A Short but Sweet Guide to Content Marketing

The phrase “content marketing” is often thrown around in business circles to describe a new and innovative form of marketing that has achieved great results. Well, there’s no lie or exaggeration there. Content marketing has played a huge role in helping marketers and businesses increase organic traffic, gain new leads, and engage audiences. In fact, according to OptinMonster, at least 91% of B2B marketers utilize content marketing to reach and engage customers. Another study by PointVisible states that 60% of B2C are committed to using content marketing

Although content marketing has integrated with digital marketing nowadays, it’s not a new concept at all. Whether in the form of text, presentations, and even music, the content has always existed—and it will continue to evolve based on the new tools and technologies that come into play.

Unfortunately, not many marketers know how to use content marketing to their advantage. Some may think that content marketing is nothing more than blogs and SEO. In truth, there’s so much to content marketing that meets the eye.

In this blog, we will explore content marketing and how it can help all marketers reach objectives for their respective companies.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing has various definitions, depending on who you ask! Renowned marketer, Neil Patel defines content marketing as “a long-term strategy that combines building connections with target audiences by delivering high-quality and relevant content on a regular basis.” On a blog post from Marketoonist, content marketing is “a balancing act of storytelling and salesmanship.”

In basic terms, content marketing is a strategic approach that uses storytelling to provide valuable content that attracts target audiences. Of course, like all marketing, the end goal is always sales.

Why is content marketing important?

As marketing moves towards a digital landscape, content marketing evolves in the way traditional marketing can’t.

It also allows marketers to be creative in various formats, like video, social media posts, blogs, eBooks, and more. Using different forms helps reach different audiences that may be interested in your content.

By impressing audiences, you can educate them on your brand and what it offers to them, build relationships with your customers, and increase conversion rates.

What are some common forms of content marketing?

The great part about content marketing is that comes in numerous creative forms. Depending on your marketing objectives, you can use different types of content marketing for your overall marketing strategies.

Here are a few common forms of content marketing that you may have encountered at some point:

• Blog posts. Did you know the first blog was created in 1994? They’ve certainly come a long way since their primitive origin. Effective and educational, blogs have been used by marketers for a long time—and that’s not going to change! Blogs have the power to convert audiences, build brands as authority leaders, and provides you with content for other formats like social media.

• Social media. Social media is another effective way to achieve marketing goals. It allows you to increase brand awareness with potential customers. Another bonus is that it also contains useful tools that analyze how your posts are doing.

• Webinars. In the simplest terms, webinars are virtual training events or conferences that allow participants to engage with the content, ask questions, and learn about a topic that interests them. Webinars are an amazing content marketing tactic because it spreads brand messages to your target audience and can boost a business’s credibility.

• Podcasts. An invention of the 21^st century, podcasts are a booming medium, with at least 55% of the US population being active listeners. Podcasts are like radio broadcasts. However, these recordings are never played on a traditional radio station. Instead, they are downloaded from on online source. Podcasts give the user the ability to listen to topics they’re interested in. Due to its popularity, there are many opportunities for marketers to educate and promote their brands.

Content marketing is only effective when there’s a set of goals and strategies behind it. Consider your audience before you produce content so that you can develop a great content marketing strategy that wins over your target audience and obtain the goals you want.