If you are interested in the world of marketing, you have surely heard the famous phrase “content is king”.
Content is at the core of many inbound marketing and digital advertising strategies , and publishing quality content on a regular basis is one of the best things we can do for the health of our brand.
But do you know what exactly content marketing is and why is it so important? In this article we give you all the answers.
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What is content?
The content consists of information or entertainment in different formats, which makes available to the public (eg on your website or social networking channels) to achieve different marketing objectives.
A well-made content is always characterized by offering value to users , either by being useful to solve their needs, by provoking positive emotions, or both at the same time.
It is also important to be very clear that the content should not be excessively promotional. We do not seek to sell directly or talk about the virtues of our brand or its products, but to add value to users while reflecting the values and style of our brand.
Most common formats of content in marketing
The Internet allows us to publish content in an endless number of different formats, since the possibilities of this medium are very wide and new options never stop emerging: immersive and interactive formats, virtual and extended reality … But to specify a little more, let’s go Let’s see what are the types of content most used by brands:
- Blogs . Blogs are a veteran format on the internet, but they are still one of the favorite ways to publish and consume content. Most blog entries include text, images and links, but we can also use them to publish videos, infographics and other content in audiovisual format.
- Videos . Videos are one of the most popular formats in recent years, as they can convey a large amount of information and are well suited for storytelling. In particular, live video is a type of content on the rise.
- Infographics . Infographics are a way to present complex information in a format that is very easy to understand and share, hence their great popularity.
- Downloadable ebooks, reports, whitepapers and other PDFs . This type of content is very common to generate leads, that is, to convince users to become part of our database in exchange for downloading it. Normally, these contents deal in depth with a topic of interest to the user.
- Newsletters . Newsletters are publications that we send periodically to users of our database to keep them informed of brand news.
What is content marketing?
The content marketing is a technique that is based on creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract , acquire and draw the attention of our target audience in order to turn them into long – term customers.
Content marketing, therefore, starts from clearly identifying who we want to address, what their needs are and how we can respond to them with our content.
Based on this information, we will prepare a content plan with the themes, format, extension, technical requirements, responsible for the preparation and publication dates.
Finally, we will distribute this content through the different channels of the brand and we will take care of its dissemination so that it reaches as many potential customers as possible.
Why is content so important?
Because it helps improve SEO positioning
Google knows that users value quality content, therefore, it takes it into account when analyzing the relevance of a website and deciding its positioning .
The brands that publish a higher quantity and quality of content on a regular basis have the most points to occupy the top positions in search results, and in turn this translates into a large amount of organic traffic.
For a content to rank well in Google, it is important that it be original (that is, that it is not duplicated), that it has an appropriate extension to the topic it deals with, that it is well structured and that it includes relevant keywords without sacrificing readability.
Publishing branded content on a regular basis makes search engines index our website more often and offers more material for search engines, multiplying the chances that they will find us.
At the same time, sharing content on social networks can also generate notoriety for the brand, especially if users share them and recommend them to their contacts, thus generating a viral effect.
Because it is necessary for inbound strategies
The inbound marketing is based on attracting users naturally towards the brand, rather than “go find them ” with invasive advertising.
Quality content helps users reach the brand , either because they have found it when doing a search related to their needs or because they have seen it on a social network and have decided to click on it.
Once the user is on our website, we can also use content to convert him into a lead (for example, offering him a complete guide on a topic of interest in exchange for his email) and to advance in the conversion funnel until the purchase final (with newsletters and other messages).
Because it reinforces trust in the brand
In the end, although we do not speak directly about the brand or its products, the content is like our voice . If we regularly publish high-quality content, this will positively influence the perception of the brand by users. They will know that we know a lot about the topics that interest them, that we can solve their problems, and that we understand their needs. And in the end, this confidence will make them come to us before the competition.