Content Marketing : what is it and how do you use it ?
Content marketing allows you to attract, engage, convert and retain customers who would otherwise not even know about your business. It’s never been more popular than it is today, so if you don’t do it, your competitors probably will.
You can immediately see from the graph above how quickly the demand for this trend has grown since 2004. This article will help you understand what content marketing is, its benefits and where to start.
WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING ?
Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing content to attract and retain customers, which helps you increase revenue and ultimately grow your business.
We are surrounded by a constant stream of information. Advertising, push notifications, signs – we have learned to ignore attempts to sell us another product. Customers bring you customers who are enthusiastic and want to work with you! Advertising on social networks and publications in the media bring you a « hot » audience. These users are quicker to make a buying decision.
EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL CONTENT MARKETING
Both aspects of content marketing – external and internal – are very similar, equally important, and equally focused on product development and promotion. The main difference between them is where the content is placed.
Internal content marketing – Inbound: refers to any activity on a personal platform, such as blogs, social media posts and forums, videos, podcasts and newsletters.
If the material is produced specifically for an external resource, it is external content marketing – Outbound. In this case, the publications will be aimed at promoting your product on another platform, such as forums or other companies’ websites.
WHAT TOPIC TO SHARE ?
Create content on topics you know well. With this approach, your advantage will be to position yourself as an expert. It’s not the number of articles on a blog or website that builds trust, but their thoughtfulness, relevance and usefulness.
If you are new to marketing, try writing simple stories about the growth, ups and downs of your business. Set goals for the near future and talk about the work you have done. Explain where you are at the moment and what problems you are facing. Speak boldly about your pains and successes. Audiences like to see people overcome challenges, it evokes emotion and sympathy.
HOW TO CREATE CONTENT ?
Once you have decided what you are going to put in your articles and for whom, you need to decide HOW you are going to do it.
You can start with :
Tone of voice.
Can you make jokes with your audience, use slang, feminisms? Or is it better to stick to a professional and formal communication style?
Format.
Decide on a format that people will feel most comfortable with. This could be long articles, videos or short blog paragraphs.
THE KEY PLAN FOR WORKING ON YOUR CONTENT MARKETING.
- Choose a publishing platform
Create a separate blog on your website. If you are more comfortable communicating with your audience via Facebook, go ahead, the choice is yours. - Define topics and subjects
This makes it easier to develop a concept and a scenario for the development of your projects. You will see which niche is most covered on the blog, what is missing, what you should pay attention to, what topics you should add in the future. - Highlight keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases in your content that help your visitors find their way around easily. They should be present in your title and several times in your text. - Create a content plan
Anticipating months allows you to stay organised and deal with difficult topics in advance. This is a known way to discipline yourself and avoid important dates like Christmas when you need to take stock. - Keep your users loyal
Gradually start collecting your readers’ e-mails and make thematic summaries for your mailing list. Include additional items in the articles and invite the user to leave their email address to receive articles on similar topics. - Distribute the content
Try to publish on different platforms. Look for platforms where you will be read – Facebook
