What is content Marketing?
It is a way of promoting your business, brand or product by sharing useful and interesting content with your audierne instead of directly telling them to buy something.
Eg- Imagine you own a bakery & instead of just saying:
Buy our cupcakes!
You write a blog or post a reel like :-
5 Easy Tips to Decorate Cupcakes at Home.
(People read it, find it helpful & trust you. Later, when they want to buy cupcakes they’ll remember your bakery.)
Why content marketing?
The end customer is becoming more aware of the importance of quality of the product/ seterice before making a final purchasing decision.
Advertising v/s content Marketing
Advertising
1. Instant showcase
Eg- TV ads for soft drinks
Content Marketing
- Lead Nurture
Eg- A blog or you tube channel sharing tips on healthy lifestyles and gradually introducing their soft drink as a part of that lifestyle.
2. Talking to
Eg- A billboard that says-buy your shoes its 50% off.
2. Talking with
Eg- A brand asking followers on Instagram what’s your favourite shoe? And replying to customers or featuring user stories.
3. General
Eg- A shampoo ad aired on national TV for everyone.
3. Specific Targeting
Eg- A blog post titled- “Best have care tips for Curly Hairs”.
4. Business driven
Eg- A company runs an ad campaign just to sell their products fast.
4. Community Driven
Eg- A fitness brand created a free Facebook group sharing daily workouts and nutrition tips, building a loyal community before selling / promoting products!
Content Marketing – A Brand Advocate
7 key roles for content marketing are:
1. Create Brand Awareness:-
Letting people know your brand exists by providing useful and informative content. This will help people to remember you or your brand and it would be easier for them to make buying decisions.
2. Audience Retention:-
Keeping your audience interested so they keep coming back for more content. It is one of the most effective methods rather than targeting new customers.
Eg- Netflix sending emails based on your recent history like if a new season comes of a particular web series or a new show that has been released on this platform.
3. Establish Trust:-
Building credibility with your audience is one of the most important factors of content marketing so that they have trust in your brand.
Eg- A financial advisor.
4. Engage with audience:-
This is a very creative factor of content marketing. In this we should always do two way communication by being active on all social media platforms – replying to comments, asking questions or hosting polls. Even if someone is commenting negatively for us or for our brand. We should never ignore those comments, instead we should reply to them politely so that they should realise their mistakes. But if they are facing genuine problems, then we should apologize to them.
5. User generated content:-
Content created by customers or followers about your brand. It gives social proof to other customers also. And by seeing honest reviews, photos or videos they will be able to make quick decision.
Eg- a fashion brand or cosmetic brand.
6. User Reviews :-
Customer feedback that helps others to decide whether to trust the & brand. Show -ve reviews too & try to convert them +ve reviews.
7. Brand Responsibility:-
The brand shows that it cares about social or environmental issues.
User Behaviour
Before taking the final call to purchase a product/ service a user goes through a behavioural funnel.
- Awareness – (Top of the funnel)
- Consideration – (Middle of the funnel)
- Decision – (Bottom of the funnel)
Content Marketing Strategy
- Create a goal.
- Establish KPIs
- Know your audience
- Assess the current position.
- Best content channels
- Decide on Content Types
- Identify & allocate resources.
- Content Calendar
- Create content
- Distribution
- Measure Results.
Popular Content Marketing Tools
- WordPress:
Use – Content Management System (CMS)
Helps to create & manage websites or blogs without needing to code.
Easy to use for publishing articles, uploading images and maintaining a business website.
- Google Analytics:-
Use – Website Traffic Analysis.
Tracks & reports website traffic, user behaviour, bounce rates, time onsite etc.
Helps to understand who your audience is, what content works and where improvements are needed.
- SEMRush / Ahrefs:-
Use – SEO & competitor Analysis Tools.
It helps with keyword research, backlink, analysis, and tracking your competitors’ content.
Helps to improve search engine rankings & find content gaps.
- MOZ
Use – SEO optimization.
Offers tools for on-page SEO, keyword tracking, site audits & link building.
Helps to improve website’s visibility on Google.
- Mailchimp
Use – Email Marketing
Allows to design and send mails, newsletters & automated campaigns to your audience.
Keep your audience engaged & build relationships through regular communication.
6. Hootsuite: –
Use – Social Media Mgt.
Helps to schedule & organize posts across different social media platforms.
It saves time and ensures consistent posting to boost engagement.
7. Buzzsumo :-
Use – content Research & Trends.
Shows which content is trending or performing well online.
helps to decide what topics to write about based on Popularity & engagement.
Final Thoughts
Content marketing is one of the best types of digital marketing that helps businesses to reach their audience by providing valuable and relevant information. It helps in every step of the buyer’s journey.
We should focus more on creating and providing helpful and valuable content to users that makes their life easier.
