Content marketing has had a tremendous impact on the web and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. At present, large and small businesses alike are publishing inventive, amusing and captivating content to attract people to take action, as well as to generate discussions.
Unfortunately, most of the focus in content marketing lies more on the creation of the content, rather than the marketing of it. Not many websites have the courage to step out of the secure and pleasant environment of their blog. In this series, we will explore how amusement, communal activities, learning, and practicality can assist in this.
If you can make the customer chuckle, you can convince them to purchase something. Humor naturally lowers our resistance to marketing and makes us more open and perceptive to what is being communicated. Superstar marketing professionals recognize that incorporating humor is the major contributor to sales, and utilizing content marketing which has a stress on amusement carries this to a greater degree.
A little friendly competition
A rivalry between fans is a fantastic method to promote communication and have people discussing and propagating your brand. At the time of the Winter Olympics, Coca-Cola devised an imprint offering called the Coke Games.
It motivated customers to make and post videos of themselves taking part in the activities, such as Swiftly Sipping, Coca-Cola Curling and Bottle Top Hockey. Anybody who posts their videos to the Coke Facebook page will have the opportunity to win one of a number of prizes.
How to do it
Although your company may not be as well-known as Coca-Cola, you can make use of major and minor events to increase your visibility. Could you sponsor a nearby function or celebration in order to advertise your brand to customers while challenging them to have a good time and be imaginative? If you’re living in America, Fairs and Festivals has a directory of events for each state. Get out your notebook and start brainstorming ideas. You never know what you might come up with!
Hitting the sweet spot with gamification
Using game mechanics and design to address marketing issues is what gamification is all about. Awards and achievements such as “Level badges” are an illustration of gamification, but that’s just the beginning of what it includes.
One illustration of this is The GE Show, a mix of How-It’s-Made/Game that makes learning and enjoyment go hand in hand, generating conversations. The interactive games offer an educational experience by demonstrating the technology important to making everyday life and business operations feasible.
There are many special areas within the realm of gamification, such as learning, trade, charitable causes, and numerous others. Including play elements inside a narrative encourages people to engage and pulls forth the youthful side of everyone who used to be transfixed by trains and other systems.
How to do it
Adding an element of play to your business strategy might be difficult and costly, but Quick Sprout has the necessary information to do just that. The guide includes ideas, technologies, and resources that can be applied to achieve success.
Let’s examine the more meaningful elements of content marketing in contrast to blogging, comprising motivation, practicability, and instruction. Although it may not seem as enjoyable as playing games or watching humorous viral videos, eventually you need to promote yourself in a more thoughtful and comprehensive way than just making people laugh. Certain individuals require more substantial and tangible data to come to a knowledgeable conclusion, and this upcoming article will give you advice regarding how to use various content marketing strategies to attain it. Playing around is great, but in the end, someone should be able to provide their supervisor with undeniable proof of the advantages of your offer. Here’s how to give it to them.
Tried and True: Content Marketing 1.0
Despite the fact that certain categories of content prove to be enduring, such as price lists, research reports and capability lists, these are rapidly being substituted with newly invented, more interesting types. Why obtain a pre-made pricing sheet when you could request a personalized estimate? Rather than allowing a white paper to be pushed aside and disregarded on your computer, why not take advantage of the online demonstration to try it out before making a purchase?
Prior to replacing your PDF report with an interactive list, bear in mind that some of your prospects are still going to actively ask for this type of material, because they prefer something they can put on paper and scrutinize. Despite calls claiming the opposite, paper is not likely to disappear soon. In view of this, Let’s take a look at how we can enhance our content marketing strategy.
Create a comprehensive resource center
It can certainly be stated that resource centers are able to acquire a great deal of backlinks. We must come to terms with the fact that bloggers, marketers, and journalists necessitate research and they need it in a expeditious manner. Rather than attempting to make it from the beginning, they will happily point to a source that has made the effort to not only accumulate all the information but organize it in a way that is promptly legible and simple to link.
How to do it
Constructing a content resource center that is worth linking to may take a while, but if you begin the process soon, you will get the rewards earlier. It’s not just about creating blog posts, however. You’ll be selecting the most noteworthy content related to your field of expertise. Subscribe to industry-leading blogs in your niche. Keep an eye out for developments reported by distinguished research groups such as Comscore and the Pew Research Center. You will have to look at and combine elements such as graphs, diagrams, collected data, and numbers – all in one spot.
Despite that, few people are willing to take on the difficulty, as it appears to resemble a laborious task. In order to be successful with content marketing, you must produce content of exceptional quality.
Provide a custom quote with a pricing calculator
As more and more companies strive for the top spot in the search engines, websites have begun to become much more interactive. It’s not enough to simply try and outdo your rivals strictly with cost-effectiveness or even customer support. You have to have something which can be adapted to fit people’s needs – and utilizing cost estimators is a superb way to do this.
An example to consider is Etsy, which is the online equivalent of a handmade marketplace. A lot of individuals would love the convenience of having the ability to craft and market their products on the web, and Etsy provides them the ability to do just that in a very user-friendly way. Nevertheless, these individuals specialize in crafting, not running a business – so how would they know what fee to ask for?
Get people clicking with an interactive demo
An interactive demo can be useful in helping you determine whether customers are suitable for the product or service that you are selling, as it provides them with the chance to try it out prior to making a purchase. No sales. No pressure. It will either be exactly what they desired to find or not.
There are numerous options for those wishing to learn a different language, but Rosetta Stone is without a doubt one of the most recognized. One of the features that sets it apart is its free, interactive demo. You can pick from many different languages and receive a basic introduction to whichever one you choose. Even though you don’t have the chance to respond as you would with the real program, the demonstration does give you an insight into what using the actual application is like.
What Are the Goals of Content Marketing Efforts?
Ranking on Search Engines
Google and other search engines attempt to provide individuals with the top results that meet their purpose. Do you know what the best source of pertinent information is? Content with great value that instructs customers and assists them in resolving their issues.
Creating and carrying out a successful content marketing plan is key for effective inbound marketing. Despite this, numerous businesses neglect to take into account the significance of content that is up to par and instead concentrate on link building and SEO that is on a technical level. Although these factors are essential, they will not be as effective as generating content of quality. By investing in this value, you will be able to rise higher in the Google search engine result pages, thus increasing the number of visitors to your website.
Improving Company Awareness and Generating Traffic for Business
The purpose of content marketing is to construct and give out material that is significant, provocative, and fun so as to draw in and interact with buyers.
If you make a point of regularly creating content that can be used for marketing purposes, your business will get more web traffic and people will learn about it.
Toyota is an illustration of how utilizing content marketing in the car market can bolster brand recognition. The way they handle content marketing – such as revealing news items, detailing stories of ownership, providing tips, and conducting test drives – is beneficial for their viewers.
For instance, a blog was made about uncovering keywords most beneficial for SEO and managed to achieve a top rank on Google. You could attract in excess of 10 000 visitors just from that one article.
Engaging with Customers
Gaining involvement is the ideal approach to convince guests to become paying clients.
Creating material is a key marketing approach for engaging with consumers. This can be used to teach individuals about what your business offers, entertain them, and give them guidance, product suggestions, or purchase help.
Showcase Brand Personality
Brand personality is the method in which a brand reveals its specific qualities to its audience. The entire spectrum of advertising approaches is covered from the type of language used in promotional materials to the style and structure of websites.
When people come to your website, they will encounter your company’s identity expressed throughout – from the design of your pages to the manner of expression used in your advertising materials.
It can be tricky to give your brand a distinct personality, however, the results will be highly beneficial for the company’s sales. Figuring out what your customers think of your business will enable you to come up with content that they find meaningful. Cogitate on Jeep – they exhibit their bold and daring demeanor through different outlets. Jeep promotes a sense of fellowship on their social media platforms through the tag #JeepFamily.
Earning Brand Loyalty
A special emotional bond exists between consumers and a certain brand, making them devoted to it. Customers tend to stay dedicated to a specific product or service, even when times are tough.
Several factors contribute to brand loyalty. But one of the most important is content. Producing favorable impressions of a brand encourages customers to feel familiar and secure with the firm. Building trust with one’s customers generates loyalty, which is paramount for staying ahead in the current cutthroat environment.
Producing material that is useful for the intended consumers ought to be the primary objective of any content marketing strategy. By focusing on the customer, you can create lasting bonds.
Educating Customers
Once more, the primary purpose of content marketing is to distribute expertise and offer beneficial information.
Nowadays, the way people interact with brands has been enhanced. People now view their beloved companies as being similar to pals who assist them in discovering new information and becoming encouraged.
Informing their patrons of their services and products helps businesses build trust and loyalty gradually. The result of this is that customers become more knowledgeable about the business, and are consequently more likely to take the necessary steps in response to its suggestions or products. The celebrated CRM system – Hubspot offers a Youtube channel known as Hubspot Hacks where they share knowledge with their viewers in various forms.
Generating More Leads
Content promotion can help organizations acquire potential customers by enhancing the prominence of their brand and producing beneficial material applicable to their audience.
Increasing Conversion Rate
Individuals will be more inclined to switch if they perceive the worth of what you have to offer. Content has the potential to inform customers, stoke their creativity, and provide them with enjoyable experiences. Generating content pertinent to your intended audience can enhance the likelihood that they will do something, like signing up for your email list or going to a landing page.
Improving Social Engagement and PR
When you generate beneficial materials for your website viewers, they will support and promote your company. Advocates can be immensely beneficial for the return on investment of your marketing, as they will stay connected to you through social media, participate in conversation, and spread your material among their contacts. In other words, they will increase the impact of your message, allowing it to be heard by a broader audience.
Content associated with your brand can be an effective tool for gaining supporters on social media. Moreover, a PR approach can collaborate with a content plan to magnify the outcomes. You can start by targeting high-authority blogs and publications. Then, utilize their influence to assist you in accessing leading blog/media sites. Your content will be able to start out on a successful path with this exposure.
Creating outstanding material has a positive effect on your website’s SEO and will draw the attention of other producers. When people reference your content with hyperlinks, the audiences that view those connections will then be able to access your site. It leads to better social engagement and amplified PR.
