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Content Marketing - What is it And Why do it?

1. Defining content marketing

If you're a business owner, chances are you've heard of content marketing. But what is it, exactly? Content marketing can be a confusing term because it can mean so many different things to different people. Essentially, content marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on creating and sharing valuable content with your target audience. This content can take many different forms, including blog posts, infographics, eBooks, podcasts, short videos and more. The goal of content marketing is to attract and engage potential customers, ultimately leading them to make a purchase. By providing valuable information that solves a problem or answers a question, businesses can build trust and credibility with their audience, ultimately driving sales. But why do it? Why go through all the hassle of creating quality content when there are so many other things you could be doing with your time and energy? The answer is simple: because it works. Content marketing has become one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience and achieve your business goals.

2. The benefits of content marketing

As a business owner, it's important to think about how you can reach potential customers and drive sales. That's where content marketing comes in. By creating valuable content, you can attract an audience and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Plus, it can be more cost-effective than traditional advertising methods. And if done well, it can lead to long-term success as customers continue to engage with your brand and share your content with others. Have you ever scrolled through social media and stumbled upon a blog article or video related to something you were interested in? Chances are, that was an example of content marketing. For business owners, content marketing can be a valuable tool for building brand awareness, trust, and credibility with customers. It also helps to attract potential customers who may be interested in the business's products or services. Plus, creating and distributing relevant content on a regular basis can improve search engine optimization (SEO), ultimately driving more traffic to the business's website. In short, incorporating content marketing into your business strategy can have numerous benefits. So why not give it a try? Who knows - you might just see some positive results.

3. How to get started with content marketing

So, you've decided to dip your toes into content marketing. Good work. It's a great way to connect with your audience, foster customer relationships, and drive more traffic to your website or business. But where do you even start? The world of content marketing is much deeper and complex than posting a bog or video and being done with it.

Here are a few tips: first, figure out your content marketing goals and objectives. Are you trying to improve brand awareness? Boost conversions or sales? Once you know what you want to achieve, it'll be easier to create a content strategy and assess its success. Next, make sure your content is valuable and relevant to your target audience. People don't want fluff or obvious advertisements masquerading as content - give them something unique and valuable that they'll actually want to consume. Go ahead and try to post some user-generated content that strictly advertises your product or service. You won't see much, if any success. Don't forget about distribution - figure out the best channels for promoting your content (social media, email campaigns, etc.) Who are you trying to reach and what do you want to accomplish with your content? Once you have a clear direction, you can start creating content that is tailored to your audience's needs and interests. Next, decide how often you will publish content. Consistent, regular posting will help build trust with your audience and drive more traffic to your content.

4. Types of content that work well in a content marketing strategy

Here at Sturdy, we're all about using the latest and greatest technology to leverage our digital marketing strategies. Our content marketing strategy primarily focuses on user-generated content that will be posted on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts. By posting the same video on all three platforms, you're taking advantage of three similar but different algorithms. Sometimes, a piece of content that is posted will flop on TikTok and Instagram, but explode on YouTube.

Take this video we did for a client last week for example: on TikTok, the video got 1,100 views. On Instagram Reels, the video got 1,600 views. But on YouTube Shorts... the video exploded and received 1,300,000 views and 35,000 likes.

It's safe to say that some content works better on certain platforms than others, but that's what makes it so exciting. It gives you and your company the opportunity to test what's working and what's not. Once you hone in on the successful videos, blog posts, podcasts, etc, you can start to replicate this process. Before you know it, you have a well-oiled machine that pushes out high quality content on a consistent basis.

5. Measuring the success of your content marketing campaign

Finally, it's important to measure the success of your content marketing efforts using metrics like website traffic and conversions. This will help inform future content strategy and ensure that your hard work is paying off. After all, you're not just putting out content for the hell of it. As content marketing has grown in popularity, so too has the need for ways to measure its success. When it all comes down to it, content marketing is only effective if it achieves the desired results.

There are a number of different KPIs that can be used to measure the success of a content marketing campaign. Some common ones include reach (the number of people who see your content), engagement (the number of interactions with your content), and conversion (the number of people who take the desired action). The best way to measure success will vary depending on the goals of your campaign. However, by carefully tracking KPIs, you can get a good sense of whether or not your content marketing efforts are paying off.

Conclusion

So, what is content marketing? Simply put, it’s 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. The benefits of implementing a successful content marketing strategy can be huge for businesses of all sizes. But getting started can be daunting. That’s why we created this comprehensive guide to Content Marketing: so you can hit the ground running with a plan that works for your business.  If you want help building the best content marketing strategy for your business, don’t hesitate to contact us! We have years of experience helping businesses just like yours create engaging, effective content strategies that produce real results.