Marketing is constantly evolving. It often feels like once a schedule and strategic plan is in place, a new social media platform appears on the scene or a new software update comes out that changes the work process. So as a marketer, it’s so important to constantly be reading and following the trends.
One of the major trends lately is the focus on Content Marketing. During the pandemic last year, with everyone spending more time at home, the shift in marketing went towards digital. Everyone was on their computer or mobile phone—searching, reading content, and watching videos. And if what a user was looking for wasn’t available from one business, they quickly moved on to the next. This is where Content Marketing has come into play.
What is Content Marketing?
According to HubSpot, “Content marketing is the process of planning, creating, distributing sharing and publishing content via channels. The goal is to reach your target audience and increase brand awareness, sales, engagement and loyalty.”
Think of it this way: As we said earlier, customers today want information right away. But how can you give them the content they want? No longer are marketers pitching their products and trying to sell them on their services. It’s all about educating prospects, while providing helpful and relevant information and solutions that come across in a natural way. Prospects will then trust your business since you provided valuable free information, thus encouraging a relationship between you. So when it’s time to buy a product or use a service, customers lean towards trusted sources… You.
It’s a proven marketing strategy. In fact, 70% of marketers in 2020 invested in Content Marketing. Why? Because the customer should always come first, and through Content Marketing, they do. By providing helpful resources for free, while be asked for nothing in return, businesses establish trust with prospects, eventually becoming viewed as an industry expert, so when it comes time to make a purchase, they are who the customer comes to.
Content Marketing Channels
But to make it even more challenging, there are a variety types of content marketing to reach your audience through. Here are some that we recommend:
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Blogs: Blogs are a highly creative type of content marketing. By sharing valuable information on a variety of topics relevant to your business, it can increase brand awareness and encourage readers to become customers. You can also cross promote other content and products and include social media links. And as a bonus, it can help with search engine optimization (SEO) by strategic use of keywords.
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Social Media: We cannot stress enough the importance of investing in social media marketing. With the variety of platforms available (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to name a few), there truly is a social media channel for every business. It requires strategic thought into selecting the right ones, and then delivering your content in a way to best engage with your audience.
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Infographics: Creating a highly-visual piece of content like an infographic is a strong form of content marketing. It helps convey information quickly and easily. Readers will grasp your point faster—perfect for looking at on the go!
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eBooks: For longer pieces of content, eBooks are the way to go. It gives you a chance to truly educate your readers on a topic, while giving them something valuable they can download and keep.
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Video: Content Marketing through video is something that has exploded in recent years. It truly is the easiest way to directly connect with your audience because it’s so visual. The key here is try to keep your video content timeless, otherwise, your budget will take a hit from having to continuously create more content.
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Paid Ads: If your business is looking to broaden their audience, paid ad content marketing will help you reach new prospects. Social media tends to be the number one avenue for paid ads, but you also use them on landing pages and banners.
Developing Your Content Marketing Strategy
To help you get started creating a strategic content marketing plan, it helps if you take the time to truly understand who your target market is. Once you have that in place, it will help you determine the types of content to create and which channels to promote it on. Front Burner Marketing can help. We will conduct an audit on your current marketing methods, establish your target audience and achievable goals, and come up with a content marketing map. Contact us to discuss further!
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