Content Marketing

Content marketing excites and engages target audiences with helpful content instead of direct advertising. It uses texts, videos, images & co., supports SEO and pursues clear goals like leads, sales, or brand building – planned and measurable through KPIs

In online marketing, content marketing is still a relatively new discipline. Although many companies and websites are already trying to attract and retain customers through high-quality content, content marketing in this sense has only recently become widespread among online marketers and search engine optimizers. Specifically, it refers to a strategic approach that is not intended to promote products, services, and companies directly through sales, but rather to consistently inspire and retain the target audience. Specific content on a website should satisfy customer needs, answer questions, entertain users, and spark interest in further content. At the end is a strategic goal, such as selling a product, generating loyal customers, or strengthening the brand. Search engines like Google are increasingly incorporating high-quality content into search result rankings. The Panda update was specifically introduced to combat websites with inferior web content. Thus, content marketing is directly intertwined with search engine optimization and is part of every SEO strategy.

Versatile expression possibilities in content marketing

In content marketing, web text content represents the classic form. But those who really want to make an impression should use the entire range and also utilize images, videos, and other audio-visual material. Specifically, the following tools are available in content marketing:

SEO texts and editorial contributions (such as in a blog)
Images
Videos and clips
Infographics, tables, and statistics
Podcasts
Webinars
E-books and white papers
Newsletter
Test reports

Which marketing tools are appropriate for your own customers naturally depends on the industry and target group, and whether it is B2C or B2B content marketing.

User Generated Content: Users create content

Another form of content marketing is user-generated content. This refers to content created by a user. This is the case, for example, with forum comments. The advantage of such an interactive strategy is that the target audience is encouraged to actively engage with the company and the product and can contribute their own input. Ideally, content is shared via social media. Reviews are also user-created content that creates additional trust among other potential buyers.

Use Content Marketing as an Opportunity: It is important to define a goal

As with all strategic considerations in online marketing, content marketing should also have a goal. This can be customer acquisition or customer retention, as well as improving the brand image. Brand building, i.e., establishing one’s own brand, can also be a goal. In this sense, smaller businesses and companies as well as online shops could use content marketing as an opportunity to establish themselves in the market. An example could be the craft business or painting master who regularly reports on industry news, material information, and the like. An online shop can also utilize content marketing's potential effectively. Information about products, materials, processing, and similar topics can bind customers in the long term. This works for online shops selling cleaning products as well as bicycle accessories. Or how about a blog to complement the shop? In it, SEO longtails (multi-part keywords) and questions can be addressed. Good content is an important signal for search engines like Google. This signal is reinforced when users actually find what they are looking for on a page. If the bounce rate is low and the dwell time is high, these KPIs provide valuable information for Google and Co., and can positively impact the ranking.

The key is to define a goal along with a strategy and planning. In doing so, webmasters and companies should answer questions about objectives, target groups, communication, format, distribution, and much more. An editorial plan ultimately ensures clarity and a timeline that provides guidance to all authors and campaign managers.

Measure web content

The success of campaigns is generally measured based on the goals set at the beginning. From this, important metrics can be derived such as the conversion rate or the number of leads and interactions in social networks. Therefore, success measurement in content marketing varies greatly.

The future of content marketing

"Content is king" is a well-known adage in online marketing. And this is not an exaggeration. Content marketing now appears in so many different forms. In addition to so-called evergreen content (permanent content), snackable content (quickly consumable content) is also relevant. The technology is becoming more modern, and new trends are emerging. Currently, for example, webinars and podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. Those who want to stay ahead of the times should regularly evaluate their content marketing to meet current SEO requirements. Because content and search engine optimization have long been intertwined. Especially the Google search engine places increasing value on high-quality content.