Content Marketing 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Content Marketing is a style of marketing that entails the creation and dissemination of online content (such as articles, white papers, eBooks, industry reports, blogs, videos and social media posts) with the goal of piquing interest in a brand's goods or services but without directly endorsing it.

In this article, let us explore the basics of content marketing and how you can take your marketing strategies to an altogether another level by leveraging it to the fullest.

What is the goal of content marketing?

The goal of content marketing is to create and distribute valuable, timely, and consistent material in order to draw in and keep the attention of a target audience and, ultimately, to encourage profitable consumer action.

Why content marketing?

Given that it is one of the primary strategies used by most businesses, content marketing is highly relevant today. It lays the fundamental groundwork for making a good first impression so that potential buyers will return eagerly for more.

More people can be reached by producing high-quality content, particularly if your company establishes itself as an industry leader- a reliable source of information. More authority online will help with higher search engine rankings, improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your business website, and thus helping business growth and scalability.

Now that we have an idea of what content marketing is, its goals and why it is relevant in today’s 4.0 era, let us delve deeper and explore some key concepts to understand this better.

1. Content strategy comes before social media

A common mistake many businesses make is that they jump the gun and start posting random things on their social media handles because it seems like the quickest and easiest way to reach people. While social media is indeed one of the easiest, quickest, most efficient and most relevant ways to engage audiences and reach new target markets, it is important to understand that there is a lot of noise online and to stand out, you need a plan. This is where a well-thought-out content marketing strategy comes into play.

Social media enhances content marketing, but it is not necessary for it to succeed. On the other hand, social media would not get your business anything without entertaining, educational, or humorous material. You should have a strategy in place before you start using social media to determine how to consistently post engaging material that will grab and hold the attention of your target audience. Your content strategy is that.

2. What is SEO and why is it important for content marketing?

Did you know that 49 percent of consumers use Google to find new goods and services? As such, it's reasonable to say that without some type of internet presence, businesses risk failing in the age of search engines.

We all have some knowledge of SEO or search engine optimization. SEO is frequently misconstrued to be a straightforward technique for employing keywords to increase traffic to your website. It's untrue. SEO is much more than that. It is the technique of increasing the quantity and quality of search engine traffic to a website or web page while focusing solely on organic traffic as opposed to bought or direct traffic. Content marketing experts can leverage this tool and help you curate content that actually works for your business.

3. How does PR tie into content marketing?

As opposed to traditional belief, PR and content marketing are no two different things but mostly two sides of the same coin (if the coin was marketing). PR aids content marketing initiatives in a number of ways. You may expand your audience when promoting content, raise your online presence, more successfully cultivate relationships with the media and influencers, and establish yourself as a thought leader by incorporating PR into your content marketing plan.

4. PPC won’t work without great content

You need top-notch content to make PPC effective. Content marketing helps you produce material for the purpose of cultivating trust and loyalty among your target audience, which eventually yields profitable outcomes. In PPC advertising, you pay for a prominent position in search results and the ensuing traffic increase. You are paid each time someone clicks on your link. The users' experience when they click on your ad will be interesting and intriguing if you produce high-quality content.

5. Content is key to driving inbound traffic and leads

Content production and creation are key parts of inbound marketing techniques that draw in your target audience and buyer personas. Create and share valuable material, such as blog posts, content offers, and social network posts, to begin connecting with your audience.

When it comes to businesses today, especially startups, most of them typically have a love-hate relationship with content marketing as it can be challenging to master. However, it costs around 62 percent less than traditional marketing while generating three times as many leads. So, you can love it or hate it but you cannot ignore it.

Beyond catchy copy and appealing graphics, scaling your business necessitates that you proactively develop, distribute, and evaluate content in order to meet specific objectives on a tighter budget. In other words, you are stretching your assets further rather than investing less.