So, What is Content Marketing Anyway?

Think of the most traditional forms of advertising – things like television, radio and newspapers.  What do all of these things have in common?  They are being destroyed by the internet.  Why watch the ads on television when you can download films and TV series and watch them at your leisure, without interruption?  Why listen to the radio when you can download and stream the songs of your choice?  And newspapers?  They are all going online these days.

Content marketing is rapidly replacing other kinds of traditional marketing strategies.

Content marketing is a strategic approach to providing online content to encourage new and existing customers to engage with your brand.  Unlike traditional advertising, it is not just about saturating the internet with words or images – it’s about providing smart, entertaining and useful content for the kinds of people who are interested in your product or service. The idea is to create content people want to consume – not avoid!

You can see how this would appeal more to customers.  Instead of being targeted, they are given an opportunity to engage with thought-provoking content that potentially makes a difference in their lives.

Much of the success of content-marketing is the power of storytelling.  And brands have been embracing the power of storytelling for hundreds of years.  Did you know the term ‘soap opera’ was coined when soap companies decided to invest in radio dramas?  This is one of the first examples of content marketing. 

Nowadays, big brands are embracing content marketing  in many forms, including free eBooks, magazines and blogging. Blogging is one of the foundation stones of content marketing and larger companies have been embracing it since the early 2000s. 

A blog is a great marketing tool.  It is attached to your website and regular posts ensure that readers (whether they be potential or existing clients) always have new reasons to visit the site and keep your brand and products in mind.  When they read your blog post, they might just stay on the site and check out a few other pages too.

Blogs allow you to develop a voice and feel for your brand too.  Are you playful?  Serious?  Funny?  Associating an emotion with a brand is a powerful strategy, and the reader then associates that emotional with your product or service.  This kind of entertaining content is also shareable – the kind of content that goes viral on social media.

If you want to rank higher on search engines as well, a blog is a great form of content marketing to embrace.  Each blog entry on your site is its own webpage – and websites that have more webpages associated with them are easier to find by Google, Bing, Yahoo and so on.

Content marketing, and in particular blogging, may be an untapped resource that may potentially increase your client base exponentially.  

This blog was initially posted on www.mypersonalblogger.com.au