What is Content Marketing?
So what exactly is Content Marketing?
According to the Content Marketing Institute:
"Content Marketing is the art of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract and engage a target audience with the goal of driving profitable customer action".
Content distributed for purposes of content marketing does not explicitly promote the brand.
While Content Marketing may seem like a new concept, as it has become increasingly prominent in todays’ social media driven world, content marketing has actually been around for some time.
Take for example, John Deere, which began publishing The Furrow in 1895, a widely circulated magazine which explored agriculture and business. In the 1800s, at a time before online platforms came to fruition - the paper magazine was an important medium for farmers to obtain valuable information from.
Back then, John Deere was doing something that there was no branded term for yet. The company was successfully utilizing a type of marketing that would continue to gain traction for years to come. Effective content marketing may have, in part, allowed for the brand to remain relevant over a hundred years later, as it continues to do today.
So, why exactly is video content so powerful?
1. Trust
By providing consistent, valuable information, free of charge to the public, brands are ultimately fostering a relationship built on trust between brand and consumer.
An example of this would be a personal trainer who frequently distributes evidence-based workouts on Instagram to consumers. Consumers are able to implement the workout suggestions on their own and can tangibly see the effectiveness of the information first-hand. In turn, the personal trainer is deemed as reputable because their information has been proven to work. Consumers are then more likely to anticipate that future information, free or for sale, will be reputable and effective in the future as well.
2. Relationship Building
Going hand in hand with trust, by distributing consistent and valuable content, long-term relationships between brand and consumer are built. The consumer is compelled to come back for the value-add and the brand is compelled to continue to produce content to facilitate retention and growth of their following.
While an ad, for example, is often perceived as spam, or a manipulation to get the consumer to make a purchase, content marketing allows a brand to transcend beyond the impersonalness of business transactions. The consumer is less likely to view their interactions with a brand utilizing content marketing as “just business” because the brand is not overtly pitching sales.
This distribution of free and valuable content is met with less skepticism than an advertisement, but can still end in increased sales down the road.
3. SEO (search engine optimization)
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a critical tool in any marketing strategy that goes hand in hand with Content Marketing. SEO ultimately drives sales and traffic. Keywords, varied content forms, and quality links are all important facets of SEO. An effective content marketing strategy and successful use of SEO build off of one another.
4. Increased Brand Recognition
Customers are more likely to engage with content that is valuable and relevant for them. Not only this, but customers are likely to talk about and share content that is both value and relevant within their own social network. The result of this is increased brand awareness and recognition.
5. Feedback
Those following online content related to the brand are typically the target audience for the brand. This audience is the one interested in the topics that relate to the brand itself, be it fitness, fashion, sports or more. Content marketing is not only a great way to hone in on a brands target audience online, but also a great way for consumers to directly interact with the brand through online mediums. The feedback consumers provide directly to the brand can then be used to inform future content and products.
