Content Marketing Is More Than Simply Creating Content
By Wendy Jacobson, Owner of Incredible Content
Content marketing is not new. In fact, it can be traced back all the way to 1895 when John Deere first released The Furrow, a magazine designed as a resource for farmers. Many point to this as the first example of content marketing, and while it’s been around in one form or another since, the internet enabled content marketing to move from the shadows to the forefront as a viable way to reach an audience.
Today it seems that every business is engaged in some sort of content marketing initiative, which means that in addition to – or rather than – pitching products or services via traditional marketing methods like TV, radio and print advertising, companies also are producing content to help inform, educate and even entertain their audiences.
But because there’s some confusion about what content marketing actually is, many businesses aren’t as effective as they could be in their content marketing efforts.
A Brief Definition of Content Marketing
If you ask 10 different marketers their definition of content marketing, you’d probably get 10 different answers, so let’s go with Content Marketing Institute’s definition:
“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.”
In other words, content marketing is a way to establish and build rapport with your target audience while also establishing and building your credibility.
It’s an effective way to publish content because many people prefer to conduct their own online research before contacting a business. They are looking for objective, useful and informative content to help guide them on their buying journey.
Content Marketing is More Than Blog Posts
One of the biggest misconceptions is that if you publish blogs, you’re set with your content marketing. While blogs play a role in a robust content marketing strategy, there’s more to it than that.
Components of content marketing can include:
- Blog posts
- White papers
- Case studies
- Podcasts
- Infographics
- Videos
- Social media posts
- And more
Whatever type of content you create, it needs to provide value to your audience that demonstrates you understand the issues and challenges they have. Remember, your content is meant to build a relationship with your audience, not sell them.
What’s more, it also must meet your audience where they are. Do they hang out on Tik Tok and Facebook? Do they like to read case studies? Do they listen to podcasts?
And finally, you want to create content that’s relevant for each step of your audience’s journey, from unaware they have an issue to ready to make a purchase.
How do you start?
You don’t want to create content for content’s stake, so the best approach to your content marketing efforts is to create a roadmap consisting of:
- Who your content is for
- What you will create
- How you will distribute it
- What you want it to do for you
Let’s briefly break each one down.
Who your content is for – this is your audience. Who are they? What do they do and what are their pain points? What keeps them up at night and what will resolve their worries?
What you will create and when – the answers to the questions above will guide you here. If your audience reads trade publications, goes to trade shows and is active on Facebook, then you know you need to write articles, appear at events and get active on Facebook. If, however, your audience reads blogs and listens to podcasts, then that will dictate the type of content you create.
You also need to determine a cadence that’s attainable and makes sense. That might include posting one blog article every other week, sending out a weekly email and posting to social media daily. It all depends on the resources you have.
How you will distribute it – this is where many content marketing plans go awry. Many people think if they publish a blog article and share it on social media, they are done. Not true; you can take one blog post and share it several different ways. For example, you can slice up the content and share it on various social media channels over the next three months. You can take a snippet of it and share it in your email newsletter. You also can take the topic and create a video around it.
What you want it to do for you – determine your expectations first, and know that with content marketing, it’s a long game. The goal is to create an audience that thinks of your when they are ready to buy. That means delivering value they can use now and in the future.
Getting a content roadmap into place is an excellent first step to ensuring your content marketing delivers a return on your investment. To stay organized, feel free to download this 1-month content calendar template. And if you have any questions, please reach out to me at wendy@incrediblecontent.net
About the Author
Her company name, Incredible Content speaks specifically to how she views content: as a vehicle for businesses to build and maintain their credibility. Over the years, Wendy has helped businesses in the healthcare, wellness, food and technology industries foster their credibility via content such as articles, emails, web content and case studies.
Wendy has always loved to write and has a BA in History and English from The George Washington University. She lives in Minneapolis and when not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two teenage kids and dog. She also likes to jump rope, bike, hike or do just about anything outside.
Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn, visit her website, incrediblecontent.net and subscribe to her newsletter that shares 3 quick and easy tips to level-up your content each Tuesday.