Contrary to what most people expect, a content marketing plan is much easier to develop than to implement. First of all, it can mean all forms of content that provide information to your customers.
In other words: images, videos, and texts. An important component of inbound marketing, content marketing involves strategically planning, creating, and distributing content to reach a predetermined audience.
Unlike traditional marketing approaches, content marketing focuses on potential customers and their problems rather than products.
As traditional outbound advertising declines in influence, content marketing continues to grow in relevance. While recipients are jaded by flashy ads and the like, they are certainly open to offers that will directly benefit them. With content marketing, you make it clear to potential customers what benefits your product offers.
An example from 1891 proves that this approach is actually not that new. As early as 1891, Dr. Oetker printed recipes on his baking mixes. This helps the consumer and clearly shows them what benefits the product will bring them.
Even today, this additional information is quite common on product packaging. However, a powerful tool has emerged: social media.
Not only are they used voluntarily and daily by consumers, but they also provide us with a choice of formats that is constantly expanding. But not every platform is recommended for every company.
Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc. - each platform has its own formats and unspoken rules. A B2B management consulting company that wants to attract new clients is unlikely to succeed by posting video clips of their daily work on Facebook or Instagram. Or even by being active in the comments.
The users who visit these platforms are primarily looking for entertainment and some kind of ideal world. While management consulting companies can engage with their clients more effectively on platforms like Linkedin, other companies can take advantage of Instagram and other resources and even achieve significant success with them.
At this point, you might wonder whether you should engage with these channels at all. The answer is yes, if your customers do. Using the right channels correctly shows that you understand your target group and is therefore extremely promising.
One of the most important tips that is often underestimated, unfortunately, is understanding your target group. It is necessary to define in detail both the individual buyer persona and their path to the purchase decision. Even the best content is unlikely to be effective if it reaches the wrong consumers or the wrong people at the wrong time.
Social media is used by people. For companies, this means, on the one hand, that new trends are constantly emerging, and on the other, that both competitors and private users unknowingly reveal valuable information on social media.
The key point: social listening. A simple but very effective measure here is careful assessment. Another tip: if you use the live streaming format for relevant topics, such as expert interviews or product launches, all your subscribers will receive a push notification.
Ultimately, the art is to lead the consumer to a purchase through a combination of emotional and rational content. In the best case, the customer does not even notice that he is in the process of being sold. Because: he is informed, entertained and helped at the right moment.
In addition to web-based project management tools, Excel files can also serve as an editorial plan. To begin, you need to create a template, which you can also find online.
Recycling posts should not be considered something wrong in any way. If the content is adapted to the different formats and platforms on which it is published, this is even recommended.
So-called cross- and multi-channel campaigns are when different platforms are used to draw attention to the same product. This also strengthens your authority and the likelihood that customers will find out about your campaign.
Keyword research not only gives you a good first idea of the topics and trends your customers are searching for, it also ensures that your customers will be able to find you if the need arises. In addition to carefully analyzing and optimizing your SEO strategy, social media has its own form of search engine optimization. A few things you can optimize immediately:
- Follow relevant hashtags and use them in your posts
- Follow this insider tip: use hashtags in stories and hide them behind photos
- Create a company hashtag
- Build backlinks for your blog and website
Whether you are posting on social media or your own company website, writing is an essential part of content marketing. The most common mistake is the false belief that you need to be especially creative.
You should remember that the attention span of an online consumer is 8 seconds. Therefore, clarity is more important than creativity. However, most articles and even websites are unclear or even unreliable. The most common mistakes can be avoided by asking yourself the following questions:
- Would I talk to my business partners like this in real life?
- Does the copy truly reflect my customers’ needs or am I just making promises about how great the product or service is?
- Do I offer my customers an incentive to respond to my call to action?
Recognition is the secret to success for great brands. But even small and medium-sized companies can benefit from this approach. In addition to storytelling, this also includes a unique design in line with the company's corporate style. This ensures not only recognition, but also a uniform, and therefore professional, appearance of your company.
Even if you are already creating interesting content, there is one channel that will always surpass you: the voices of your own customers. Take advantage of these advocates and convince new customers for free and completely sincerely, giving them an incentive to share your enthusiasm with the world. The use of these micro-influencers can and should go beyond simple customer reviews on your website.
Strategic planning and preparation of your actions are important not only to achieve your goals, but also to be able to separate individual campaigns from each other for evaluation. Therefore, be sure to use campaign-specific parameters for tracking, such as certain hashtags, UTM parameters or tags. Subsequent analysis will show you what your customers were really interested in and, for example, at what time your posts were most successful.
As a central component of inbound marketing, content marketing aims to establish your company as an expert in the long term and on a sustainable basis. This method is very effective and cost-effective compared to paid outbound marketing methods, such as TV advertising.
However, building trust with followers takes time and is therefore not a way to achieve quick results. However, once the foundation is laid, content marketing provides stable results with relatively little effort.
Still not sure? It might be worth consulting with an agency or freelancer first.
We'd be happy to provide a free, no-obligation initial analysis. We look forward to getting to know you.
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