Content marketing is the process of planning, sharing and distributing relevant and valuable material consistently to attract and retain your ideal target audience. The objective is usually to either drive sales, generate leads or build brand awareness and reputation.
What are the different types of content marketing?
When people think of content marketing, usually the first thing that springs to mind is writing of some form. Whilst this is always a key part of any content marketing strategy, there are also many other types of content to consider. Including:
- Blogs
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Social media content
- Whitepapers
- Webinars
- Graphics
This is by no means an exhaustive list – the beauty of content marketing and the way things are moving today, is that there is an abundance of choice when it comes to which content marketing tool/strategy works best for you business, and most importantly – who you want to target. You may find that reports or whitepapers are really useful to reach a more niche, technical audience. But social content may resonate more with a younger audience. Having a deep-dive into how your audience consumes information is really important to help determine which tool will work best for your content marketing strategy. If you’re starting from scratch, a test and learn approach is always a good idea to see what resonates best.
How does content marketing work?
Content marketing works by providing informative, valuable and useful content that engages your target audience and educates them on your product/service/brand proposition. There is no one-size fits all approach when it comes to content marketing – one business may want their content to encourage more direct sales and purchases, another may want to increase the number of business leads, whereas, another may want to drive traffic to their website. Whatever your goal, content marketing can be a powerful tool to meet your objectives if you use it effectively.
Why is it important for businesses to have a content marketing strategy?
The importance of having a content marketing strategy implemented into your business should never be underestimated. The value of providing good quality content will help you to reach your target audience and convey your key messages – whether that’s product information or a service you offer. Your content has the power to grab consumers attention and get them interested in what you can offer.
Producing good quality content that is engaging and consistent plays a huge role in the decision-making of your audience. Providing users with helpful information that they can access whether via their phone or on a billboard is a great way to engage them. You can also include a really clear call to action within your content, such as ‘contact us’, ‘click here to find out more’ etc – helping you to generate leads organically.
Content marketing is a valuable tool that businesses should incorporate into their strategy, in order to meet objectives. Gaining an understanding of your audience is a key starting point in determining which content will work for them and deliver the best return on investment.
For more information, check out these articles
- Building better relationships with content marketing
- The Power of the Podcast
- Making marketing more measurable – the hacks that ensure your campaigns convert
At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors to create content marketing strategies that allow brands to stay up to date with the latest trends and updates. Get in contact today to find out how we could help you.
