CONTENT MARKETING - IN A VERY SIMPLE UNDERSTANDABLE LANGUAGE

Content marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract, engage and retain an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts and other media. This approach establishes expertise, promotes brand awareness, and keeps your business top of mind when it comes to buy what you sell.

Content Marketing is the development and distribution of relevant, useful content-blogs, newsletters, white papers, social media posts, emails, videos and the like, to current and potential customers. When its done right, this content conveys expertise ad makes it clear  that the company values the people to whom it sells.

The consistent use of content marketing establishes and nurtures relationship with your prospective and potential existing customers. When your audience thinks of your company/business as a partner interested in their success and a valuable source of advice and guidance, they are more likely to choose you when it comes to buying!

WHY IS CONTENT MARKETING IMPORTANT?

Content marketing is a go-to-tactic that proven to work. also it provides competitive advantages.

Take a look into this research down here!

• Business with blogs gets 67% more leads  than other companies.
• 47% of buyers  views 3 to 5 pieces of contents before engaging with sales representative.
• Companies that uses content marketing see approximately 30% higher growth rates than businesses not using it.
• Seventy-two percent of Business to Business(B2B) marketers say content marketing increases engagement and the number of leads they generate.

Your business can use content marketing to attract leads, make a case of your product or service when someone researches what to buy, and close sales.

To use it effectively, you need to deriver the right contents, at each stage of sales circle to engage and sale.

Awareness stage

At the first stage of the sales process, your content should focus on the top concern of your audience. Writing about their pain points, challenges, and questions gives you the best chance of engaging with them. Contents at awareness stage should be educational, how-to advice. Save your selling for the consideration and closing phases.

Best content for this stage: Articles, blog posts, e-books, videos etc.

Examples: 

• A restaurant writes a blog post about how to plan a menu for graduation party.
• A bike touring company  creates a short video on "3 ways to. choose a bike trip".
• An architecture firms write an e-book called "Things to consider before hiring an Architect".

In the consideration stage, content should offer an hybrid of helpful information and marketing. It should educate the reader about what features and or function to look for and how various features address their needs. Of course your content should have a bent towards what your business offers.

Best contents for this stage: case studies, how-to articles, how-to videos, checklists/worksheets.

Examples: 

• A cloud-based phone system company creates a checklist entitled "8 ways to improve your phones customer services" that details the features and functions that makes great customer service possible. 
• A landscaping company creates case study about "The biggest mistakes most people make when hiring a landscaper".
• A catering company features case studies of successful events with the focus on the benefit they offer, like "How to accommodate food allergies for your next event".

Content marketing plays an important role when a prospect is close to buying. At this stage, you can focus on sales, as long as you continue to drive home why you are the best choice rather than just how great your products or your services are.

Your central message here should be your expertise, knowledge and differentiating benefits of what you sell.

Best content for this stage: case studies, user-generated contents, buyer's guide, product video, research report.

Examples:

• A consulting firm creates a research report proving that the businesses that engage in strategic planning, assessment by outsiders,  and other service- shaped by what service is offered- experience higher growth.
• A design agency creates a short videos showcasing variety in its work across different industries to demonstrate its diverse expertise. 
• An orthodontist practice  encourages patients to contribute testimonials about its state-of-the art equipment and top-notch service.

Content marketing can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. A successful content marketing campaign should be manageable and sustainable. Take these stages to get started:

• Identify your audience. To create content for a particular reader, you need to have a clear idea of their priorities, challenges and  and preferences. If you have detailed descriptions of your various segments, choose 1 or 2 to write for. Otherwise, craft profile of your audience members and prospects before starting.
• Determine the right formats. The right formats corresponds with what stages of sales cycle your creating content for. Another important consideration includes what format will best help you showcase value. For some, this will be video, for others, checklist.
• Decide who will write, edit and proofread your copy. An audience will judge your content on its quality, and they should. Identify the right resource, internal or external, to create this work. Regardless of who creates it, hire a professional proofreader  to review anything before it goes out the door.
• Determine how you will distribute. Will you post content on your site, email it to people, or print it for an event.? Start with Where you know your audience will likely to be, and choose format that will make sense. For example, an article makes sense to be sent via email, a checklist or a worksheet can be posted on social media.
• Choose a sustainable schedule. Its easy to make a content marketing plan that's overly ambitious. Once you know the target readers and the format, creates a short term realistic plan (3 to 6 months) to realistic number of content elements you can create, based on your budget and resources. Keep track of how long it takes you to create each piece of your content, so that you create and keep relevant schedule.
• Follow best practices. compelling content is clearly written, without jargon, that you and your peers will know. It should also include how-to advice. A short, relevant, actionable piece of content is best.

SEO

content marketing makes it easy for good prospects to find your business. One way this occurs is using search engine optimisation (SEO).

Information abounds on SEO, but to begin, focus on a few important best practices.

Identify Keywords

Keywords are the foundation of your SEO effort. These all-important words and phrase are the terms a prospect types into a search engine when they are looking for a company, product or service. 

When you include the right keywords in your content, you will attract more traffic. The best keywords are:

• Plain-language : The language your audience uses to describe their pain points and needs.
• Relevant : Keyword that matches the expertise , service and product you provide.
• Specific : A combination of your focus, industry expertise, prospect pain points, and other relevant details.

SEO has evolved so that search success depends in part on how well your content does what it says it will do. Search engine review content copy, assess its relevance, and determine whether it derivers what the headline promise.

Because of the importance search engine place on copy, using keyword through your content is important. Use the following guidelines:

• Focus on 1 to 2 keywords.  Avoid keyword stuffing by writing only what matters to your prospects with just a few keyword phrases.
• Use keywords in the title. Make what the content is about, clear and explicit.
• Use keywords throughout. Find the way of naturally incorporating your keywords int your content.
• Stay on topic. Good, quality content that provide advice-related to a headline will perform best.

Once you have content, its time to get word out about it. Social media- facebook, linkedIn, instagram, youtube, twitter and others, is a proven and easy way of promoting your content. You write a post and link to your content, thats that! People are engaged.

You can do this through three steps:

• Focus  on high potential channels. The best social media outlets for you are the one frequented by your audience. Consider the big, popular, channels , as well as smaller, industry-focused ones that are likely to connect you with good prospects. Ask your audience what channel they favour and build a manageable list based on their preferences.
•  Craft your copy to fit the channel. Each social media channel as the level of professionalism versus fun, an accepted voice and other details all its own. Before you write post for a channel spend sometimes reviewing posts to familiarise yourself with these details. Then give your post some of your company spirit.
• Test and modify your approach. A winning social media  promotion effort involves trial and error. Track responses from various channels for quantity and quality,  Fewer high potential engagements may mean a channel is a good fit, as opposes to a slow clicks that never turn to an audience.

Let your expertise and unique value shine through by creating to attract, engage and sell. With some planning and systematic content marketing, you can reach the right people and inspire royalty to your brand.