Your customers are spending more time online than ever before, but with a growing number of digital channels and different types of content, your marketing messages are competing for their attention. Many of the old methods of reaching them are no longer as effective.
Today’s consumers are no longer easily persuaded by brand advertising. Research from Nielsen shows that more than half of consumers in Europe and the US do not respond to mobile and banner ads. Instead, people rely on advice from peers and other trusted sources to make their purchasing decisions.
To gain trust, a brand must offer consumers something of value. This could be helpful information or useful knowledge. Or simply something that makes them laugh. Creating and publishing this type of content is called content marketing. Recent studies show that 60% of all B2C companies plan to invest even more in content marketing in the coming year. This is understandable. Content marketing creates customer relationships that go beyond the pure transaction. When you publish content and others share it or respond to it, you present yourself as a trustworthy source.
However, not all content is content marketing. This guide will give you an introduction to content marketing and help you understand what type of content is best for your business and marketing team.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing builds trust with your audience through content. Instead of trying to convince them to buy with promotional tactics, singapore email list content marketing puts your company’s expertise at the service of your customers. By creating content with your unique perspective and expertise that your audience can’t find anywhere else, you build long-term customer relationships.
Although the official CMI definition is somewhat more comprehensive, how to monetize an app? 7 techniques to generate income with apps the main goal of content marketing is not to sell. It is about informing or entertaining your audience through your content.
Content marketing allows you to interact with potential and current customers at every stage of their journey. Here’s how it works:
To reach people where they are, a brand could:
- share engaging brand content on social media like Instagram and Facebook
- Distribute videos on platforms like TikTok and YouTube
- publish optimized web content to appear at the top of search results
To provide value throughout the buying cycle, denmark business directory a brand could:
- produce high-quality content to inform people about something they want to learn
- Create content that simply delights people while reinforcing your brand’s values
- use your own data and resources to give people insights about themselves
So what exactly is quality content? As Ann Handley wrote in Everybody Writes , “Quality content is content that is filled with clear value, brimming with inspiration, and has unflagging empathy for the audience.”
This is different from traditional marketing, which often aims to make a quick sale. Content marketing puts the needs of the customer first, not the brand message. When you use content marketing to create an exceptional customer experience, you increase trust over time – and your sales.
Understanding Content Types
The good news and the bad news is that there are no strict templates for success in content marketing. Every company can create a content plan that fits its audience and marketing strengths.
Here is a definition of some important elements of content marketing:
online content
In content marketing, online content refers to any information shared digitally through written, auditory, or visual media. This content can be distributed through social platforms, your website, email, and other digital channels.
blog content
Blogs are one of the most popular channels in content marketing. Creating blog posts or articles that answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) can help attract customers to your website and build trust. Creating long and short articles or blog posts is a key element of inbound marketing. The goal is to create content that ranks for different search terms that your ideal customers would use.
B2B content marketing
B2B content marketing refers to content that the target group consumes as part of their professional activities. Companies that sell products or services to other companies use this strategy to make their brand better known, generate more traffic and attract potential customers. Since purchasing decisions in the B2B sector often take longer and investments are greater, the focus is on high-quality content and targeted interactions. This content has a high value for the target group, so it is often offered behind a kind of “paywall”. This means that interested users provide their email address or contact details to gain access to the content.
For example, to demonstrate your company’s expertise, your marketing team can publish research reports, eBooks, or other longer-form content. This is especially effective if you have proprietary data or employ industry experts. If your insights are interesting, other media outlets or companies might link to them, giving you free media coverage.