What is Content Marketing?
Does your business need content marketing?
There is a lot of buzz out there about “content marketing” and how it can make your business successful.
But what is content marketing, anyway?
It’s just a fancy name for using content to market to customers. And as I’ve said many times before, by providing value to your customers with good copy, or content, you create a more credible reputation. Plus, if you offer good content, people will want to tell their friends about your products and services.
Why use content marketing?
Ragan Communications offered a great article on why content marketing is important here. In the article, they list “24 stats about the importance of content marketing.”
For example:
“According to the Roper Public Affairs, 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement.”
And per an article on “Engage the Blog,” research conducted by the Custom Content Council indicates that, “90% of consumers find custom content useful and 78% of people believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them.”
These are just a few of the many statistics out there about the importance of marketing with content and why copy is still king.
How do you use content marketing?
If you want to increase online sales and awareness fast, start writing some valuable content. Here is a good process to help you get started:
- Figure out what your audience wants and what you want to accomplish with your content.
- Write an article or blog about that information providing valuable tips and information. (If you are not a copywriter, hire one to do the work for you. They will help save you time and money and provide better results.)
- Include your search engine optimization, or SEO, keywords in the headline and throughout the copy a few times.
- Add a link at the end of your blog or article to a landing page on your site or a page where site visitors can get more information.
- Track the results with Google Analytics or another program.
- Repeat!
Content Marketing Works!
If you see this process is working (and it does when done correctly), create an editorial calendar for the year which spells out what topics you’ll be discussing and the kind of content you’ll be distributing (blogs, articles, tip sheets, videos, social media events, etc.).
By creating valuable content (especially with SEO) specifically for your target market, you will bring in new customers and stand out from the competition. For the best results, plan your content in advance and test different topics and methods for sharing your content.
It’s a lot of work to provide good copy on a regular basis. But if you hire experienced, SEO copywriters to help you with the entire process, you will see sales and customer loyalty increase.
What are you waiting for? Start providing great, SEO content marketing and see what happens!
For more information on SEO content marketing, please contact me here.