An In-Depth Look at Content Marketing and Its Mechanics

“Content is King”

If you’ve been in the marketing industry long enough, you might have an impression that this phrase is both cliché and true. It’s cliché because everyone’s saying it. Despite that, its essence remains spot-on and always relevant.

Image Source: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

Regardless of the passing trends and changes in the online world, content is here to stay and make a difference. But have you ever wondered how it exactly works and why is it a necessary component of your campaign? Let’s go back to square one. It’s important that we know its definition.

Content and Content Marketing

In the digital marketing parlance, web content refers to all the items that occupy the spaces of the website. They are what make sense of the online place.  Web content is broadly categorized into two: text and multimedia. Text is self-explanatory; it includes the written and text-based elements. Multimedia, on the other hand, encompasses pictures, videos, sounds, and similar assets.

Digital marketing is largely about producing and disseminating content to build brand awareness and foster relationships with the target audience. This particular strategy is called content marketing.

The Workings of an Online Content Campaign

Now we know that content marketing is all about building brand awareness and valuable relationships, we will explain how this happens.  

Before digital strategies became ubiquitous, businesses extended marketing messages through print, TV, and radio. Customer interaction was not possible back then. The only indicator that the campaign worked was the increase in sales. Traditional strategies appeared as an imposing way to tell people to buy this or that.

But everything was about to change when businesses started to use the Internet. They realized that they could draw in more customers if they gave them voice—if the brands give their patrons the liberty to engage. This is the part where content marketing becomes valuable. To initiate engagement, you need to give the customers something to talk about. You give them something that will make their life easier. You give them an infographic, you share a funny video, you give them an instructional article, you give them content.

This should give you enough reason to invest in content marketing, customer engagement, and SEO services. If this doesn’t motivate you, just look at the colossal number of people online. Internet Live Stats notes that around 40% of the population is Internet users. That’s almost 3 million people to talk to and engage with!

Image Source: https://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/

Polishing Your Strategy

Your content marketing strategies should be based on your tangible and intangible goals. Do you want to increase your sales by the 2nd quarter? Do you want your brand to get a hundred thousand followers by next month? You must ask questions like these.

It all starts with proper targeting. How well do you know your audience? Where are they online? The stats below from the Pew Research Center should give you an idea (based on their January 2014 study).

Image Source: https://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/

The fact tank further notes that as of September 2014:

• 71% of online adults use Facebook
• 23% of online adults use Twitter
• 26% use Instagram
• 28% use Pinterest
• 28% use LinkedIn

Once you understand your target audience, their behavior, and their “hangouts,” it’s the right time to craft your content.

The first rule? Do not sell. It’s a surefire way to turn your customers off. Instead, tell a story. Take some lessons from BuzzFeed and similar websites. They have everything from news to cats and Harry Potter.

And as you’re capitalizing on stories, it’s only logical to complement them with pictures. Online users have a lot on their plate and are easily distracted. They have a short attention span, and using pictures will pique their interest and keep them scrolling.

Post something that your customers can relate to. Share something they are passionate about. Give them something useful. As your goal is to foster relationships, restrain yourself from sharing controversial items no matter how great their buzz is.

Explore other types of content. Other than text and pictures, you may incorporate videos, sounds, infographics, and even games!

If there’s one thing you need to remember about content, it is always evolving. This means you need to keep your strategies adaptable.

Contact us today if you need to work with a reliable digital marketing and SEO firm in Denver. Visit our services pages to learn how we can help you.