Content marketing – the art of sharing useful and valuable information with your target market – is more than a marketing buzzword. It’s an essential ingredient in the digital marketing mix. Born out of a need to engage advertising-weary consumers, the goal of content marketing is to give your audience beneficial information that is relevant to your brand and industry rather than simply pitching your products at them. This marketing approach can live alongside more traditional forms of advertising, but experts predict that in 2015, content marketing is going to win a bigger share of the overall digital marketing budget than in previous years. If you’re planning to allocate more marketing spend to newsletters, blogs, e-books, white papers, presentations, videos, podcasts, webinars and other forms of content marketing in 2015, here’s how to get a greater return on your investment.
1. More distribution channels
Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus still play a vital role as content sharing platforms. This includes both organic and sponsored content. However, 2015 is the year to explore additional distribution channels – such as creating your own online forum or learning centre, sharing via comments on other relevant industry blogs, or even running live events. Email is not to be underestimated either, provided you use it responsibly and target your communications cleverly.
2. Stop selling. Start adding value.
Too much content marketing is a thinly veiled attempt at selling a product or service. It’s time to shift the focus onto your audience and their needs. Why should they read your blog post, listen to your podcast or watch your video? How will these benefit them? If you give consumers the unique information they’re looking for, they’ll be more likely to come back for more.
3. The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing*
It’s essential to remember that the main goal of content marketing is to share content that is as ‘un-advertising’ as possible. The most successful campaigns in 2015 are not only going to be authentic and meaningful to the audience, they are also going to respect the platform that they’re shared on (post emotive content on Facebook and ‘how to’ content on LinkedIn, for example). Make sure that you speak to your audience in the style and tone of each environment and you’ll get the best value from your marketing investment. [*Tom Fishburne]
If you require advice on how to create a content marketing strategy that grows brand awareness, builds trust and loyalty, and establishes you as an expert in your field – chat to Clint at Kri8it.