If you are a person fascinated by the field of marketing and you want to find out more about what content marketing entails, we have prepared a small guide with useful things that you can read below.
This article contains all you need to know about content marketing and digital marketing in general. From common questions to case studies, this article will hopefully bring you closer to this field.
What is content marketing and why is it useful for a business?
First of all, content marketing is a strategy. This tactic is one of the best ways to apply to your business as it focuses on creating content. The focus is making people interact with your valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain customers. The main goal is to grow your business. This can be measured by: turnover, generated leads, engagement rate, number of purchases, etc.
Also, content marketing can be considered a key strategy in the business plan made by marketers. According to Hubspot, about 82% of marketers have included content marketing in their strategy. The importance of content marketing is not only highlighted among marketers, but also among buyers. From this point of view, according to an opinion poll conducted by Demand Gen Report on content preference, 67% of respondents said that, compared to 2020, 2021 was more based on the content that brands deliver, which can influence their purchasing decision.
The difference between inbound marketing and outbound marketing
In short, inbound marketing brings together all those strategies through which you aim to attract people’s attention, not to buy it. What we aim for, through any marketing strategy, is to get consumers to choose your product or service, without buying their attention. The strategies by which you aim to buy the attention of your customers are called outbound marketing.
Thus, we can say that, indeed, content marketing can bring remarkable results to your business. The question is: why? The answer to this question is related to another perspective through which we can define this concept. Thereby, content marketing is also an inbound marketing strategy.
Let`s make the difference between the two concepts easy. Inbound marketing involves new, creative strategies that can be implemented with a small amount of money and that can bring you great results. Outbound marketing brings together all those strategies such as TV commercials, billboards, ads etc., in which you invest a lot of money, but which do not necessarily guarantee your success. According to HubSpot Agency Digital, 75% of marketers perceive inbound marketing as being effective.
Regarding money allocated into the project, Invesp found out that inbound marketing strategies generate 54% more leads than its counterpart.
Last but not least, according to the content marketing Institute, the purpose of content marketing is to create and deliver valuable information to your customers and target audience. When you make the decision to implement a content marketing strategy, there are two main things to keep in mind:
Define your audience
By properly defining your audience, you will demonstrate that you have developed a well-defined plan and that you know the interests of people who might be interested in your product or service.
The client’s needs are beyond yours
It doesn’t matter what your needs or preferences are, because you are not the customer. Your goal will be to give your customer exactly what he needs.
IBM – content marketing case study
One of the companies for which content marketing is a good choice is IBM. According to Brafton, an internationally well-known content marketing agency, IBM has done a good job of choosing to develop and implement a solid content marketing strategy. They made a series of “How-to” videos on YouTube including everything that means content marketing (blogs, graphics, etc.). Also developed a network of social influencers, which helped them build brand awareness and also contributed to increasing the brand authority in the field.
The chosen influencers were relevant people in the IT field, with a series of very in-depth knowledge, so that the content they delivered on the company’s blog is as credible as possible. Relying on influencers can be a good content marketing strategy, only if the people you choose are suitable to meet your goals and respect the values of your company. Statistically, collaborating with influencers, according to Hubspot, is considered an effective strategy by 80% of marketers.
How many types of content are there and how can you use them?
When we talk about how many types of content there are, we can only say that “The sky is the limit.” We are constantly witnessing the emergence of new types of content. However, at the moment, we can say that certain types of content are firmly “rooted” in the marketing strategy of companies and that bring them great results. Based on statistical data, our experience, and our customers, we continue to present you the most popular and effective forms of content today.
Taking into account certain statistics, but also our experience or that of our customers, we can tell you that there are different types of content that may be suitable for promoting your business. As a result, we present to you the most popular and effective forms of content today that you could use.
Podcast
For our branded media company, the podcast is one of the tactics by which we manage to attract the attention of a large audience. Statistically, according to Oberlo, there are currently over 2,000,000 podcasts and more than 48,000,000 podcast episodes. In terms of revenue, they are expected to exceed $ 2 billion by the end of 2023. With that in mind, we can say that podcasting is a form of content that is highly valued by consumers.
To make a quality podcast you don’t need a lot of technical preparation or a lot of financial resources. The most important thing to keep in mind is to find an interesting topic that people want to hear. If you want to start a podcast and you don’t know exactly what it is, here’s a little hint: According to SemRush, comedy-themed podcasts are the most listened to among americans.
Our company is now involved in producing four branded podcasts and the results have not been long in coming. The first goal we pursued was to generate engagement so that people could interact with our podcast. In our IT client podcast, for which we make this podcast “from head to toe”, we address interesting, current topics and draw the attention of people and people in the business environment to important issues such as IT leadership or sustainable living.
Video Content
Your success as a marketer will also depend on the decisions you make. One of the inspired decisions you can make that will help you “shortent” your business growth is to include video content in your marketing strategy. Currently, video content is enjoying a significant popularity, both among marketers and consumers. According to Hubspot, more than 50% of the current number of video marketers plan to increase their investment in this form of content by 2022.
We apply a strategy when it is preferred by our target audience and the video content is one of those strategies. According to MARKINBLOG, users spend an average of seven hours each week watching online videos. There are currently around 2,000,000,000 users worldwide on YouTube. Based on these statistics, we realize the role that video content plays, both in the philosophy of marketers and in the preferences of users.
In addition, in marketing everything comes down to achieve your goals; though video content, the results will not be long in coming. According to Wyzowl, 84% of consumers said that by watching a brand’s video, they decided to purchase a service or subscribe to that brand’s channel. Sales is one of the main goals you can achieve through video content. Another goal you can achieve is to educate your audience. If you have a product or service, you will want your customers to know all the details of your product in depth, before purchasing that product.
Making such an educational video may be the best solution. According to InVideo, 72% of consumers said they would choose to learn about a product or service from a video. If you have a new product or service, one piece of advice we can give you is to make “How To?” videos. Be as creative as possible in the presentation of your steps and you will be able to achieve your goals. Perhaps one of the reasons why video content is so popular is that it allows you to be as creative as possible, to implement that specific “out of the box” mentality.
Vlogging
Another form of user-friendly video content is vlogging. Vlogging can be considered the video version of a podcast. If you have charisma, this can be one of the reasons why you do your vlogs and if you have a well-developed structure, then you are on the right track in getting great results. Currently, according to VLOGGINGPRO, over 44% of users watch vlogs every day. Being a form of video content, it will be a good opportunity for you to grow your business.
However, in order to get the desired results you need to understand why vlogging is so popular among people. According to studies, vlogs can help reduce stress. Just imagine that you had a hard day at work and all you want is to have a few moments of relaxation. Looking at a vlog you will have those moments that will allow you to recharge your batteries and regain your productivity and desire to work. Brands take into account the need of their customers to relax and escape for a short time in their daily lives and are already starting to channel their resources and energy into a vlog.
Live Streaming
Live Streaming is one of the best ways to keep your consumers informed about your brand. In simple terms, this is the practice of streaming a video or audio format over the Internet to your target audience.
Currently, we can say that the live streaming industry is in a “boom” of growth. The live streaming industry is expected to reach $70 billion by 2028, according to Findstack.
Live Streaming has several benefits that we cannot overlook. An important benefit of Live Streaming, according to DECAST, is reaching an even larger audience. Consider the following example: imagine that your business has developed a new service, an event. You want to be known by as many people as possible. If your event will be a physical one, you will encounter a series of limitations such as: space, budget for renting space and
its arrangement, etc. If you use live streaming, the only impediment that may occur is that your participants remain without an internet connection.
Another benefit of live streaming is that it sets you apart from the crowd. According to Web Analytics World , live streaming is a good opportunity to differentiate yourself from others. During the sessions, you can provide answers to your participants’ questions, answer any questions they may have, give them advice, etc. In this sense, you will differentiate yourself as a company, with an organizational culture “rooted” in your customers’ needs.
Investing in live streaming is a good strategy to increase the visibility of your brand. However, you must be aware that it is a tool in which inevitable technical failures will appear that you will have to manage.
Written Content
Even if we are witnessing a paradigm in which video and audio content are on the rise, we must not neglect the importance of written content. In meeting marketing objectives the Witten content is just as valuable.
In marketing, written content is often referred to as “copywriting” or “content writing”.
Copywriting is the ability of a marketer or a related field to write content that generates action from consumers. For example, purchasing a product from a well-written email, generating new contacts from a well-written article. To be able to do copywriting, you must have a very well-defined purpose so that you can efficiently manage your resources.
In copywriting, a very important aspect to keep in mind is the inclusion of a “call-to-action” button in your text. This is a prompt inserted towards the end of that content, addressed to users so they will interact with the content. An example of a call-to-action in a post might be: “Did you like this article? If so, tell us in the comments what are the main things that caught your attention the most!”.
According to Hubspot , a custom “call-to-action” button has 202% higher performance than a standard one. As a result, try to take into account the particular features of your audience and include a message that is as specific as possible.
Through Content Writing, your goal will not necessarily be to generate sales. But to keep your target audience up to date with the latest information that will help educate them. Another benefit you will get if you apply content marketing properly is positioning your site in the top positions of Google. One of the most important factors that Google considers in SEO is your content.
If your content provides valuable information to your users, Google will inevitably notice this. The top positions in Google will always generate the most visits and conversions. According to Intel, 75% of users do not scroll even at the end of the first page, finding what they need from the first results.
Blogging
Blogging is currently one of the most popular forms of content marketing. Why this? Because as in the case of the podcast, it does not require a lot of technical knowledge. And also, you do not have to invest a lot of money in its realization and maintenance. According to Semrush, there are over 500 million blogs worldwide. One of the main advantages of the blog is that you can scale it and track its performance at any time through analysis systems. You may use tools such as Google Analytics, Hotjar or SumoMe. All these tools allow you to monitor the behavior of your blog users so that you make it more efficient.
Whatever your purpose (conversion or visibility), the content you deliver will always need to be relevant. We often mention relevant content, because according to HubSpot, 23.84% of readers believe that poor quality of content destroys the brand’s credibility. Through what you write or post, always aim to be authentic. As a result, try to always be authentic with what you write or post. Don’t be superficial about writing an article, whether it’s a one-page or more article. From this point of view, devote enough time to research. More precisely to the identification of the most relevant sources to use.
If you are an online store, blogging will be an important part of your business. Through the blog, try to educate the future consumer about your products. By educating him, you will greatly increase his chances of acquiring the product you have to offer.
Brand magazines
According to Sheridan , brand magazines are an effective way for brands to make their products known by providing rich, relevant content that adds value to a well-chosen target audience. We create a quarterly magazine for one of our clients working in the field of beauty. Through this magazine, our goal is to make the products of our brand known to our target audience. But also to provide customers with valuable information about the use of the products.
Currently, we are publishing the issue number 11 of the magazine and so far, our route has been a beautiful one and the results are satisfactory. We managed to generate engagement and visibility for our client during this period in which we dealt with the writing of the magazine.
To start making a brand magazine you need to be aware that making it is a long process. The moment you create the first issue of the magazine, you commit that you will create the next one as well. Start making a brand magazine only when you are 100% convinced that you can dedicate yourself to this long-term processes.
One of the goals you can achieve by creating a brand magazine is to create a relationship with your audience. Your audience will see that you are constantly dedicated to providing valuable information to help them understand your business, products and services. Another goal you will be able to achieve is credibility.
Conclusion
Content marketing is a strategy that will weigh heavily in the evolution of business. However, in order to talk about a positive evolution, each brand, before implementing the specific content marketing strategy, must answer the question “Why?”. Through this question, brands will set their goals in a concrete way. If you already implemented a type of Content Marketing, check out our article about what changes you can or should do in order to succeed.
In content marketing, trends are constantly changing, so you should always be up to date with the latest trends. From this point of view, if you want to be up to date with the newest marketing and content marketing trends, we invite you to subscribe to our podcast. Every month, we have outstanding guests in the field of digital marketing. Our guest offer us a series of valuable insights on the latest content marketing trends and more.