Content Marketing is King

Barry Manilow has ‘Fanilows’, Justin has ‘Beliebers’ (though hopefully there are not too many of them amongst you, we can forgive one or two but any more and we might have to take drastic action), and I think it is about time we had a name for our loyal readers and fans who should by now know that Début Marketing has added a new service to its repertoire that sits supportively alongside the training and consulting we already offer… That’s right, Début Marketing now provides a tiered content marketing service for those of you looking to improve and perhaps expand your marketing activity.

Content Marketing – check it out!

“So what, pray tell, is content marketing?” I hear you say…

Content marketing has become one of the new buzz words that everyone is mentioning in marketing circles, but most people don’t know what it is or how to do it.  This quote sums it up simply and effectively:

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”  (source – Content Marketing Institute)

In reality, the way people become aware of a business or product is changing. As consumers, we are becoming busier yet are more in control. We can skip adverts by recording tv, newspaper circulation and readership is reducing, and the world is becoming more and more crowded by advertising messages (we receive hundreds every day!). We are now spending more and more time browsing online and on social media, and a great way to attract visitors to your website and social media channels is to provide relevant and interesting content.

In other words, produce content that people WANT to view.

The purposes of producing content are plentiful, but the three that I would illustrate as vital are:

1)     Generating traffic to your site and therefore increasing your audience

2)     Building brand awareness and increasing your reach

3)     Benefiting your SEO performance

By promoting your expertise in your niche area of business and providing relevant and desired content it will help drive traffic to your site.

For example, if you are experts in DIY and create a great article or video on “how to hang a picture perfectly” or “how to put up a level shelf” you have produced content that people that are searching for online.  The benefit of attracting traffic by good and relevant content is that the traffic quality will be higher and that the user will be engaged and satisfied with their journey and experience. They may then share this content, provide a link to your content or possibly even purchase your product/service based on their good experience.

This also helps build brand awareness. Video content, and visual content (images and infographics) are a great way to engage someone, provide entertainment, and have your brand exposed and highlighted in a positive, and almost subliminal fashion. Great visual content is also often shared and can go viral online.

The third benefit this then brings is great SEO uplift by more links of yours being created and shared online. The more relevant and popular your links created, the more search engines reward your content and the more popular your site becomes to search engines. Creating buzz is a great way to develop SEO friendly links.

 For content the most popular methods are:

1)     Blog posts

2)     Social Media links

3)     Video content

4)     Infographics

5)     Competitions (Like and share for example)

 So to summarise, content marketing is about creating “stuff” people want to find and engage with. If you can create good content, you have a far better chance of being found, you become more legitimate and your brands strength increases.  Becoming an “Educator” in this sense is a great way to position yourself as an authority voice in your industry which will lead to people trusting you over other brands.

We really are a creative bunch at Début Marketing and would love to make you viral (don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit) so give us a call to see what we recommend for you.

Next week I will look at video content further – popcorn at the ready!