Content marketing is one of the critical elements of a good SEO strategy and digital marketing. But precisely what is it, and why is it so crucial?
This article tells you what content marketing is, what objectives it aims to achieve, how you can start implementing it, and what benefits it will bring to your company if you follow a series of straightforward tips.
Table of Contents
Definition of content marketing
Content marketing is a field or discipline of digital marketing. It is defined as the set of techniques for creating, publishing, and managing digital content that generates value for the user. The focus of this strategy and set of actions is on awakening the interest of your target audience in the online field and provoking interaction with the user.
Is content marketing something new? Perhaps, as we know it, it is something innovative.
Although the definition is quite specific, the reality is that content marketing is a comprehensive concept. It will be your main route of action to position ourselves in search engines and a fundamental piece of corporate communication.
Objectives of content creation and content marketing
To understand your content marketing goals, it can be helpful to think of them as a ladder or a pyramid.
- Generate traffic: The first and most fundamental thing is that your content creation generates traffic. When you see the different content strategies that you can carry out, you will understand what type of audience each will take us.
- Attract customers: Once you have managed to increase user traffic, you need to become potential customers to generate leads.
- Finally, content marketing must always be focused on retaining customers. Just as an excellent physical store treats its consumers with respect and kindness, the presence on the Internet of a business has to know how to pamper its public and identify with the brand with the generation of Branded Content.
All these phases correspond to the customer’s purchase cycle. The intention of content marketing has to be precisely that, accompany the client through the different stages of the funnel and closely follow the conversion of a lead or user until they become a consumer.’
How to start implementing a content marketing strategy?
While it may seem that content marketing stays active and posts a lot, the reality is otherwise.
It is critical to have a clear content strategy based on prior research. For such research, multiple SEO analysis tools can examine the competition and search for keywords.
As mentioned earlier, there are many content marketing strategies. The concept ‘content’ may seem somewhat abstract at first. But the truth is that you have a lot of diversity in terms of types of content.
Let’s see some examples, from the most elementary to the most daring:
- A blog is one of the essential tools for a company. It allows us to publish articles on many topics and give life to our website. In addition, it is a critical element in the
- Infographics and other types of images go very well with articles. They can also be used alone, as they move very well on visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest.
- Magazines and guides: Above all, this content is interesting for companies with some connection with training, although it does not have to be limited to this area. A widely used strategy is to ‘give away’ these publications in exchange for getting leads.
- Videos: More and more used, videos have a compelling entertainment and dissemination character since they give the company a very close and friendly image. You can post videos on many social networks and our website. Some companies have a whole positioning strategy on YouTube. The most daring are beginning to use the TikTok app, very popular among young people but is increasingly spreading to the world of marketing and communication.
- This possibility is becoming a trend. Having a podcast is relatively simple, depending on the level and quality you are looking for. It can be instrumental in improving our brand image as ‘experts’ in any subject related to our business mission.
- The different tools or types of content have a lot to do with the network you want to have visibility. In turn, these decisions will have to be aligned with the kind of audience we want to reach and the type of company.
The most common is to have a content strategy that combines several elements; identifying one or two types of content is vital. For companies whose target is young audiences, the most logical thing to do may appear on networks such as Instagram and publish visual content. For those who move in a b2b market, Linkedin may be the best option, with the content of a more serious or professional tone.
The content focused on so far is free. Creating and managing a content marketing plan implies a specific cost for the company since it will need to create a digital marketing department or pay those in charge of carrying it out, usually the company’s Community Manager, an external digital marketing agency, or hiring freelance services.
However, there is also paid content. Almost all social networks offer an option to promote content, such as Facebook Ads, Linkedin Ads, etc. This allows us to sponsor specific posts and reach more potential audiences.
Benefits of content marketing
What are the main benefits that content marketing will bring to your company?
- Direct interaction with the user: Once you dive into the world of content marketing, endless possibilities open up. A growing trend is conversational marketing, which consists of using techniques that help us talk and contact the user. Some examples are personalized or direct messaging, but you can also include any publication that has a two-way approach.
- Very cheap and profitable: there are multiple ways to do content marketing, and most of them are free, but it has an associated cost that is the time spent.
- Search engine optimization on the Internet: Being active on the web will help us be close to customers and be visible to the algorithms.
Tips for content creation and implementing it well
While doing content marketing is not something too complicated, it is clear that it is a technique that we can master better or worse. What do we need to know to carry out a successful content plan?
The content creation must be of quality: own, updated, and fresh. Plagiarism is penalized by Google. Not only that but copying the content of the competition can considerably deteriorate your brand image. It is essential that what we do has personality.
In addition, the information must be relevant. Put yourself in the user’s shoes. When we are consumers, we do not like to be wasted our time. Let’s not make our clients feel that way.
Using Search Engine Optimization criteria is essential. The content has to be directed both to users (people) and to search engines and social network trackers. Therefore, it is imperative to make a preliminary research and analysis plan. And finally, listen to your users. The Internet offers us many possibilities for real interaction, and it would be a mistake to waste them. Nowadays, receiving feedback from users is very simple. The content does not have to be one-way. In this sense, techniques such as conversational marketing and storytelling can be desirable.