Content Marketing 101

Content Marketing 101 – What It Is & Why It’s Important?

Over time, traditional marketing strategies are becoming less effective. The major reason behind this is the increasing focus on digital marketing. With the increase in internet users, online marketing has started gaining popularity.

Due to the increase in internet presence, the number of internet users has seen exponential growth. Globally, the number of internet users increased from 413 million in 2000 to over 3.4 billion in 2016. As of October 2020, almost 4.66 billion people were active internet users. That’s 59% of the global population.

The increase in online users gave birth to digital marketing. Talking about content marketing, it is a crucial part of digital marketing. By publishing digital content on various channels, you can stand apart from the rest of your competitors.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is all about publishing helpful and relevant content that the audience wants to consume. Depending on the digital channel and business type, the content marketing strategy will differ. For example, if your business about arts & design, visual content would be significant. In this case, you need to find online channels or platforms focused on visual content.

Publishing high-quality content consistently is important, but it is more important to publish helpful and relevant content. No matter how often you publish content, if it’s poor quality, it’s not worth it. You need to make sure your content is customer-focused. When the content helps your target audience, they are more likely to get converted into actual customers.

Content Marketing Definition

Here are some definitions of the term:

• Content Marketing is owning, as opposed to renting media. It’s a marketing process to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating content to change or enhance consumer behavior.

• Traditional marketing and advertising is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world that you are one.

• Content marketing is about delivering the content your audience is seeking in all the places they are searching for it. It is an effective combination of created, curated, and syndicated content.

History

Before the internet, there was nothing called content marketing. As the internet and technology started to spread worldwide, the concept of content marketing took birth. The term “content marketing” was born in 1996 at a discussion for journalists at the American Society for Newspaper Editors.

John F. Oppedahl used this term for the first time. The phrase became the most important term in marketing. The first blog was created by Justin Hall of Swarthmore College in 1994. Blogs were used as a digital diary. They also allowed businesses and brands to connect with their audiences.

Types of Content

Digital content is of different types. Depending on the business niche, type, etc., the ideal content type will differ. Here are the essential content types:

Blog posts

The blog post is the most popular type of content. Publishing blog content is a great way to increase the reach. If you have a business website, you can create a “Blog” section on your site. In that section, you need to publish helpful and informative content for your audience.

Podcasts

The podcast is another form of content. This content format is gaining popularity nowadays. People consume this content during workouts, driving, and other activities.

E-books

If you want to compile your long-form content, the e-book can be a great way. Brands and businesses mostly use this content format for lead generation. They provide value to their audience with a free ebook.

Photos

This content format is crucial in almost all digital channels, whether it’s your website, social media platforms, or any other platform.

Infographics

When it comes to visual content formats, infographics is the best one. This content type makes it easier for you to deliver all the necessary information. As infographics are visually appealing, they are likely to get more shares.

Why Use Content Marketing?

Here are the reasons why you should use content marketing:

Build your brand

One of the main advantages of content marketing is brand building. Whether you are a small, medium, or large business owner, content marketing can help build your business brand. By delivering high-quality and useful content to your audience, it would be easier for you to make your business brand.

Attract prospects and customers

Are you facing difficulty getting customers? Content marketing can be used for attracting prospects and customers. Among different content marketing methods, blogging is the best one. By sharing content around your niche would give increased reach to your business. More blog content will increase the search engine presence of your blog website. This way, it will help you attract more prospects and customers.

Increase sales

For any business, one of the crucial things is getting more sales. Content marketing can be used for increasing sales as well. All you need is the right content marketing strategy for your business. When you provide relevant and helpful information to your audience, it increases the trust factor and builds your business reputation. By gaining trust, selling will be relatively easy.

Educate the audience

Content marketing can be useful in educating the target audience. Your business might have some technical information that your audience is not aware of. Before using your product or service, you may want your customers to know something. Creating content and providing such information through blogs, videos, etc., would educate your audience.

Search optimization

Another significant advantage of content marketing is, it helps with search engine optimization. Depending on your business type, you may create blog posts, videos, or any other content type. Search engines give more priority to users that publish more content. When you create and publish content on your digital channel, it supports search optimization.

Final Thoughts

Content marketing is a crucial part of online marketing. Under this marketing method, the marketer creates high-quality and relevant content for the audience. It helps to build trust and convert prospects into actual customers. If you want to generate inbound leads, inquiries, and sales for your business, content marketing is for you.