As time passes and trends change, we’ve started to hear about content marketing more. Content marketing up, content marketing down. But what is it really? Well, roughly, it is the bridge that narrows the gap between the expectations of companies and the customers. For a long time, companies and service providers failed to pay attention to the needs and expectations of – potential customers. The relationship between them was merely a transaction.
However, as the competition in the market increased, companies began searching for new methods of marketing. They examined the customer behaviors and tendencies. The deduction was, actually, an obvious one: people wanted answers and more information. They didn’t want to be recognized solely as buyers; they were searching for more…
Thus, content marketing emerged. A method to break the alienation of customers and make them feel noticed, to show them that you understand their questions and concerns, and you have the right answers. In content marketing, the aim is to reach an audience that is in search of answers, that is, in market research. We intend to help them, give them the answers they need, and in the end, win them.
Why Content Marketing?
There are various ways and techniques to enhance brand visibility and draw the attention of customers. So, what exactly makes different and outstanding content marketing from others? Well, let’s see:
- It’s sustainable and more efficient
Most of the marketing strategies focus on fast and short-range growth, like advertisements or sponsored partnerships. In theory, ads and sponsorships help you to be more visible on multifarious platforms. But they are mostly limited offers, of course, which means you have to pay a fortune to keep your visibility and artificial traffic that comes from it. And yet, it doesn’t even pay off itself. Only a very little part of internet users clicks on advertisements.
Meanwhile, content marketing strategies are amongst the long-range growth plans. As the main strategy is to get in contact with customers naturally, in the most possible way, we don’t get a result in 3 months. But as we proceed bit-by-bit, we get ourselves a place and visibility that is hard to displace. So, we can call it a snowball effect, in a positive meaning.
- It resonates with people!
For years companies preferred advertisement strategies, and if I may say so, they bombarded – and at the end saturated – us via e-mails, messages, calls, etc. Their purpose was to reach the potential customers and make themselves familiarized. Yet it backfired. People don’t want to see ads anymore. They are just spam, not opportunities to get to know companies.
Whereas with content marketing, companies make more customer-friendly impressions. As they don’t just tell people what they offer but create contents that resonate with them, that is catchy, people do not escape and hide from brands.
Why is Content Marketing Important?
Until now, we’ve talked about some of the advantages of content marketing, yet it’s not over yet. One can increase the visibility of a company with other marketing strategies too. So why should people invest in especially in content marketing? Well, here is why:
- It helps you build and develop relationships with customers
People make field/market research all the time. The journey starts when they hear about something. It continues through information gathering, assessment process, … Some people buy the product at once, some wait for personal reasons. But either this way or that way, if you have content, you contact them. People do not learn from ads but from content. So, creating content is like seeding corn. Yes, some viewers won’t be your customers immediately, but one day, once they decide to become real customers, they will remember you, and it will pay off.
- Credibility, trust, and reputation
There are many companies, brands, service providers out there. But not all of them are favored. Not all of them earn much. It’s because customers look for certain features while shopping. They don’t have quality criteria only for products but for brands too. If you’re just a seller, if you don’t provide customer services, if you don’t care what happens after the purchase, then it reflects on your credibility and reputation.
People need answers both before and after buying a product. Content marketing strategies ensure that the company and the customers can sustain a relationship all along the process. If you show your customers that they can consult on your website when they couldn’t be sure about something, then they will trust you.
How Does Content Marketing Work?
Okay, we understood the outcomes of content marketing. But how does the process go? At first, it might look like a very easy process.
- Create content → put it on the internet → customers will hail down
Nevertheless, there are many nuances to this job. You need to analyze your audience very well, clear your goals and create the content according to it. Also, you should have an execution calendar to keep your contents regular and inclusive as much as possible. Promotion is vital too. Social media coverage, PR, website design and quality, SEO, … And then, if you also gather and analyze the data, you can climb towards the peak.
How To Get Started with Content Marketing?
Let’s say you decided to apply content marketing strategies. What should you do? Get to know your audience. Try to see patterns: age, gender, income level… Set achievable, realistic goals. In … weeks/months/years, we’ll get … customers/viewers.
Create content! Cover the missing areas take advantage of them. What do people search, what do they need to know, how to draw their attention? Make it catchy, the URL design, the content design. For example, use listings!
SEO, SEO, SEO. Get along well with search engines, especially with Google. Make the needed adjustments to get amongst the top 5 sites.
Publish your content. Promote it on every social media. Not only google searchers, but also Instagram users should see your content too. Finally, track down the data. See which platforms and contents work best for you.
