We are served up huge amounts of content every single day. Content surrounds us, engages us and, if done well, drives us to action.
What is content?
Videos, web pages, online articles, social posts, podcasts and webinars are all different types of content, battling for our attention. All those memes and dance trends that go viral on TikTok – that’s content too. From spontaneous and homemade to slick and professional, content can be produced and shared by anyone in today’s digital world.
From a business perspective, quality content is the key to driving engagement with customers and target audiences. Interaction, loyalty and ultimately brand advocacy can be earned by delivering relevant, powerful and useful content. This approach is most commonly referred to as content marketing.
Why invest in content?
Thanks to the many (and multiplying) channels through which we consume content, the demand for content continues to grow exponentially. More than anything, brands want to engage with customers. One of the disadvantages of traditional advertising is that it delivers a one-way conversation. There is no interactivity from the audience. And the only way to measure success is to look at sales figures, and try to make a direct connection.
Content marketing is a two-way conversation with customers and target audiences. The value lies in being able to provide audiences with a genuine sense of brand ownership and the ability to provide input. This is referred to as engagement.
Paying attention to customers interacting with a brand through content published on interactive platforms such as social media can provide invaluable, real time insights. And measuring results, also in real time, means it’s much easier to respond to audience needs without a major investment in printing, ad space or production costs.
Tip: Truly understand your audience by understanding your brand.
Audience-focused content wins every time
Content marketing puts target audiences’ needs at the centre of a strategy. Audiences are smart. They are can see through ad-speak. Audiences respond to genuine content by rewarding brands with their their loyalty and custom – underlining the strong link between quality content and a business’s bottom line.
When brands and companies create and participate in meaningful conversations through interactive content, relationship flourish. Content marketing can benefit brands by increasing sales leads and positioning a business or brand as a thought leader. But before audiences add to your business’s bottom line, they are getting to know you. They may be:
- exploring your website
- checking out all your social channels
- sharing content with friends online.
And the best part is, this is all measurable! You can understand how well your content is performing against your strategy’s goals and objectives.
Tip: Mapping a customer journey can be a useful start to understand where content will perform best.
Investing in content delivers ‘bang for buck’
Content marketing can help an organisation set itself apart from its competitors by developing trust and credibility with their online communities. It enables businesses to deliver relevant content and build intimate relationships with customers before they even contact them, and long after they buy. Now that’s value!
Content marketing delivers significant value in a few different ways:
- Cost: web content has a much longer shelf life, and comes at a lower cost than traditional advertising campaigns (although these still have a valuable place at the top of the marketing funnel in an overall awareness strategy).
- Customer engagement: each content asset builds on the last interaction your audience had with you. It keeps the conversation flowing. Like a good dinner party.
- SEO: a bigger, relevant content collection that is constantly added to supports higher SEO results. By appearing more frequently in relevant search results, you will attract more visitors to your website.
Which types of content work?
According to Hubspot, 90 per cent of all information transmitted to the brain is visual. With more audiences scrolling information on their phone and attention spans decreasing by the minute, video content is at the top of every astute marketer’s content list.
Inspirational imagery, engaging photos and infographics also do the heavy lifting when it comes to attracting eyeballs and conveying key messages quickly. The good news is that with the proliferation of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram Stories and Reels, and Facebook Live, your video content doesn’t have to be as polished (or expensive to make!) as you think.
That said, the power of words should never be underestimated. Longer form, written content is what gives audiences real insight into your business’s hopes and dreams, and details the problem you are trying solve for them. It can answer your customers’ questions and move them from awareness and consideration to conversion, loyalty and even advocacy.
Finally, the impact of audio content only continues to grow. In just one year, Australian audiences, particularly older audiences, significantly increased their online audio content consumption. Most of that was music content, but watch this space – a survey conducted by ACMA revealed 20 per cent of Australian adults had listened to a podcast in the previous 7 days. We think this trend will only continue to grow.
In summary, all forms of content, if applicable, should be considered and incorporated into a dynamic, engaging content marketing strategy.
Tip: Undertaking a competitor content analysis may also be useful. CMI has some tips for this process.
Where to start?
Whether your business is large or small, we recommend starting with a content strategy that considers:
- who your audiences are
- where can you find them
- what sort of content will best engage them?
Once you have thought through these key questions, it’s time to dive in! It’s only by producing, sharing and measuring the impact of your content that you will get a true sense of what works.
Get in touch with the Content Empire team if you would like assistance either with content strategy or production.