The Importance of Content Marketing

Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material, like blogs or social media. It does not explicitly promote a brand, but it is intended to increase interest in its products or services. 

What are the goals and benefits of content marketing? 

The ultimate goal of content marketing is to grow your business. When used effectively, you’ll benefit in: increased sales, cost savings, and loyal customers.

Content Marketing Strategy

Because of the inherent nature of content marketing, there is no one size fits all strategy that we can lay out that will work for your company. However, there are some steps that every business should take as they determine their own content marketing strategy. They are: 

Set Your Goals 

The first step is to write down a content marketing strategy mission statement. The mission statement should include your mission and the goals you want to accomplish with content marketing. It can also include details like your target audience, the content you’ll use to reach them, and the value it will bring to them.

Establish Your KPIs

The next step is to set your key performance indicators, or KPIs. KPIs are important because they let you know you achieved your goals by providing milestones you can check off as you cross them. They can include what you hope to achieve in terms of revenue, sales, traffic, and SEO. 

Determine Your Audience

One of the most important steps to success is to find your audience. Then, get to know them. There are a few ways to do that by leveraging the data found on tools like Google Analytics and Twitter Analytics. 

First, you can collect demographics about your audience like their age, gender, education, and income. Then, you can collect feedback from your current customers. Ask them questions like how they feel about your content, what their needs are, and how you can address their problems with your content. Lastly, you can create buyer personas. Buyer personas describe your ideal customers to help you target content better. 

Assess Your Current Position

If you are not a brand new company just starting out, you need to assess your current content and position in the market. That starts with a content audit. Log all of your content, assess their success, and identify any gaps. This will help you determine what content works for your brand and what doesn’t. It is also a big step toward helping you decide what content you should be producing. You should also compare your content to that of your competitors’ and see how any new content will fit in the market.

Decide Which Platforms Work for You

Next, you need to decide which social media platforms perform best for your brand. You can do this by figuring out which platforms your target audience use the most. If you already have content on social media, you likely already have any idea which platform you should be focusing on. If you’re not entirely sure, Google Analytics can be used to help you choose. Another great engagement tool is Buzzsumo. 

Pick Your Content Types

We’ll discuss the various types of content below, but know that the opportunities are endless! The most successful content marketing strategies involve producing content for your own website that can then be repurposed for various social media platforms. 

Create a Content Calendar

Now that you know what content you’ll be creating and where you’ll be putting that content, it’s time to create a content calendar. One of the biggest and most frequent mistakes is a lack of plan for posting content. Avoid that mistake by using a tool like Google Calendar to help you plan out when you’re posting what. There are also more advanced tools available for content calendars, like CoSchedule or Asana. 

It’s also important to be strategic when planning out when to post your content. Find out what times your audience is online and ready to engage, and post in those windows. You don’t want your audience to miss out on the content you worked so hard on. 

Create Your Content

Now it’s time for the hardest and most important part! First research your content as best you can. Then, create it! If you haven’t already employed a content marketing agency, now is the time. A content marketing agency can help with all aspects of content creation. 

Distribute and Market Your Content

Next, it’s time to distribute your content. Use the schedule you created for sharing your content on social media. You can also share your content through other strategies like email marketing or using influencers. 

Measure Your Results

Last, it’s time to measure the results of your content marketing campaign. It’s important to regularly use tools like Google Analytics and other social media analytics tools to see if you’re achieving your goals. If you aren’t, it’s time to adjust your content or make other changes. 

Content Marketing Agencies

You do not have to use a content marketing agency to utilize content marketing for your own company. However, your best bet for success with content marketing is to employ a content marketing agency like SEO Design Chicago. From planning out a strategy, finding your target audience, and creating your content for you, a content marketing agency can handle all the hard work of planning and running a campaign for you. 

Types of Content Marketing

The types that are available to any business are limitless. What works best for one business might ultimately fail for another. The type of content marketing that you use depends on several factors, including what your business is and who your audience is. These are just a few options: 

Blogs 

A blog is one of the most common forms of content marketing. Having a blog on your website improves your SEO and also establishes you as an expert on your industry. If you decide to have a blog, it’s important to keep your content relevant and focused on your topic and optimize your blog for SEO. 

Videos 

Videos are one of the most effective forms of content marketing. More than half of audiences want to see videos from brands they follow, according to HubSpot research. That’s more than any other type of content. Videos are also very versatile. 

Infographics 

Infographics are another particularly effective type of content marketing. They are particularly useful on social media, which doesn’t favor large chunks of text. Is there a long blog post on your website that would look better as a graphic? Try it! Humans are visual and will process data and information if it is presented in a graphic. 

Case Studies

Case studies are very effective for leads who want to learn more about your business. You can use case studies to show buyers a customer’s journey from start to finish. 

eBooks

While the idea of writing an eBook can seem daunting, just think of it as a long blog post. EBooks are a valuable way to give potential clients the valuable information they’re looking for. 

User-Generated Content

Have you ever retweeted a tweet from a customer who was pleased with the product or service they received from you? Congratulations, you’ve used user-generated content as a content marketing strategy! User-generated content is the most effortless type of content marketing. You can take positive tweets, Facebook posts, or Instagram posts from your customers and share them. Boom, free content marketing! 

Memes

If you have a younger target audience, memes are an extremely effective form of content marketing, particularly on social media. A meme is an image set with culturally relevant text that circulates online. One benefit to using memes is they can quickly go viral. 

Testimonials

Like user-generated content, testimonials use pleased customers to help you reach new ones. Let a customer who was particularly helped by your business tell their story, whether it’s in a video, blog article, or social media post. Storytelling is a powerful tool in content marketing. Potential customers will relate to the customer. 

Influencers

Using an influencer to promote your content is one of the most effective ways to reach an audience. If you are a new company or struggling to connect with your audience yourself, using an influencer can be particularly helpful. Find who the influencers are in your industry and how much they cost. You can email their representation with a press release or reach out to their management directly. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What exactly is content marketing and how does it differ from traditional advertising?

Content marketing involves creating and sharing online material like blogs, videos, and social media content that doesn’t explicitly promote a brand but is designed to increase interest in its products or services. Unlike traditional advertising that directly promotes products, content marketing focuses on providing valuable, relevant information to your audience. The ultimate goal is to grow your business through increased sales, cost savings, and building loyal customers who trust your expertise and authority in your industry.

2. How do I determine my target audience for content marketing?

Start by leveraging data from tools like Google Analytics and Twitter Analytics to collect demographics about your audience including age, gender, education, and income. Then gather feedback from current customers by asking how they feel about your content, what their needs are, and how you can address their problems. Finally, create buyer personas that describe your ideal customers to help you target content more effectively. Understanding your audience is one of the most critical steps for content marketing success.

3. What types of content marketing are most effective for businesses?

The effectiveness depends on your business and audience, but some standout options include videos (more than half of audiences want to see videos from brands they follow), blogs (improve SEO and establish industry expertise), infographics (particularly effective on social media where large text chunks aren’t favored), and user-generated content (the most effortless type where you share positive customer posts). Other effective types include case studies for leads wanting to learn more, testimonials that use storytelling, and influencer partnerships for reaching new audiences.

4. Do I need to hire a content marketing agency, or can I handle it myself?

You don’t need a content marketing agency to utilize content marketing, but employing one can significantly improve your chances of success. A content marketing agency can handle the complex work of planning strategy, finding your target audience, creating content, and running campaigns. If you’re managing it yourself, be prepared for the time investment required for research, content creation, distribution, and measurement. The choice often depends on your budget, internal resources, and expertise level.

5. How important is having a content calendar, and what should it include?

A content calendar is crucial for success – one of the biggest and most frequent mistakes is lacking a plan for posting content. Use tools like Google Calendar, CoSchedule, or Asana to plan when you’re posting what content. Be strategic about timing by finding out when your audience is online and ready to engage, then post during those windows. Your calendar should include content types, posting schedules, platform-specific adaptations, and strategic timing to ensure your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

6. How do I measure if my content marketing is actually working?

Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) upfront that align with your goals, including metrics for revenue, sales, traffic, and SEO performance. Regularly use tools like Google Analytics and social media analytics to track progress toward these goals. Conduct content audits to assess what’s working and identify gaps. If you’re not achieving your objectives, be prepared to adjust your content strategy or make other changes. Consistent measurement and adaptation are essential for long-term content marketing success.

7. What’s the best approach for repurposing content across different platforms?

The most successful content marketing strategies involve creating content for your website that can then be repurposed for various social media platforms. For example, a long blog post can be transformed into an infographic for social media, key points can become social media posts, or main concepts can be developed into video content. Choose platforms based on where your target audience spends time, and adapt your content format to suit each platform’s strengths – visual content for Instagram, professional insights for LinkedIn, or engaging videos for TikTok or YouTube.

Content Marketing Strategies

Go ahead and use these content marketing strategies to develop your own individual plan to make great content for your website today! For assistance, reach out to SEO Design Chicago today!