Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
From shopping to entertainment to education, the digital age has revolutionized nearly every aspect of everyday life. Clever marketers are aware of this and have adopted new, innovative strategies to match. Today, content is produced and distributed rapidly across blogs and social media. And advertising teams use this to their advantage by employing global content marketing. Put simply, these advertisers share content that is useful and relevant to their target audiences around the world. Think about it: what’s the first thing you do when confronted with a problem? More often than not, you’ll hit up Google in search of answers. There are currently many forums, blogs and websites that make it their job to provide you with the information and solutions you need.
Instead of pitching your products or services, you are providing truly relevant and useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve their issues
So, what if your company leveraged this demand for information to promote your product? Well, that’s exactly what content marketing does. By offering content that helps out your potential customers, people value you as a source of information and, soon enough, as a provider of goods and services they’re interested in. For instance a cooking product-brand publishes a free cookbook. Your approach to content marketing has to be tailored to your target audience, and that requires market research. (awesome present).
If you have a clear understanding of what information your audience is seeking, then you’ll be able to produce valuable and profitable content that gives your brand both depth and appeal.
Good marketers know that customers are fickle. As consumer behaviors and expectations shift and evolve, the marketer must develop her skills to adapt. Some marketing approaches are timeless; others fade quickly. So the key to good marketing is an ability to shift between approaches. Marketing strategies that always work touch us on a personal level. The human need for love, attention and belonging never changes. So, if told right, stories that tap into these needs usually guarantee a powerful emotional response.
Keep in mind that the best way to tell a story is often the simplest. And that your best storytellers are usually your customers.
Think about it: We’ve all got those friends whose taste we respect and can usually rely on. If one of these friend tells you that something is cool or fun, you might want to go check it out, too. This is exactly what “likes” do on Facebook; in essence, they’re a new and innovative form of word-of-mouth marketing.
As well as being aware of new and old approaches to marketing, successful marketers are also always on the lookout to expand their personal skills. Marketers often have to fill several roles in their professional lives, whether as manager, analyst or advisor, so they must always be ready to put their communication and leadership skills to the test. And because their field is constantly in flux, marketers must also be ready to play the role of student. The best marketers recognize themselves as lifelong learners, and are willing to pick up skills they lack, even if it means venturing outside their comfort zone. Let’s solve problems:)
After all, marketing in the twenty-first century is no easy task! But with new and innovative tools to complement the oldest tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to draw customers in with ideas that always resonate.
Modern marketers make use of both new and timeless strategies, while staying flexible and curious.
Next time you don’t know what to write about, think about the last thing that surprised/annoyed you. Even though sometimes it seems as if everything has already been said, there are always new ideas or new dots to connect, new ways to offer insights or surprising facts. STOP talking at your customers and Start talking with your customers NOW!
If you want some more insights, watch this Documentary- The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing
Good luck, Marietta
