Content Marketing Definition

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a way for businesses to increase engagement and sales by providing customers with relevant and valuable information. The key to content marketing is that the content is valuable. Companies give customers something valuable for free (or low cost) to garner interest and sales. 

Traditional Marketing vs. Content Marketing 

So how is content marketing different from traditional marketing? Let’s talk about that now. 

Traditional Marketing 

Traditional marketing puts the business and its product or service front and center. It’s focused on telling customers about the business and getting them to buy what it sells. Examples of traditional marketing include advertisements in the newspaper or the margins of a website. These advertisements serve one purpose: to tell customers the business’s name, the product or service it sells, and why people should buy it. 

Content Marketing

Content marketing focuses on providing valuable and relevant information to the customer. Ideally, the customers won’t even know that it’s an advertisement or part of a marketing plan. The content is relevant, engaging, and adds value to the customer’s life. For example, if the customer asks a question, the content gives them an answer. 

Content Marketing Examples

Now that you know what content marketing is, let’s go over some examples:

• Newsletters
• Blogs 
• e-Books 
• Podcasts 
• Videos
• Webinars
• Checklists 
• How-to guides
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) webpages

The best way to reach your customers is to present these digitally. Doing so helps you reach a broad audience and limits barriers. 

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Benefits of Content Marketing

Content marketing has many benefits. These include:

• Increasing brand loyalty. Because you’re providing helpful content, people know your name and trust you. Whatever you’re selling, they want to buy. (See brand loyalty definition)
• Boosting sales. New customers are buying your product or service. Existing customers want even more of what you have to offer. 
• Improving brand recognition. People know who you are and what you’re about. They tell others about and engage with your small business. 
• Increasing conversion rate. People aren’t just seeing or hearing about your content — they’re engaging with your business. 
• Increasing referrals. People are so pumped about your business that they’re telling others about it. 

There are numerous benefits of a good content marketing plan. Next, let’s talk about how to craft the perfect plan for your business. 

How to Develop a Good Content Marketing Strategy

Here are some tips for coming up with the best content marketing strategy for your business:

• Who is your audience?
• What are your goals?
• What problem will you be solving?
• How frequently do you want to release content?
• What kinds of content do you want to provide?
• What is your content marketing budget?
• What is your definition of success for your content marketing plan?
• How will you track your content marketing plan’s progress?

Do plenty of research on who your customers are and what they want. Write a realistic content marketing plan. Then deliver. 

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Summary 

Content marketing is a way to increase sales by providing customers with relevant and valuable information. Content marketing engages customers by providing them with relevant and valuable information. Crafting an effective content marketing plan involves identifying your customer, defining your goal, and executing a realistic content plan. 

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