Anyone who runs a business knows how challenging, rewarding, and satisfying it can be. They will also know how important it is to not only become established in their industry but also plan for long-term growth. A huge part of this is keeping tabs on crucial business areas, such as finance and customer service.
Another important area in any company is marketing. This is a vast subject and one that requires an in-depth knowledge of the latest techniques. One technique you may have heard about before is content marketing. But what is it and why is it so key for successful organizations?
In simple terms, content marketing refers to a specific marketing approach that uses fresh, relevant content to engage your target audience online. Marketing this fresh, relevant content digitally can be done via several online channels for maximum effect.
Common types of content to market include articles, videos, podcasts, and infographics. In fact, any type of digital content can be included in this marketing approach. This makes it a crucial part of any modern business’ overall marketing plan and can really help you connect with consumers online.
Before we look at why content marketing is so important for businesses, it is also worth focusing on careers in this area. The importance of marketing content for driving business growth means companies across all sectors are looking for professionals in this field. As a business owner, it really does pay to employ specialists in this area who are up to date with the latest content marketing ideas
For those looking to enter the workforce, content marketing roles not only offer great employment prospects but also the chance to carve out a satisfying, well-paid and enjoyable career. If you love not only creating great content but also sharing it with the world, it is a good option to consider.
If you do plan to break into this kind of role, getting the right qualifications is the first step. The Content Marketing degree offered by St. Bonaventure University Online is a popular choice and equips you with all the knowledge needed to work successfully as a content marketer.
By enrolling in this course, you will pick up key skills in areas such as content creation and content sharing. If you are a business looking to fill a content marketing role, the best option is to look for someone with qualifications like this on their resume.
Working in content marketing is an exciting career choice, and people with these skills are often an essential part of a company. However, if you’re a business owner, you might be wondering what specific roles would be most useful to fill in your own company.
At the top level, consider employing a Chief Content Officer. These qualified professionals would be in charge of your whole content team and look after the strategic side of marketing content for you. This saves you a lot of time and means you can keep an eye on other key business areas, rather than getting bogged down with content marketing personally.
Content Marketing Manager is another useful role that many businesses create vacancies for. This involves employing people to manage specific content marketing teams and ensure the vision set out by the Chief Content Officer is put into play. They also hand out work to their team members, set deadlines, and ensure content creation/marketing work is done to a high standard.
Content Creators and Editors are also important roles to think about filling. As you would expect, Content Creators are responsible for creating the content that will be shared. Editors then review this content and check it for mistakes and tone of voice. Without either of these roles filled, creating the amount of content you require could be tricky. In addition, you would run the risk of content going live without it being checked for errors first. This is obviously not advisable and could see one mistake damaging your brand image.
Another role in content marketing that many businesses opt to fill is Analytics Specialists. These knowledgeable professionals are able to use the latest tech platforms to analyze how well-shared content has performed. This can assist you in improving future content for sharing and seeing what sort of content is most valued by your audience.
Just like knowing how to handle 'make or break' decisions in business is key for success, knowing why content marketing is so vital is also worthwhile.
As a business owner, you will be well aware that marketing is one of the crucial aspects you must get right. If you come up with an awesome marketing plan and put it into practice effectively, you should be able to not only reach your target audience but also experience long-term success.
Modern marketing is a fast-changing arena, and there are more ways than ever to let people know who you are and what you offer now. This includes many specific techniques like SEO, social media marketing, PPC ad campaigns, print marketing and, of course, content marking.
As a vital tool in any contemporary business’ marketing toolkit, content marketing is an essential area to focus on. You’ll understand its importance when you factor in the huge boost it gives your overall brand awareness. With so much competition across all business sectors now, it really is key to stand out from your competitors. If you cannot do this (especially online), you risk falling behind and being a brand that consumers do not recognize.
By marketing content that is useful, relevant, and fresh via a range of online channels, you boost your brand awareness greatly. This increase in brand awareness can also help establish a more positive reputation with other firms in your sector – in addition to giving your B2B leads a shot in the arm.
Content marketing is important not just because it makes your brand more visible to consumers and other companies in your industry but because it also helps you stand out as a voice of authority in your sector. As a result, you become known as a company that is an expert in what it does. This is a very powerful benefit of proper content marketing and can see both your leads and conversions increase over time.
Consumers will also feel more trust in you as a company and will be more willing to spend money with you as a result. In addition, they will see you as the industry-leading experts in your field and automatically think of you when choosing where to spend their money.
The same is also true in a B2B sense. Other firms that are looking to partner with leading companies in your sector or spend money on the top-class services or products you offer will automatically come to you. They will also be more likely to send clients your way or mention your services to their own customers.
Previously, we mentioned SEO as a specific area within digital marketing that many companies focus on. This is understandable when you consider how much extra online traffic your website receives when you rank higher in search engine results. One cool knock-on effect of content marketing can be a boost for your SEO efforts.
In short, the more high-quality content you create and market, the more positive impact it will have on your search engine rankings. This is because major search engines like Google tend to rank websites with useful, fresh, and top-quality content higher. By engaging in effective content marketing, you can help your business become more visible online to consumers.
Of course, content marketing can also have a similar positive effect on other channels you might promote your business through. For example, if you have engaging marketing content, you can share it on your social media channels, where eye-catching content often performs well. This in turn will attract more followers to your business over time and lead to more website traffic and leads.
One other reason why content marketing is so important for businesses is the content itself. There is just no doubt that amazing content is a huge asset for any firm’s website. Whether it is on a company blog or the main site itself, awesome content delivers the best user experience.
This means that consumers not only have a reason to visit your website but also a reason to keep coming back for more. A site with regularly updated, top-class content is just a lot more fun to spend time on. Therefore it is a lot better for customer retention. As a result, this can also help with sales and leads. After all, the more time people spend on your site, the more likely they are to spend money. This also rings true for your social media accounts as well.
Now that you see what content marketing is and some of the reasons it is so important for businesses, you may wonder where to share articles or videos. By far the most popular place is online social media platforms.
When you think of the number of active users the top social media sites have, this makes perfect sense. For example, Instagram's global user figure for 2022 is around 1.28 billion people. This figure is expected to rise to around 1.44 billion people by 2025. Other top social media platforms like Twitter and Meta (formerly known as Facebook) have similarly impressive user numbers.
But why does this make social media so great for content marketing? It really comes down to the worldwide reach these sites give businesses and the access they provide to new audiences. Marketing content on social media puts it in front of a huge global audience and greatly increases your company’s reach.
This can lead to more people seeing your content, and more people finding out about your business. Plus, more people engaging with you. When you also add in the fact that social media sites are free to use and easy to share content on, it gets even better.
The other major player in online content marketing right now is video-sharing platforms. The biggest name in this niche is YouTube, which has around 2.1 billion users globally. Video-sharing platforms enable you to easily post video content you have created on your own channel for free.
As video is such an effective medium for connecting with modern consumers online, these types of platforms are key when it comes to marketing video content. Film agencies like FF Branded can help create a high-quality film for your business—which then be uploaded to your own channel or shared on other video-sharing platforms such as Vimeo and Facebook. By allowing users to subscribe to your channel, video-sharing platforms let you build up a loyal following and keep consumers updated with your latest news and products.
The next best place to market content is your own website or company blog. This can be a very effective means of promotion because it provides a steady stream of fresh content for people to view when they visit. If you have a website or blog that gets a lot of traffic, marketing content in this way is also a good way to gain more exposure.
Making the effort to market high-quality, useful content is worthwhile for any business. Especially if you want to become established or reach more consumers. It is also superb for boosting your brand awareness in general. Plus it can make you stand out as a voice of authority in your industry.
However, marketing content can be a time-consuming process for busy entrepreneurs. This is not a surprise when you consider you have to create the content first. Then, also market it across multiple channels and track the response to it.
To help ease this workload a little, many companies will use content-marketing platforms to help. These online platforms basically support companies to plan, create, share and track content online. Simple to use and containing powerful analytic features, they can take the hassle out of marketing content. Especially lots of content across multiple channels.
Of course, these platforms are only tools to help – they don’t do all the work for you! In addition, you do need skilled employees to operate these platforms. You will benefit from individuals who know how to get the most from them. For this reason, employing qualified content-marketing staff is still vital.
As in any other key business area, knowing what you should be doing is no good unless you do it properly. For example, bad content marketing will not produce the desired increase in brand awareness, leads, or sales. It will actually be a massive waste of time. Additionally, it may see little return and even damage your carefully built reputation.
Therefore, the important thing to do is pick up some tips for effective marketing of content.
By far the most salient point to remember is that any content you market should be useful and relevant. This means it will score better with search engines in terms of ranking. It will also be more popular with actual people. Any content you market should also be accurate and high quality for the same reasons. Content that is full of mistakes or badly written, for example, will not cast your business in the best light!
Another good piece of advice for better content marketing is to produce new content on a regular basis to share. Doing this is once again better for your search engine ranking. This is because search engines will see you have an active website or blog. Sharing regular content will also boost your social media presence. Thus, stop your accounts from becoming boring or inactive.
It is also a good idea to market a range of content across multiple channels. Try to mix up the content you create and share it across all the channels your target audience uses. For example, only sharing articles on one social media platform would seriously limit the impact it has!
When sharing content across multiple marketing channels, remember to keep your tone of voice and brand image consistent. You do not want to confuse consumers by offering a different tone of voice across different channels.
There is no doubt that content marketing is a vital tool for modern businesses. It is also a tool that any company in any sector can use effectively. As a startup, it is perfect for raising your brand awareness, attracting customers, and letting people know you exist.
For more established organizations, it can help you cement your status as a voice of authority, find new customers to engage with, and stimulate organic growth. If you have never tried content marketing before, now is the time to make it part of your overall marketing plan.
