Content Marketing is the new marketing approach that distributes valuable, relevant information consistently to attract and keep a well-defined audience with the ultimate goal of creating a profitable customer action. The information distributed by way of content marketing has the intention of influencing customer actions favorably for the company.
Since many customers and consumers have adapted to ignoring website advertisements and fast forwarding through commercials on their DVR, these forms of advertising are quickly becoming irrelevant. Traditional marketing is rapidly becoming a thing of the past and marketers are now looking for other methods that are more effective.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a way to communicate and relate to your customers and prospects without aggressively selling your product or service. It is also known as “non-interruption marketing” and focuses less on interrupting what a customer is doing and focuses more on providing information to educate customers. The idea is that by providing consistent, valuable information to customers, they will then reward companies with their business and brand loyalty. This type of content marketing has been used by small companies around the globe and now the larger companies like Microsoft and P&G are taking notice and following suit.
There are several companies in existence, such as Portside Marketing, that assist their clients with developing the content that will be relevant to their customer base. Well written, relevant content will do more to get your company noticed than a short 90 second ad will. With competition in every field being so high, customers now look for a company that they can relate to. They are drawn to companies who share their same values and provide information that they can actually use in their day to day life.
Content marketing is now being infused with all forms of marketing to increase business for companies around the globe. It has become key in marketing strategies and the major force for driving sales and increasing customer traffic and leads.
Using Content Marketing
Roper Public Affairs has said that 80% of decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of well written, informative articles, versus seeing an advertisement for the company. Advertisements now feel impersonal to consumers because they’re all about how the consumer can benefit the company, whereas content marketing focuses more on the consumer themselves and what the company can do for the consumer.
It is extremely important to understand that content marketing is about more than just pouring content into the world. It’s about distributing the “right” content for your intended consumers. Content that is personalized and relevant will encourage consumers to engage with the company, which will in turn lead to more leads and more sales. Unfortunately, for many companies, creating the right content can be difficult and time consuming. Many companies experience a slow period while they’re trying to find out what content appeals to their desired market. These are some of the reasons that companies will hire a content marketing consultant or a content marketing company to assist with the creation and distribution of content. Companies such as Portside Marketing have experience appealing to various markets and have a staff of highly trained writers who will be able to create high-quality, well written content that appeals to any specific customer base.
Using Content Marketing
Content marketing is an extremely useful tool but you also need to have the reach to deliver it to your desired customer base. Many companies choose to do this by displaying the content on their website or blog and then sharing on multiple social media platforms. This gets the content out to the public. If the content is well written and appeals to your customers, then it becomes more likely that they will start to share it with their friends and family. If their friends and family can also relate to your content, then they may also share it with their circle of friends and family. The people who are exposed to the content are more likely to reach out to your company for goods or services because of the connection they felt with your content.
It’s important to not confuse content marketing with social media marketing. While content marketing may use social media to distribute the content, the marketing plan itself does not revolve purely around social media. The central point of content marketing is the brand’s website, whereas the central point of social media marketing is the brand’s social media pages. Your content will be located on your company’s website and simply distributed through social media, rather than being located on a social media platform.
There are many aspects to content marketing and finding the right balance is the key to a successful content marketing campaign.