For the past few years, content marketing has been a definite leader in the field of digital promotion. People are constantly looking for the right information on social networks, watching videos, and reading blog posts. They focus only on useful and high-quality content, so the only way to gain their trust and, eventually, close a sale, is to be the first and only one who’ll provide such content. And this is exactly what content marketing is for.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services. It focuses on creating and distributing content for a targeted audience online. Social media is an integral part of content marketing
Content marketing thus is promoted through content. In other words, you do not just create any text but write something that will increase sales growth, recognition, or attracts potential users.
Before we dive into some tips and specifics of content marketing for your business, let’s identify the technique itself. It’s all kinds of content that talk about what you do: texts, videos, pictures, animated images, information graphics, podcasts, etc. Basically, they are various types of materials that are used by Internet users visiting your site or reading about you on the web.
The Primary Benefits of Using Content Marketing for Your Business
Here you can see how content marketing can be useful for you:
1. You’ll get highly targeted organic traffic from search engines through the publication of helpful content on visited sites (media, thematic resources);
2. It’ll ensure comprehensive coverage of the audience of social networks and increased brand/product recognition through the targeted distribution of exciting content and its further “sharing” by users;
3. You’ll be able to influence the user’s decision to purchase at each stage of the sales funnel and get the corresponding increase in engagement;
4. Your SEO will boost as a result of an increased number of links to your business site from third-party resources, which will also improve behavioral factors.
As you can see, content marketing allows not only to convey information to the target audience, but also to establish an open dialogue with it, to find out the current opinion of customers, and to build brand loyalty.
According to a recent study, 90% of companies are actively using content marketing; 50% of published messages evoke a lively response and interest from the audience. And yet, only 5% of the posts lead to real actions: transitions to the site, registration, or other targeted efforts.
So let us provide you with some actionable expert tips that can help gradually improve your business.
Content Marketing Professional Tips
Focus on publishing relevant content. The first tip is easy to follow. When creating content, follow the rule of conformity with the professional field and subject. Post relevant content that is consistent and aligns with the overall goals of your site. Let’s say you sell coffee machines online. In addition to providing all the technical information about the product (photos, reviews, videos), you’d want to post articles related to coffee on the blog (preparation, use, recipes, etc.) d.), in other words, relevant content. Studies show that more than 50% of consumers are happy to read such materials on company websites.
Double-check your content formatting before you post it. Good content requires original, well-developed, and unbiased information on a specific topic. But even if it is just that – useful, unique, and expert – it can easily get lost on the Internet, among other publications if users struggle with reading it and following your train of thought. Proper presentation of any text implies improvement through breaking it into paragraphs, as well as through the use of bold and italic styles, headings, a suitable font size, etc.
Caring for content formatting is also good for SEO because it is a direct sign that you’re trying to create a high-quality website. If you decide to combine different types of content (text, images, video), this will improve the user’s impression of reading the material, which will undoubtedly lead to certain advantages.
Your title can be the key to success. What we’re talking about is the basics of SEO, which don’t get any less important. So, an extensive and bright title performs several functions at once:
● It helps search engines understand the content of your text;
● Gives social networks an understanding of the semantic direction of your materials;
● It attracts the attention of users and stimulates an increase in click-through rates to a specific page.
Do not underestimate the importance of the first impression of the text, so think a hundred times before clicking the “Publish” button.
Try to keep tabs with your competitors. There’s a chance that the number of players on your market is massive. And if you want your content to work effectively for your business, it should be better than that of competitors.
Before you start creating any material, check out related publications on Google, Facebook, Twitter (or another social network that is more suitable for your audience) and find out what type of content they like in the first place. Pay attention to such things as volume, quality, and format, and try to create content that will surpass the others in all respects.
Content that doesn’t outperform competitors’ content can’t cause the hype you need in search engines or social networks, so it’s preferable to spend some more time and work on improving your texts.
Create a perfect schedule for your content. In addition to the desire for relevance and accuracy of content, you should remember the need for its regular publication. If possible, post materials not only on specific days but also at particular times of the day. Having such a “calendar” will help you organize your workflow and create a group of loyal users.
Your content should be helping with conversions. Remember that the primary goal of creating content is to increase conversions. In other words, a conversion can be considered anything from increasing the number of your email subscribers and clicks on banner advertising, to growth in sales of goods.
Good Content and Social Media
Content marketing for small businesses can be very powerful. You can even consider adding a blog to your business website, or post content on social media platforms like Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare, or a short video to Youtube. Remember people want information. And good content can provide information that your prospective customer is looking for. brand
