The revolution brought forth by the rise of social networks has moved content marketing in the center of the online galaxy. Many other online marketing strategies gravitate around it, creating a potent synergy.
Content is a driving force behind generating leads, spreading brand awareness and increasing the sales. Hence, marketers strive to put visible signs on the busy highways of the internet and ensure that eager drivers make a turn for their social media, account, blog post or website. This is what allows them to reap many benefits, from increased revenues to enhancing brand building process.
Viral power
Today, a vast majority of marketers use content to capture their messages and shape campaigns. Those who fail to utilize the great potential of content marketing often lose their business to the competition. Furthermore, the surge of social media has introduced us to the phenomenon of the viral content.
Nothing has such immense power to make legions of online users flock to one place. A mind-boggling amount of 2 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day, and at the same time 50 million tweets and 1 billion active Facebook users float around the digital ocean.
The buzz generated around stellar content spills over to the other areas of the digital world, increasing exposure at an unprecedented rate.
This dazzling success would have been paid in thousands of dollars years ago, but today it takes humble resources and a bit of ingenuity to pull it off.
Now just to be clear, content marketing is not only about crafting content with
Google’s Panda Update was just the beginning of the shift towards quality content and its central role at the marketing stage.
Course of nature
Even the best SEO campaigns require that you to earn reputation in a natural, organic way. A long journey starts with a single step, in this case, defining the target audience. Therefore, research the market and once you have a clear idea about your ideal client, use platform like Survey Monkey to gather valuable customer information.
Recommended SEO and Competitive Research Tool: SEMRush (affiliate link)
Turn your finds into insightful content and share it with others. When you hit a wall with creative and strategic thinking, what enables you to come with engaging content is another great piece of content out here. Something like an insightful content marketing guide helps newcomers make sense of all the different marketing aspects that make or break your efforts to boost the traffic.
Demonstrate your worth by reporting the news in your niche, predicting and riding on a wave of trends. Each webinar you attend, white paper you read, and presentation you attend can serve as a building material for quality content.
Platforms like Pinterest can be used to share white papers, reports, charts or product pictures.
Infographics are also on the roll, stealing the online show on social networks. Do not forget to take advantage of newsletter series to boost lead generation and build a wider subscriber base.
Finally, let the customers do the marketing for you and spread the word, which is paramount to the success of your content marketing strategy.
Thus, gather customer feedback, and use it to pull together a list of top questions or complaints. It is also a good idea to include video testimonials and expert product reviews, as this kind of content builds trust with the community.
Another highly-effective way to attract traffic is to use networks like LinkedIn to connect with industry leaders and experts.
Try to guest posts on their blogs, share their content with due credit, and ask them if they would be willing to give an interview. Write an expert take on a popular topic, and never abandon the mission of improving your content foundations.
Get the show on the road
Content marketing has proven its worth time and time again, as seen in this content marketing timeline infographic made by Four Dots. It is widely adopted as a powerful marketing weapon, firing bursts of videos, infographics, audio books, blog posts, tweets, etc. Driving internet traffic on a massive scale is something that requires thorough planning, a solid budget, and in-depth knowledge. The key is to prove industry expertise and show consistency and responsiveness to customers. The investment of time and resources is the cost you pay for at least not falling behind the competition. And if done right, this type of marketing is unparalleled in terms of establishing lasting and meaningful connections with a large community.