Content Marketing is becoming more and more important in our industry and professionals across the world are dedicating their careers to understanding how to create the best possible results with this marketing technique. The team at E-Power is made up of some of those professionals and we wanted to share the basics with you, so that you understand how and why Content Marketing needs to be part of your Online Marketing program.
So what is Content Marketing?
Why is Content Marketing Important?
As Online Marketing becomes more and more complex, the different strategies, tactics and programs need to work together to benefit the brand as a whole. Content Marketing is an essential piece of every marketing initiative. Your customers are actively seeking the information they need to determine which brands to purchase. Strong Content Marketing allows you to attract, engage, convert and delight your target audience.
Content Marketing is non-interruption marketing. You aren’t pitching your products or service. You’re simply helping your target audience make better purchasing decisions. By demonstrating your worth through engaging, educational and valuable content, you will develop loyal customers and fans.
Content Marketing Basics – What You Need To Know to Get Started
Content Marketing transcends channels and the silos many marketers struggle with. A successful Content Marketing program uses a mix of content pieces on a number of different channels to attract, engage, convert and delight. Take a look at the figures below for more details on how all-encompassing your Content Marketing strategy should be:
(Content Marketing Institute/Marketing Profs)
How Can You Be Successful in Content Marketing?
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- Understand how Content Marketing supports all of your marketing initiatives:
- Social Media: Your Content Marketing should drive all of your Social efforts.
- SEO: Search engines award better search visibility to brands with quality, consistent content, especially those who generate natural and well earned links to their content.
- PR: Your content, much like your PR campaign, speaks to the issues your customers care about, not just the sales pitches you want to deliver.
- Online Advertising: Driving paid traffic to quality, engaging content will always deliver better results.
- Inbound Marketing: Optimized, effective content will naturally drive qualified leads and traffic to your website.
- Create your Buyer’s Personas and map their purchasing journey.
- Knowing your target audience and understanding how they move from the awareness to consideration to purchase journey will help you focus on what content is needed to attract, engage, convert and delight on a larger scale.
- Develop a Content Marketing strategy that supports your business goals.
- Understand how Content Marketing supports all of your marketing initiatives:
- Assemble a team of content developers for your brand.
- Finding the right agency or mix of internal content specialists can make or break your Content Marketing program. The strategy you developed in step three should guide you in finding the right specialists to deliver real results for your brand.
- Measure results and optimize the program
- Like all Online Marketing tactics, measuring your Content Marketing results can and should be a top priority. Your content should be engaging customers, driving traffic and generating the results your brand is focused on, whether that is sales, lead generation or another conversion action. Set benchmarks before a program begins, then track your success on every piece of content you publish.
- When something works, celebrate those successes and figure out how you can apply those wins to every piece of content you develop from now on. When a piece of content falls flat, learn from that as well. Why wasn’t it as successful? What could be changed about that piece to improve results? What can you avoid doing with future content to avoid those results again?
- Though you’ve strategized your program while creating your framework, once you’re implementing the plan, it’s important to optimize it. Your process will be unique to your brand, just like the content you’re developing is. There are no shortcuts or magic wands and it’s important to have open communication with your team to understand how to improve upon your process and results in both the short and long term.
Tying It All Together
As noted earlier, Content Marketing can be really complex. The better you understand your target audience and how your brand can best address their needs, the more successful you’ll be in developing the kind of content that will attract, convert, close and delight them. There is no quick fix or magic bullet, just the need for engaging, educational content to help your audience understand how and why your products or services truly are the best fit for them.
Whether you can’t keep up with the demands of an optimized Content Marketing program or are just looking for more information on how to get started, the team at E-Power is here to help! Contact us today for more information on how to take your Online Marketing strategy to the next level with results-focused Content Marketing! We can’t wait to hear from you!
