Content marketing is a popular buzzword in all internet marketing circles these days, and it’s easy to see why. The old saying “Content is King” rings true in the digital landscape, where capturing the attention of users and drawing them to your website is the name of the game.
The Content Marketing Institute defines this term as “the marketing and business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”
In other words, content marketing is about producing material that consumers actively want to seek out, utilizing a “pull” model as opposed to the “push” model that encapsulates most forms of advertising and promotion. In all cases, the reader should be at the top of mind when producing strategic content.
But what is “content”? It’s a fairly vague term that can include a lot of different things, especially in the online world. Today, we’ll look at some of the varying avenues for content marketing and what makes them effective.
Blog
This is one of the most common and recognizable forms of content marketing. Blogs are great because they’re fairly simple to set up and manage, they don’t require a ton of commitment (many quality blogs only feature a few new posts per month) and it’s a straightforward method for keeping a steadily updated flow of content on your website. Of course, it’s not enough to simply HAVE a blog — in order to effectively cultivate an audience and demonstrate thought leadership, you’ll want to develop an acute focus and attack it in new and interesting ways.
Social Media
It’s where your customers are, so you should be there too. Facebook has nearly one billion active daily users. Twitter is around 100 million. Google Plus is a growing platform with substantial SEO benefit. Beyond the heavy hitters, there are tons of social networks, and different ones make sense for different industries. For instance, Pinterest is a great channel for marketing product-based B2C goods, but few people there are searching for professional services. LinkedIn, conversely, is excellent for companies seeking to network in the B2B space. In general, involvement in social media provides brands with a great chance to interact and engage with customers and other industry thought leaders.
Video Marketing
This is a rapidly growing form of content marketing because video is a medium that can so effectively capture and hold a user’s attention. Creating high-quality video content tends to require a little more investment — in terms of time and money — than a text-based approach, but the potential payoff is huge. Video elements have been shown to increase clicks and conversions by a substantial margin, and also keep users on the sites for longer. There are many creative ways to deploy video marketing, from interviews to animations to instructional guides and more.
Infographics
Similar to videos, infographics are a visually compelling method for presenting statistics and insights. Infographics tend to have colorful and elegant designs with small and digestible chunks of copy, as well as graphs, charts and other visual representations of data. This infographic on mobile SEO that was recently published on the B2Community blog is a great example of a robust, fact-filled and aesthetically pleasing piece.
Podcasts
If you’re not familiar, a podcast is an audio file that users can download and listen to, much like a radio show. Usually, podcasts are delivered as regularly reoccurring episodes, allowing people to subscribe and automatically receive updates. This form of content certainly doesn’t fit every brand or industry, but it’s a great way to connect with listeners on a deeper level, and to cultivate a loyal following.
Ebooks and Whitepapers
These are in-depth digital resources, usually in PDF format, delving into specific topics and typically offering solutions to issues faced by individuals or businesses. In order for these to be effective forms of content marketing, it is important that they not be overly salesy or promotional. Make it a useful, valuable tool that stands on its own. Often, companies will offer ebooks or whitepapers as an incentive for signing up for an email list or some other action.
Now that you have a better understanding of the different types of content marketing, it’s time to figure out the best way to deploy if for your business. Contact us today and we’ll help.
