Content Marketing 101: The Basics
At the top of almost every company’s to-do list is to implement a content marketing strategy. What this strategy looks like for your company will vary depending on your target audience and their specific needs. Getting started with content marketing doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process, however. Read on for tips to start using content marketing today.
What is content marketing?
Hubspot defines content marketing as “the process of planning, creating, distributing, sharing, and publishing content to reach your target audience.” Content marketing is often the key element of an inbound marketing strategy. The goal with content marketing is to provide highly-valuable content that your target audience can use as they move through the buyer’s journey. Creating this content allows your audience to better understand their challenge and potential solutions while positioning your company as an expert.
Types of Content to Create
There are many types of content you can use to be effective at content marketing. The most popular types of content today include blogs, social media, and email marketing.
Blogs
Blogging is one of the most popular methods for implementing content marketing. Blogging serves two main purposes: it educates your audience and it allows your website to appear on Google search results for key terms. By leveraging blogs as an approach to content marketing, you can connect with your audience at each stage in their buyer’s journey.
Social Media
Another popular content marketing approach is social media. Social media allows you to connect with your target audience where they spend their free time. The key to making the most of social media is to understand the platform your audience uses most. For example, if you’re targeting 55+ business executives, choosing TikTok, which is mainly used by younger audiences, as your platform as choice is not as likely to yield good results as choosing a different platform, such as LinkedIn.
No matter the platform, create social posts that align with your company brand and voice. The content should also be helpful and engaging for your target audience specifically. The goal should be for your content to be so tailored that someone not in your target audience would not find it helpful. Remember, if you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one.
Emails
Email marketing remains one of the most effective methods for connecting to an audience. You can use email marketing as a way to share content, educate your audience, and nurture them throughout their buying process. The key with email marketing is to create tailored and engaging emails that are sent to small segments as opposed to a broad newsletter sent to a large audience. Customized content is the best approach in today’s world, and you will see better results if you take this approach.
Determining the Best Content for Your Business
The content you create for your business will vary depending on your target audience, your company’s brand, and your available resources. There are relatively low-cost ways to get started with content marketing through blogging, email marketing, and social media. Remember that you will need to spend time researching keywords, documenting your buyer’s journey, and understanding the types of content your audience will find engaging.
If you do not have the time or resources to implement multiple content approaches, choose one or two that work for your company and focus only on those. Consistency is key, and it’s better to create regular content for one channel than infrequent content for many.
How to Share Content
Once you create content, sharing it is critical to reach your audience. Blogs can be shared on your website to rank on search and drive traffic to your website. However, you might also consider sharing blog content through other platforms, such as Medium, depending on your audience. Guest posting is another way to share your content. “Guest posting” means writing and publishing an article on someone else's platform. Not only does it build your network, but will also allow you to tap into a larger audience.
Sharing social and email content is much more straightforward. For social content, you will share content on the platform that you determine is best for your company and target audience. Email content will be shared through your email platform to your list. For both of these channels, you may also consider partnering with related companies to share emails and social media posts. This will allow you to tap into their audience in addition to yours.
Next Steps to Creating Content
Once you decide to begin implementing a content marketing approach, outline your buyer’s journey, key topics, and a schedule. Always stick to your schedule to keep your audience engaged and to grow your email list. Once you have mastered a few types of content, it will be time to explore other elements that speak to your audience.