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How Content Marketing Helps Grow Your Business

Stuart Crawford

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The art of content marketing is one of the best ways to build brand recognition and generate leads, but most marketers don't know where to begin.

How Content Marketing Helps Grow Your Business

Content marketing is a powerful tool that helps your business grow by helping you create relevant content for your audience. You can use content to generate leads, build brand recognition, and strengthen relationships with your customers.

This is a great way to get started if you're interested in gaining momentum with your content marketing. Content marketing is great because it doesn't cost you anything to make. You don't need to spend any money to get the desired results. You can do whatever you like with content marketing, making it an excellent option.

We all know content marketing is vital to growing our businesses, but do we understand how it works? And how do we use content marketing to help grow our businesses? Here's everything you need to know about content marketing – and how to use it to grow your business.

What is Content Marketing?

What Is Content Marketing Types

Content marketing is an approach to online marketing in which businesses create and distribute high-quality, relevant and consistent content that helps customers achieve their desired outcomes. The content is distributed across websites, social media profiles, and email marketing campaigns. 

It is different from traditional advertising as the main focus of content marketing is on providing practical, valuable and consistent information.

In the traditional model, advertising was the primary distribution channel. The customer received an ad in the mail or perhaps saw one in a magazine or on TV. Then they had to call a company, request more information, and decide. Once they made a decision, they booked a purchase; then had to wait to receive a product and hope they liked it.

Conversely, content marketing provides information that is easy to understand and free to access. People get their information online, and by using search engines, they can find information on almost any subject they need. They can research a business online, see if it has a good reputation, and make a purchase online.

Businesses that engage in content marketing are looking for customers who are already interested in their product or service and can reach them through online channels. They don't need to spend money on expensive television commercials.

Content marketing is a strategic approach to creating, delivering and measuring content that will help generate leads and drive sales. We can apply it to many industries, including technology, travel, real estate and insurance. However, it is a strategy that can be particularly effective for small businesses with limited resources and a smaller marketing budget.

Why do you need content marketing?

B2c Content Priorities

Content marketing helps businesses grow online by building a reputation as a trusted source of helpful information. Your content should be exciting and valuable to potential customers.

Simply put, content marketing is about telling the story of your business and what it does. It's about creating quality, relevant content that is shareable. And it's about doing it correctly, using effective techniques.

Here are some of the reasons why content marketing is essential.

1 – It creates brand awareness

Content marketing can help you to build trust with your customers. If you provide good quality content, people will find you, and your business will grow. In addition, you can provide better service and better support to your customers. That means that your customers will be satisfied. When people are satisfied, they share your information and talk about you. As a result, you will increase your brand awareness.

2 – It drives sales

Content marketing can be an effective marketing strategy. People will notice your company's presence on the internet if they search for it. Then, they can visit your website to learn more about your company and what you have to offer. Your business will sell more products if you use content marketing because people will be interested in your business if you post interesting and informative posts on your website. When they find that they like what you post, they will tell other people about your company, increasing your sales.

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3 – It builds trust

If you want to build trust with your audience, you should provide quality content that is useful and credible. You can build trust by creating unique content. Make sure that the content is high-quality and relevant. If you have a clothing business, you should put pictures of different models in the clothes. Make sure that the clothes have a good fit. You can add reviews and ratings for your customers to see what others think of the product. If you have an eCommerce website, you can create a blog on it. 

Ensure that the content you post on your blog is valuable and exciting. You can also make videos to promote your business. Make sure that you have a good camera and that you are well-dressed. The best thing about this type of content is that you can use it to promote your business and sell your products.

4 – It shows you're a thought leader

Content marketing allows you to stand out from the crowd. This gives you a higher profile and a competitive advantage over others who do not use this technique. People who do content marketing are experts. They have knowledge that no one else has. Because of this, they can teach others and help them to learn more about their subject. 

By creating high-quality content, you can help others and educate them. You can show them what you know and help them to better themselves. You can earn a good reputation and establish yourself as a leader in your industry.

5 – It makes you appear more human

One of the things that make bloggers so unique is their personal style. The reason why we can connect with our readers is that we are real people with a personality. That's what makes us different from other types of online marketers. We can provide value by helping others by sharing information they might find helpful. Our style and voice are authentic, which gives us credibility. 

Content is an essential part of a successful blog. You have to write about things that are interesting to you and share helpful information with your readers. Write content that adds value to their lives.

Benefits of Content Marketing

Value Of Content Marketing

Content marketing strategies include many benefits, including:

Promote Brand Awareness

The content marketing strategy helps companies and individuals gain brand awareness. When customers search online for a specific product or service, the content marketing strategy directs them to a company website or a social media profile. This marketing method encourages consumers to learn more about a particular brand and purchase products or services.

Generate Leads

The content marketing strategy generates leads by offering customers a company's products and services. The content marketing strategy is effective because the customer is exposed to the company's brand. The company's products and services are then advertised to the customer, who may purchase the company's products or services.

Boost Sales

The content marketing strategy boosts sales because the products and services offered by the company are displayed in front of potential buyers. The company can provide a discount on the products and services or encourage customers to purchase more products or services than they initially intended to buy. This way, the company increases its profits.

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Build Trust

The content marketing strategy builds trust among customers. Customers are provided with valuable information about the products and services of the company. This information is vital to the customer because it helps them understand the purpose of the products and services offered by the company.

What is a Content Marketing Strategy?

What Is A Content Marketing Strategy

A Content Marketing Strategy is a collection of content published through various channels designed to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time. Content Marketing Strategy helps businesses to create new products, develop new services and grow customer loyalty.

Content Marketing Strategy includes three elements:

Content creation

As the name implies, a content marketing strategy's first step is creating content. You can do this either by creating original content (i.e. a blog post, an ebook, etc.) or by repurposing content created by others.

Creating original content can be challenging because it requires an in-depth understanding of your target market and your product or service. It also requires a solid knowledge of the field in which you work. In addition, creating original content takes time, effort and creativity. However, it can lead to high-quality content that will increase your brand visibility and generate leads.

Repurposing content can be a great way to start a content marketing strategy. Repurposing content means using content created by others to answer a question your target audience has. It might mean collecting content from the internet and turning it into a helpful guide or a blog post.

Content marketing channels

The first place that you should distribute your content is on your site. Many businesses prefer content marketing on their site because it gives them complete control over their message. For example, they can add images, videos and other types of content. Also, they can have multiple versions of their content. 

In addition, they can share it with their audience and they can post it on social media. They can even use different forms of content. For example, they can create a text-only blog and a video blog.

Social media

The most popular distribution channel for digital content is social media. The number of internet users has increased dramatically in the last few years, and most are active on social networks. It is essential to choose the right social network for your business. For example, do you need a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?

Directories

Another good option for distributing content is a directory. A directory is a website where people can add content (such as a web page, blog post, video, etc.). It is usually organised by category or subject.

Email

Email is an excellent way of distributing content to your customers. It is relatively inexpensive, quick and easy to set up. Your customers receive your emails in their inboxes, so they will likely read them. To make the most of email marketing, you need to know who your customers are and what kind of messages will get them to act. This means knowing your customers' interests and habits.

Blogs

Blogging is a good way of distributing information. A blog is a web page with regular updates. Blog posts are usually short and include images and links to other content. Blogs are a great way of building relationships with your customers. They allow you to keep your customers informed about your business and help you to maintain an online presence.

Websites

Finally, you can build your website to help your business and distribute your content. Websites are an excellent tool for generating leads, as they increase your brand awareness and offer the possibility to collect your customers' contact details.

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Content marketing evaluation

Evaluating the results of your content marketing strategy is an essential part of a successful one. You need to measure your efforts' impact and identify improvement areas. To measure the effectiveness of your content marketing, you should use a mix of the following:

Key performance indicators

KPIs are a way of measuring the success of your content marketing. KPIs can be anything you want: e.g. the number of subscribers on your mailing list, the number of leads you get from your website or the amount of time it takes for visitors to reach the end of your web page.

In general, a higher value of a KPI is better. It shows that you are progressing towards your goals. When you set KPIs, it is essential to be realistic, especially if they are not achievable in the short term.

Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis helps you to understand the reasons behind your KPI. It can help you identify areas for improvement and provide valuable insights into your target audience. There are many ways to conduct qualitative analysis.

Examples include:

  • Interviewing people who use your product
  • Observing customers at your place of business
  • Sending out surveys to your customers
  • Analysing customer reviews
  • Conducting focus groups

A common misconception is that qualitative analysis is challenging to conduct. This couldn't be further from the truth. You can hire an agency or a freelancer to conduct qualitative research. There are also many online tools available to conduct qualitative analysis. These tools allow you to collect and analyse data quickly.

Quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis is an essential element of content marketing. It is the process of analysing and interpreting information from different data sources. It is done to find the most valuable and vital content elements for their best use. It involves looking closely at the data and figuring out how it will help you. Quantitative analysis in content marketing can help in understanding the audiences to be targeted in a business.

Quantitative analysis can help you determine what type of data is required and what data you need to focus on. It helps you to find out whether a website is generating profits or not and whether the marketing campaigns are doing well or not. This analysis helps you see where the money comes from and which areas need the most work. This kind of analysis will help you decide where you need to spend your resources.

How to Create Great Content

Marketing is one of the best tools that marketers use to get leads. It has become a significant part of marketing strategy. However, the biggest problem is that not all marketers know what they should write. Most of them start writing because it sounds good. But then, they keep doing the same thing repeatedly and end up creating boring content. This is not the way to go.

So, how can marketers create great content? Here are the steps that you can use to create great content:

1: Use SEO-friendly keywords

Keywords are crucial to search engines. They decide whether your content is relevant to their users or not. So, if you use the right keywords for your content, you can quickly get a high rank in search engines

The first step is to use relevant keywords. If you are writing content for B2B (Business to Business), you should use keywords related to your business. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, you can use keywords like “kitchen appliance” or “cooking utensils”.

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2: Use long tail keywords

These keywords are usually precise and have a high demand. So they are easier to rank for. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, you can use keywords like “kitchen appliances for small studio apartments”. These keywords are long-tail keywords.

3: Write great headlines

If you write a headline, you need to put some effort into it. Remember, your goal is to get readers to click on the link that leads them to your website. A good headline should capture the attention of the reader. The headline should be intriguing, short, and informative. 

There is no point in writing a long headline if you cannot deliver what the headline promises. People don't like to read long paragraphs that have too many words. If your headline is compelling, you'll get more people's attention.

4: Use images

A picture is worth a thousand words. In content marketing, images are used to represent specific ideas or concepts. You can use images to show people how to do things. Pictures are also suitable for attracting visitors to your website or blog. They can also make your content more exciting and attractive. 

5: Include multimedia content

Including multimedia content in your marketing material is a great way to engage your audience and increase conversions. Whether you're creating a video tutorial, infographics or infographics, multimedia content will help attract people to your content. Adding audio and video to your content is a great way to make your blog or website more interesting to read and watch.

6: Use bold and italics

It is essential to be specific and concise when writing a sentence. It would be best if you wrote only what you mean. Don't exaggerate your statements. Use italics to emphasise the essential words. You don't have to use italics for everything. A bold font helps highlight your sentences.

7: Write short paragraphs

You can tell a lot about an author's writing style by the way they write. Long sentences and paragraphs may seem appealing, but they can be challenging to read. Short paragraphs are easy to read, scan, and understand. But you don't always want a one-word sentence. In some cases, long paragraphs are appropriate.

You have learned some ways to create great content. Now you can use these tips to create excellent content for your business.

Types of Content you can Create

Most Engaging Content Social Media

There are many types of content which can be used for marketing. Content marketers should have a thorough knowledge of this subject – they should understand all the types of content creation and their different applications. 

It is always better to have a variety of content options for marketing. When we use content for marketing, we need to ensure that it is informative. This is one of the critical things to keep in mind while creating content for marketing purposes.

  1. Blogs: These are generally static content-based articles. Individuals or companies usually write this kind of article.
  2. eBooks: An eBook is a digital book converted into an electronic file. Readers can access this kind of content through any device. It is also possible to read them on an eReader.
  3. Infographics: Infographics are visual representations of data, information or knowledge. This kind of content is also trendy and widely used online.
  4. Podcasts: Podcasts are audio or video interviews with experts. They are often recorded on a topic of interest.
  5. Social Media Posts: Social media posts are short-form content which you can share across different social media channels. This kind of content is available on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.
  6. White Papers: A white paper is content that professionals generally write. It is usually lengthy and can contain much valuable information. It is also known as ‘long-form content'.
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Using different types of content for marketing can prove to be highly beneficial. However, it is essential to be aware of the type of content which will be helpful in marketing. Before publishing content for marketing, ensure that it contains the correct information. A content marketer should have a thorough knowledge of the different kinds of content and their uses for marketing.

How to Promote your Content to Drive Traffic

Average Shares By Content Type

If you want your website content seen by the right people, you need to promote your content online. Promotion is getting the message about your website in front of more people. Online promotion helps you to promote your website in various ways. The most common and easiest ways of promoting your website are the following:

  • Posting a link to your website on blogs and social networking websites
  • Writing articles for publication
  • Posting a link to your website in forums and communities

You can also pay for advertising. Paying for online ads is a great way to promote your website.

Here are some ways you can promote your website content and drive traffic to your website:

Create Social Media Profiles

Many companies use social media to promote their products and services. This is a great way to increase awareness about your company. Many people share information through social media. They use it as a platform to discuss issues that concern them. Your job is to make yourself heard. You can do this by sharing your content and ensuring that people understand your point of view. Also, you can promote your company and attract more customers. You can make sure that people follow your updates.

Add Sharing buttons

You can make sharing buttons on your website's pages to encourage visitors to share them with friends and followers. Make sure that you have the buttons on your website's pages. You can use the share buttons on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. You can share the links to your articles on social media platforms, blogs, etc. Once you have made your content available on social media platforms, you should share it on other websites and email services.

Guest blogging

One great advantage of guest blogging is that you will get free exposure for your business or product. You can get some great comments and feedback on your blog. You should share your knowledge with others. In return, you'll get to write about exciting topics you are interested in. You can also make money doing this. Many businesses are willing to pay you for your expertise. There are lots of blogs that are willing to publish articles for you. You must have the proper skills, experience, and know-how to make money.

Use paid advertising campaigns

Paid advertising is a powerful tool in content marketing, especially if your goal is to increase conversions. You can also use it to bring in new leads or to grow your audience. But it's essential to choose your ad placement wisely. 

According to Google AdWords, you're most likely to see results when your ads appear above the fold, which means they show up on the page where people first land. Below the fold, viewers may never notice ads.

Offer exclusive content

One of the ways that you can promote yourself is by offering exclusive content to users. You can have them sign up for your mailing list, newsletter, or RSS feed. This can help you to drive traffic to your site. If you have a blog, you can offer some unique content to your readers. 

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This can include a video, a slide show, a freebie, a giveaway, an article, etc. There are a lot of different ways that you can do this. You can use Google Adsense to promote your site. You can also use a free hosting service such as WordPress to offer premium content to users. You can use these services to drive traffic to your site.

Create a podcast

Podcasting is a fantastic way to promote content marketing because of its ability to reach a particular audience – people who want to learn something, especially if they can do that learning via audio. 

Podcasts can reach consumers on a much more personal level than any other online platform because they can provide a real human connection and allow guests to offer advice and insight. In addition to reaching a highly targeted audience, podcasts encourage listeners to interact and comment on episodes, increasing the likelihood that those comments will find their way back into the host's feed.

Create video content

Videos can be beneficial when used intelligently. For example, if you want to show customers how your product is put together or explain a process to the viewer, it makes sense to use a video. However, using videos may not be the best idea if you're trying to sell a product. While videos can help you explain how the product works and showcase some of its functions, they can also make your customer think twice before buying.

Create a webinar

Webinars are becoming increasingly common in the digital world and are a great way to build relationships, offer helpful tips, or even get new customers for your business. They are also one of the top tools for content marketing.

Promoting your website content can be a tedious task. With the right promotion strategy, you can easily promote your website and drive traffic towards your site.

How to Measure Content Marketing ROI

Content Marketing Roi Statistics On Blog Posts

Measuring the success of content marketing is complex and requires an understanding of various metrics. We'll explain the critical metrics for measuring content marketing.

The content marketing industry has exploded in the past decade. Businesses now use content to reach potential customers through many mediums, including blogs, eBooks, webinars, videos, and more.

When creating and distributing content to promote your business, there are several metrics you can use to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Here is the list of essential metrics that you can use to measure Content Marketing ROI:

1: Relevant traffic

This metric measures the number of people visiting your site after reading specific content.

There are many ways to track this. The easiest way to track relevant traffic is to look at the number of visits and bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site without viewing any pages on your site.

You're doing something wrong if you notice your bounce rate is high. To improve your site, you should make it easier for visitors to navigate. You should also try to make it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for on your site.

2: Engagement rate

The engagement rate measures the level of engagement that a particular piece of content receives. This is a crucial metric because it shows how effectively your content generates engagement and interest.

Tracking engagement can be exciting because you can see what your readers think about your content. You can also use this to know what your followers think about your content. This is important so that you can improve your social media strategy.

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You are engaged if you get many comments and likes on your posts. It means that your content is being shared with others. If you are getting more shares, it means that more people are viewing your content. You will likely receive more engagement if you post content that people find attractive.

3: Brand awareness

Brand awareness is another metric you can use to measure the effectiveness of your Content Marketing. You can measure how well your brand name is known across social media platforms. To start with, you should create an awareness campaign on social media. You can start by sharing content on your social media profiles. 

This will allow people to share the content with their friends, and they will be able to promote your brand too. You should be prepared to share the same content on different platforms. You should have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn account. You can also create your website and share your content on it.

You can measure brand awareness by looking at the number of followers and fans.

4: Website conversions

Website conversion rate is a metric used to measure your website's success in converting your audience into paying customers. This complex metric involves many variables, such as lead quality, site speed, etc.

5: Sales Revenue

To increase sales revenue, you must first consider your audience. You can do this by focusing on your audience or your customers. You have to decide whether you are targeting your audience or customers. 

Targeting your customers means finding customers interested in your products and services. You can do this in a variety of ways. You can advertise on the internet, or you can send your newsletter. You also need to think about what type of content you should create. 

There are three types of content that you should create. They are product descriptions, customer reviews, and blog posts. All of these content types help improve your sales revenue.

6: Cost per acquisition (CPA)

A CPA is the money you spend per period, such as per lead, click, or visit. It is one of the most critical metrics in Content Marketing. You can calculate your CPA by dividing your total marketing spend by your content's sales. The more leads you generate, the higher your conversion rate will be. 

A lower CPA means that you are spending less money on your Content Marketing campaign. Finding ways to improve your CPA to save money on your Content Marketing efforts is crucial.

Conclusion

It's essential to understand the business goals that you're trying to achieve. Then, choose which strategy works best for you. Some strategies are better suited for already established businesses, while others are better suited for those who are starting. 

Taking advantage of today's tools and tailoring them to your business and your audience is essential. There are many ways to engage with your audience online, but you need to figure out which one(s) works best for you and your brand.

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Written By
Stuart Crawford
Stuart Crawford is an award-winning creative director and brand strategist with over 15 years of experience building memorable and influential brands. As Creative Director at Inkbot Design, a leading branding agency, Stuart oversees all creative projects and ensures each client receives a customised brand strategy and visual identity.

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