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Your Quick Guide to Content Marketing

Some digital marketing strategies boost your SEO while others build brand awareness. Content marketing does both.

Done right, content marketing can lure ideal customers to your website and convince them to do business with you. In fact, 72% of marketers say that content marketing increases a business’s number of leads.

In this blog post, we’re going to unpack what content marketing is. We’ll also discuss actionable steps you can take to create an effective content marketing strategy.

Let’s get started.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is the act of creating content to meet a specific goal. You might create content to gain traffic, generate leads and more.

People often think of blog posts when they hear the word “content,” but it’s so much more than that. Content also includes Instagram posts, tweets, Youtube videos, podcasts and so much more.

When you’re watching a Youtube video and an ad interrupts your viewing, how do you react? You’re most likely annoyed.

Instead of being curious about whatever it is the ad is promoting, you can’t wait for it to end so you can go back to watching your video.

Content marketing is supposed to have the opposite effect. Instead of interrupting the viewer, you’re giving him something educational or entertaining.

A Content Marketing Example

Let’s say you’re a yoga instructor. You run a small studio in Sydney, but you’d like to expand your business.

You can start posting instructional yoga videos on Youtube twice a week. If that isn’t enough, you also create an Instagram account where you post yoga poses daily along with occasional photos of your yoga studio.

Once you’ve been posting quality content for a decent amount of time, you can start offering products and services. Your options include:  

• Ebooks for more advanced practitioners
• Video classes
• In-person classes for your followers

That’s only one example. No matter your industry, there’s a medium and market for your product or service. The possibilities are endless.

The Benefits of Content Marketing

It boosts SEO.

There used to be a time where you could rise to the top of search engine rankings by stuffing your content with keywords. Those days are long gone.

Google is a lot smarter now. It can detect if you’re using the same keyword over and over or if your content actually makes sense.

Content marketing gives you a chance to use your target keywords in an organic manner that doesn’t turn off readers. The more content you have, the more pages Google can index and show users.

More quality content also means more links. Aside from choosing the right keywords, link building is also vital for rising in search engine results. If a lot of people link to your content, this will tell Google how great it is and give it a boost in search engine results.

In a nutshell, content marketing will supercharge your SEO strategy–if you create quality content consistently.

It builds brand awareness.

Have you ever heard of seven touches? It’s a marketing principle that says a potential customer has to have heard or interacted with you at least seven times before doing business with you.

Content marketing helps you tick off each of those seven touches. All your blog posts, social media posts, videos, and podcasts add up.

For example, a user could see your posts on Twitter about five times before deciding to click on your blog. After reading your blog post, they realise you know your stuff and decide to sign up for your newsletter.

Content marketing shows people who you are, what you do and how good you are at it.

How to Start Content Marketing

Get to know your target audience.

Content marketing would be useless if you don’t know who you’re marketing to. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How old is my target audience?
• Where are they located?
• Where do they spend most of their time online and offline?
• What are their successes?
• What are the pain points I can help them resolve?

Narrowing things down and creating an ideal client profile is vital. The more specific, the better. Use the knowledge you glean from answering the above questions when creating content.

For example, if you’re marketing to people in their late teens to late twenties, Instagram might be your best choice. Statistics say that 59% of the platform’s users are aged between 18-29.

Your target audience should determine your content’s voice. A seventy-year-old retiree won’t respond to the same things a teenager would and vice versa.

Conclusion

Content marketing helps you get found by both search engines and people. It increases traffic and builds authority.

Unlike traditional ads that disrupt the main event, your content is the main event.

Before you even think about creating content, narrow down who you’re trying to reach. Create your ideal customer profile, and think of content that resonates with them and solves their pain points.

Need help with your digital marketing strategy? Cornerstone Digital is a digital marketing agency in Sydney. We would be glad to create a five-star strategy for you. Call us on (02) 8211 0668 or email us at info@cornerstone-digital.com.au.

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Darlyn Herradura

A self-professed book and digital marketing nerd, Darlyn Herradura focuses on building trust between customers and businesses with the written word. She understands that creating valuable content is the best way to get found online and happily spends her time doing that.