Content marketing might have a reputation for being time-consuming, but it’s truly one of the most effective digital (and SEO!) strategies.
Content marketing has been around as long as there has been marketing, with the capabilities and ever-changing trends only expanding this area further and introducing exciting scope for keen marketers. Despite the possibilities of effective content marketing, many choose to invest their time and budget into other paid services, which isn’t always the right approach. If you haven’t thought about your content marketing strategy for some time, let’s review the benefits of this digital marketing approach and what is possible.
It’s a cross-channel and mixed media strategy
Content marketing cannot be put in a box or category, as it transcends channels and media, making it a compelling tool to use for both acquisition and retention marketing. This means that your content can educate or inspire through short or long-form written content, video, photography, and so many other content forms. This can take the shape of a case study, a ‘how-to’, a listicle, an interview, and really any other format you can think of. For success in content marketing, you will want to use a collection of each so that you are giving your audience some variability and attracting new audiences who respond to one channel or media over another.
It serves your other digital marketing efforts
If you have a strong content marketing strategy behind you, you’ll find that your other activity in the market is going to be more successful as you have comprehensively covered all your bases. Instead of having your social media and Google Ads campaigns linking to your website, imagine how much better the engagement would be if you had a dedicated landing page that fleshed out this specific goods or service with FAQs ready to educate and convert your customer. You might also find that your email marketing campaigns get a higher open and engagement rate when your audience expects to see interesting blogs, reviews, and content that they are looking for which informs their decision-making process and their opinion of your business.
Endless opportunities and ideas
Many businesses have proved that content marketing can be incredibly creative, playing around with their tone of voice and brand identity to captivate a wider audience net. Those who believe they have nothing to create content from are not thinking big enough, as you can repurpose content from a review or even a testimonial that informs your customers and hits those notes they are curious about. If you get really clever with your content, then you can set up some lead magnets that actually vet your customers and then serve them the appropriate content, following up on different channels at different times. Being creative in this space will also open you up to partnerships, as other brands will want to be aligned with your approach and share in your success.
It’s the language of SEO
If you weren’t sold on content marketing then you would have at least experienced or seen the power of SEO. When you break it down, SEO is really just content marketing put to work, as you need content for link building, optimising your websites, meta titles, and descriptions – and all those things that help you rank higher than your competitor. When you can create content that is both creative and tactical in terms of an SEO strategy, then you don’t have to double handle and can have confidence that your content is going to be seen by a much larger audience.
You haven’t come this far with your fantastic website and responsive social media only to be let down by disappointing content marketing. Do an audit of all your channels and assess whether your content needs freshening and start making that happen.
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