We often think of content marketing as part of our inbound marketing strategy. Inbound encourages customers to take the first step towards a purchase, rather than the other way around.
But content marketing is more than just inbound. The best marketing strategies use content in paid, outbound and inbound marketing.
This comprehensive content marketing approach is increasingly popular in today’s marketing world. Thanks to the internet, the public have an increased understanding of advertising and sales and they use the internet to educate themselves before they buy.
Content marketing is about providing the information that allows buyers to make informed decisions. Become an industry expert, and the sales will come to you. A strong content marketing strategy will generate qualified leads, and improve conversion rates.
What message are you sending?
Content Marketing Methods
It takes more than one type of content to deploy a successful marketing strategy. Gone are the days of newspaper and tv advertisements. A good marketing team should be proficient in many trades. Ensure you’re combining as many of these methods as possible to resonate with your target audience.
Blogs
Your blog should be an opportunity to showcase your knowledge as a company. Pick topics that are relevant to your audience. Consider what your user is likely to be searching for when choosing your titles.
Blogs should be posted regularly to demonstrate that your company is up to date. Try to keep on top of relevant news trends, too.
As your user revisits your website for answers, trust in your company increases. Clear and informative blogs should place you as a ‘thought-leader’ within your market. A customer may not be ready to buy after reading one blog post. However, they will keep returning to you for answers, and that is important.
Case Studies
Utilize case studies to demonstrate your previous success. Your previous customers are your best advocates. Not only can they leave reviews and recommend you to others, but you can tell their story to attract more leads.
Create a short document outlining how you helped your customer. You might even consider creating the case study in video format. Begin by outlining the problem that your customer was facing. This will likely resonate with your target audience.
Explain what your company did to alleviate these pain points. Highlight the process that differentiates your company, and your solution, from the competition. It is important to be clear about the results of the conversion, to demonstrate your success.
Infographics
Infographics are an excellent way to dilute large quantities of information. Data can be hard to absorb, and infographics present this information in a more appealing format.
Infographics can combine with your blog posts, to break them down into a more palatable read. Make use of the most relevant data, images and graphs to demonstrate your argument.
They are also ideal for use within your social media strategy. Social media platforms have much shorter post lengths than blogs and websites. Infographics can help get information across on platforms that are more image-friendly.
Video Content
Videos are the blog posts of today’s media-rich internet platforms. The majority of social media sites host videos, compared to the text-heavy sites of the past.
The video platform, YouTube, is the second most visited website in the world. It is also the second most popular search engine.
People would much rather consume video content on a topic, than read chunks of text about it. The medium is an entertaining way to open up conversation around a topic, and engage with your audience.
Create tutorials, behind the scenes videos, interviews and customer reviews. Video content can generate a face for your company, and give you a personality. Your audience is more likely to engage with your content if they can relate to your brand’s persona.
Social Media
Social media platforms offer a way to communicate and connect with your audience. They encourage engagement, and can host many different types of content.
Consider your target audience, and what social media platforms are most relevant to them.
This will guide your choice of social media content. Platforms like Instagram are tailored for images and video. However, Twitter is much more text-based.
Adapt your content to the platform to encourage engagement. Social media platforms are an excellent way to communicate with your leads and buyers, so start a conversation.
Best Practices
It is key to have a good structure for your marketing strategy. Whichever marketing methods you choose, ensure that you follow the best practices to optimize your strategy for lead generation.
Goals
Goals drive your strategy forward. They are important for any piece of work. Your goals should be clear, but precise too. For example, your goal might be to double your conversions on a specific platform. You need to know what you want to achieve, to decide how to get there.
Audience
Your audience plays an extremely important role when tailoring your marketing strategy. Generate a buyers’ persona to guide your methods. This should be as detailed as possible. The more you understand the intricacies of your buyer, the more likely your marketing will reach them.
Channels
Once you have generated your buyers’ persona, consider where they are consuming their information. Think about where they are making purchase decisions. As an example, if your target buyer is 18-24, then they are likely to be using social media. However, an older target demographic, or a CEO, might read more blogs.
Analytics
Metrics and analytics allow you to assess the success of your campaigns and strategies. They are important, as they provide measurable data to compare with your initial goals. Without metrics, it is impossible to know whether your campaign has worked.
Most social media, site hosting and video platforms provide metrics in varying detail. Utilize this information to improve and adapt your marketing strategies as much as possible.
Content marketing should encourage conversation between your company and your buyer. Educate prospects, and nurture them into qualified leads that are ready to take the next step along the buyers’ journey. By being patient, and providing leads with informative resources, trust builds organically. Trust is key to creating long-term relationships with your potential buyers.
At Nituno, we generate content marketing strategies to boost your tech business. Contact us today to discuss your next growth period and how we can help you to scale up your marketing efforts.
