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A Comprehensive Guide to Content Marketing

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a strategy in which brands plan, create, distribute, promote, and publish content to communicate with the audience and lead them to a desired end goal.
Content marketing uses several types of content such as blogs, videos, webpage content, print publications, press releases, podcasts, apps, and others. All these content formats target to engage audiences and make them aware of offers, services, products, values etc.
Learn all about content marketing and how it helps businesses create a strong online presence and open a never-ending sales channel for brands.

Content Marketing Statistics

  • 82% of marketers use content marketing to attract more customers and to create a brand appeal to audiences.
  • 87% of marketers report that content marketing boosts their leads or demands.
  • 87% of marketers claim to generate more website traffic with video content.
  • 89% of consumers would like to prefer more video content from brands.
  • Facebook is the most used platform for content marketing by marketers. Instagram is the second and LinkedIn follows them at third position.
  • 49% of US B2B marketers say content marketing is their most effective channel for driving results.
  • As per the assumptions, 504 Million people will listen to podcasts by the end of 2025.

Types of Content Marketing

Web Page Content Marketing

Web page content marketing refers to all content on a website. It includes visuals, texts, videos, and several formats of these three present on a web page. A good web page content engages with the readers while giving them value through text and visual content.

Social Media Content Marketing

Social media content marketing is a strategy that uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc to create content. There are several platforms and each has its distinctive content type.

Infographic Content Marketing

Infographics are content pieces that use high-valued data and information in an easy-to-understand graphic. They use simple wordings, short sentences, and engaging visuals to create value-packed infographic content.

Blog Content Marketing

Blog content marketing is a marketing strategy to create text content for website blog sections. Blogs allow marketers or creators to innovate with their writings and allow them to promote related products or content with links, social media shares, etc.

Podcast Content Marketing

Podcasts are audio and video content that talks about a specific topic in detail. They offer a lot of creativity as they can be on any subject. Moreover, creators have the freedom to choose guests, episodes, content length, etc.

Video Content Marketing

Video content marketing uses short-form videos and long-form videos to create awareness and get customers from video content platforms like Instagram, YouTube, etc.

Paid Ad Campaigns Content Marketing

Paid advertising is a content marketing strategy for getting immediate results from online platforms.

Benefits of Content Marketing

  • Consumers today don’t want another flashy ad but value-packed content for their solutions.
  • Less costly and effective lead generation method in the long term.
  • Builds brand awareness and creates a buzz among the target audiences.
  • Builds trust and establishes brands as thought leaders.

How Does Content Marketing Relate to the Audience’s Demand?

Content marketing is not about creating bundles of content to promote brands. Instead, it's about the customers. To be true, it's somewhere in-between where brands can create their voice as well as stay trendy with the audience’s demand.
Content marketing creates stories and attracts audiences by sharing valuable information. These stories revolve around the problems audiences face, the demos, real-life results, quick tips, etc. Notably, finding the right channels is crucial too!
Content marketing is not what brands produce but how brands communicate with their audience.

Content Marketing Audience Nurturing System

There are three major stages a user goes through in the content marketing channel. These stages are awareness, trust, and purchasing stages. These stages are named Top of the Funnel, Middle of the Funnel, and Bottom of the Funnel respectively.

Funnel Stage

Nature of Funnel Stage

Content Type

Top of the Funnel

Awareness

Blog Posts, Social Media Posts, Short-form video, Podcasts, infographic, Checklists, E-books, Video Ads, and Webinars

Middle of the Funnel

Trust

Email Newsletter, Product Demos, Landing Pages, White Papers, Longer-form Videos, Blog Posts, Interactive Content, and  Webinars

Bottom of the Funnel

Purchase

Personalized Emails, User-generated Content such as Testimonials, Case Studies, Pricing Pages, Comparison Blogs, Demos, White papers, Remarketing Campaigns.

Tips to Create Effective Content Marketing

Here are all the secrets to creating a successful effective content marketing strategy:

  • Go beyond product data and provide value.
  • Target customer’s journey in all content types.
  • Maintain a consistent brand voice and image.
  • Create time-specific and engaging content.
  • Add humor to the content.

Step-by-Step Guide to Start Content Marketing

1. Find your targeted audience

Before investing money into content creation, find the right audience by asking the following questions.

a. What are the audience demographics?

Audience demographics are the data that defines the audience. Think about the best audience and how they are defined. Look for information such as age, address, marital status, working status, preferences etc.

b. What are their challenges?

Find what the ideal audience faces in their everyday life and how product or service can help them overcome those challenges. Some of the common challenges are lacking the right information or not getting a promising offer. Your content marketing approach depends on the end goals of your consumers.

c. Why do consumers need a product or service?

Consumers may need a product or service either to solve one of their current problems or have a better status in terms of their everyday lifestyle.

d. How can [X] brands help consumers to solve their problems?

A brand can help consumers understand their problems in depth, make them aware of the solutions, and offer them the best deals.

e. Where does the right audience spend most of their time?

Understand the audience’s demographic and evaluate where they spend most of their time. For example- if they are health conscious people, they may spend their time in a gym or other health promoting activities. Create highly engaging content around them.

2. Set SMART goals

Set goals by following the tips given below.

  • Specific: Become very specific about goals. It can be increasing followers, boosting brand awareness, conversions, etc.
  • Measurable: Set measurable goals for the campaign and create strategies to achieve them.
  • Achievable: Set realistic goals that’s achievable in a time period.
  • Relevant: Make goals that stay relevant to the objectives only.
  • Time Bounded: Set a time period for all activities. Doing so will help you track your growth accurately.

3. Determine KPIs

Set the KPIS for brand success measurement. Though some brands may have personalized success factors, here are some of the most common business KPIs.

  • Brand Awareness: Website and social media engagement.
  • Revenue and Conversion: Conversion rate, shopping cart, competitive price trends, cancel rate, daily sales, and site traffic.
  • Consumer Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, mentions, backlinks, etc.
  • Brand Loyalty: Repeat purchases, promoters, product reviews, and referrals.
  • Strategic Partnerships: New partnerships, backlinks, and mentions.

4. Decide the Type of Content

Next, decide the right types of content that would perform.

  • Go for a content audit.
  • See what the competitors are doing.
  • Understand the consumer’s demand.

5. Choose the Content Channel

Find where the targeted audience is spending most of their time. This helps brands choose the right content channel, reducing the product cost and maximizing the return.

6. Set a Content Publishing Schedule

Plan content scheduling and publishing for a month or at least a week. Use a blog or social media content calendar to set the frequency. Make sure it is not overwhelming or underwhelming.

7. Fix an Ad Budget

Set a budget for paid content marketing campaigns. But first, understand what will be needed for creating content and advertising on the right platforms. Read below.

a. Does it require purchasing software or resources?

See whether the current system is able to pull off the expectations with available resources. If not, upgrade software or resources that can optimize the operations.

b. Is there a need for professional content marketers?

See whether the organisation needs professional excellence for the project. If yes, don’t hesitate to hire professional content marketers.

c. Should brands pay for digital ad spaces?

The digital world is a marathon and if a brand wants instant results, they should opt for digital advertising.

8. Promote the Content

Finally, after posting valuable content pieces, make sure to promote those on emails, social media, and through online partners such as influencers.

9. Analyse and Measure Results

Finally, analyse and measure the results. See what’s working for the brand and what’s not. Choose wisely and narrow the focus to generate the best results.

How does SEO Complement Content Marketing Strategies?

Here are some of the best-performing tips for SEO content marketing.

  • Start a blog.
  • Conduct keyword research.
  • Create valuable content for audiences.
  • Do on-page SEO.
  • Build backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites.

Best Tips for Utilizing Social Media Platforms for Content Marketing

Here are some tips for using social media platforms for content marketing:

  • Create top-of-the-funnel content at most.
  • Add humor, personality, and relatability to the content.
  • Use trends for boosting engagement.
  • Create high-quality engaging content for consumer engagement.
  • Don't use social media for over-promotion.
  • Focus on a few channels only. Use a maximum of 2 platforms first and then add others.

Best Tools for Content Marketing

Here is a list of the best tools for content marketing that you need to start today.

1. SEO Analysis

  • Ahrefs
  • SEMrush
  • Surfer SEO

2. Content Creation and Editing

  • Grammarly: For Grammar Correction.
  • Hemingway: For Improving Writing Tone.
  • Canva: to create instant designs.
  • Filmora Pro: to Create videos.
  • Google Doc: to produce written content.

3. Content Scheduling and Distribution

  • Hootsuite
  • Coschedule
  • Buffer

4. Content Analytics

  • Google Analytics: To monitor website traffic data.
  • Google Search Console: To monitor the website’s data.
  • Dedicated Social Media Platform Analytic Tools: To get insights about social media performance.
  • Sprout Social: To monitor social media analytics.

Conclusion:

In this article, we explained how content marketing can become the best channel for brands to create an impact, establish communication with targeted audiences, and get customers in the long run. We have discussed:

  • The right tools,
  • Sales funnel stages,
  • SEO and Social Media tips for content marketing,
  • Step-by-step guide to launching a content marketing campaign
  • Statistics and benefits of content marketing.

Looking for a Content Marketing Expert?
Contact Vigyapan Mart for Personalised strategies and expert guidance.

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