Part 1 of 2
Why does it matter?
Having recently been asked to present to my networking group on content marketing, I am taking my own advice and the opportunity to turn my presentation notes into a blog. It’s a long blog so I’ve split it into two parts – you can skip ahead to part 2 (the practical advice) here.
What do we mean by content marketing?
All professions are sometimes guilty of using phrases and assuming that everyone else will understand what they mean, and marketers are no exception, so let’s start with a definition.
Content marketing is about creating and sharing material online to help promote your organisation – either directly or more discretely. This can include written, audio and video content, and content on your own website or posted via social media and other platforms.
So, in short, content marketing could include emails, blogs or vlogs (video blogs), webinars, podcasts, white papers, news stories, case studies, longer testimonials, videos, infographics, interactive content… and much more!
Why is it important?
The majority of your content marketing efforts are going to be centred on – or directing visitors to – your website. But why is it so important to regularly update your website content? Web developers will give you many technical reasons; below, I have concentrated on the key marketing reasons. And, remember, this doesn’t just apply to your ‘news’ or ‘blog’ pages, this applies to every single page of your website.
- Better content means more/better traffic; people will come back if they know you stay relevant.
- It helps to keep your existing customers engaged; it helps build relationships and loyalty.
- It establishes you as an authority/trustworthy in your field.
- It helps your SEO (search engine optimisation) enormously; Google will eventually stop crawling your website if it never changes, meaning you will stop showing up in search results.
- A good, appropriate range of content will help determine which search results you appear in (organic keyword optimisation).
- Regularly refreshed content will help feed your other channels, which in turn helps SEO and your profile.
‘Storytelling’
Storytelling is another marketing buzz word at present. Human beings buy from other human beings, even in business, and one of the ways you can engage your ‘human side’ is by telling stories through your content, sharing your persona, skills and experiences.
How do I do it?
It is really worth taking a bit of time before you jump in to think about the four simple steps below. They will help to ensure that your content has some general consistencies and is appropriate to your brand/organisation personality.
- Think about your strategy (What will your customers be interested in hearing about? Should your content map to any other marketing plans or events you are running?)
- Think about your content (the words you’re going to write or the script you will read)
- Think about your images (what you want to portray and consistency with your brand)
- Think about the appropriate channel(s) (and amplify your content – more in part 2 on this!)
Have I convinced you? Click here for part 2 and some practical tips, ideas and advice on how to get you started – particularly if you are reading this thinking “I can’t write a blog….”! (Spoiler alert – you really can!)