In this post, we will show you the benefits of content marketing, how to begin to create a content marketing strategy for your business, and 5 basic content marketing tips.
Content marketing is the strategic process of delivering a message to attract and retain your audience. Content can take on many forms, such as infographics, pictures, videos, articles, eBooks, and social media posts. As a business owner, it is important that you develop content to benefit and engage your audience, and then create a strategy for delivering that content.
Benefits of Content Marketing
When content marketing is used correctly, it is a great avenue to address the pain points of current and potential customers. It allows you to show your audience that you empathize with them and are the solution to their problems and concerns.
Content marketing also allows you to connect with your audience on their level and on their time. Being consistent and intentional with your content ensures that you are viewed as an expert in your field and it encourages consumers to look to you to solve their various problems.
Match your content strategy to your social media
Social media is the perfect vehicle for content marketing for a couple of reasons. For one, there is a social network for every medium. If you have a lot of visual content, be sure to include Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube in your content strategy.
For more word heavy content look to Facebook, Twitter, and maintaining a blog on your website as great options. Spreading your content over multiple channels will also ensure you are reaching as much of your audience as possible.
Another great thing about social media is the use of hashtags, which allow for social listening. You can monitor what is being said about a given topic by following its related hashtags. You can also monitor your own content using hashtags. (For more information on hashtags, see this article on the topic here-add in link to hashtag post)
Creating Content
In addition to creating your own content for your social media channels, another great way to share content with your audience is by collaborating with other experts in your field. By highlighting another expert and sharing them with your audience, it allows you to network while also extending your reach.
For example, if you are a social media marketer, you could interview a website designer or share their content. This will give your audience information that you may not readily have, as well as allow you to reach their audience when they in turn share information from you.
Another great way to create content is to recycle any successful content you have already created. For example, you could take a blog post and turn it into a podcast or a video, or vice versa. Use your Facebook posts and turn them into tweets. Add a picture to your Twitter content and create an Instagram post. The possibilities are endless.
5 basic content marketing tips
- Begin with your ideal client in mind. It is imperative to know who your audience is. This will allow you to speak directly to them. For example, you would have a different tone and content when teaching someone a new skill as opposed to speaking to experts in the field.
- Consider their journey. Are they familiar with your brand? Are they familiar with what you do? Are they aware of the problem they need you to fix? You are going to address all these people in a different way. You will need to be intentional about each piece of content and who it is intended to help.
- Address the pain points. You want to give as much value as possible regarding the problem that you are solving. Your goal should be to bring convenience and help to your consumers.
- Give freely. It may sound counterintuitive to give away services or product for free, but when you do, you build a sense of loyalty. People feel a sense of gratitude and they want to support you back. It is the simple concept of reciprocity.
- Have a strategy. What types of content would appeal to your audience? You want to come up with a plan of how often you want to release content because consistency is key. A great way to stay consistent is by coming up with a calendar for your content. There are plenty of tools to help you automate that process and get everything scheduled so that you do not have to be racking your brain at the last minute.
As you can see, content marketing is an indispensable tool to engage and grow your audience. Having great content and a consistent strategy will allow you to be viewed as an expert in your field. Now you should have a clear idea of the meaning of content marketing and the benefit of content marketing for your business.