Content marketing is a strategic marketing tool that is based on the creation, publishing and dissemination of content that is useful and relevant, with the aim of building engaged content communities on a segmented level and converting those communities into business-drivers.
The digital age is noisy. Consumers are constantly being bombarded by information from all angles. Search engines have literally given us access to the sum of all human knowledge at the click of a button. And social media has enabled that information to reach them even when they’re not really listening. Brands have information to share too. They want us to know why we should choose them over competitors, why their products or services are superior, why you should become a loyal customer. So how do you transmit a clear signal that cuts through all the digital noise?
This is where content marketing solves this challenge. Content marketing allows brands and companies to position themselves as experts on specific subject matter. It allows brands to build communities rather than applying a hit-and-miss approach by shouting out overly branded messages to the masses. Very strategically, content marketing takes a brand message and product offering, surrounds it with relevant and useful content, packages it as information that will add value to the life of the consumer and delivers it via the channels that reach the right people, at the right time.
Here’s how the content marketing proposal addresses three marketing pain points.
Budgetary Constraints. Big ideas often require big money. Content marketing strategies are usually long-term strategies. It’s about distributing a sustainable amount of relevant content across multiple channels and building a content community over an extended period of time in order to build valuable, long-lasting relationships. So instead of short bursts of big money, content marketing strategy play out in the long term, require smaller and often more manageable investments over a longer time period.Time Constraints. In the age of technology, time is our most valuable resource, and most of us are always running out of it. The great news is that content marketing is an ever-morphing beast. It could manifest in the form of a blog article or in the form of a podcast. However, it can also be something as simple as a social media post that delivers some tips or an opinion, or a GIF that communicates a competition or a giveaway.
Marketing Fatigue. If it weren’t for the option to unsubscribe, most of us would never survive the rate at which email marketing is dominating our inboxes. The same goes for social media marketing, re-targeted ads. The majority of consumers are all “marketed out.” That’s where content marketing provides a refreshing alternative to being spoken at rather than spoken with. It’s important that content marketing is imbued with a brand message, but it’s equally as important that it adds value to the consumer’s life – that after engaging with it the consumer feels inspired, informed and entertained. Great content marketing always do those three things very well. What’s in it for you as brand owner.
– Better brand awareness
– The delivery of a targeted message to a targeted audience
– A chance to bring your brand to life and be ‘smart’ in a way that is meaningful and engaging
– The fostering of brand loyalty through trusted shares
– A deepened relationship with your existing customers and a widening of your new client base
– Increased revenue from existing clients and new clients
– A deepened sense of personal relationship between your brand and its customers
– The generation of positive perceptions about your brand and what it stands for
– Education and value for subscribers
– The ability to influence customer behavior to such an extent that the target audience, wants to read it, reacts positively to it, keeps it and refers back to it
– Shares the content with their peer group (pass on virally) thereby endorsing the product/brand with their trust, encouraging a faster buying cycle
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