal of developing a loyalty relationship with your business.

Of course, all of the above will be difficult for you to accomplish successfully. If you want our advice, we would tell you to start slowly, set small goals and move on to more difficult ones later on.

If you still think you won't make it, Cloud O.E., having extensive experience in developing successful digital marketing strategies, can help you create and implement a successful content marketing strategy.

You just have to contact us.