What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic approach that focuses on creating and distributing valuable content.
Valuable content can take on different forms, such as a tip that you post online, a client testimonial, or motivational posts.
Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Content marketing aims to build trust and position yourself as an expert.
Content is anything you publish online from written form content, video content, images, or audio.
Images
The easiest way to share images online is through social media. With over 3.6 billion users worldwide, the best way to get in front of your audience.
Video
Another form of content marketing are videos. Videos can be anything from short-form videos such as reels or longer-form content tailored to YouTube. Regardless of which channel you choose, video content is growing in popularity. On average, a user spends about 112 minutes on TikTok daily and 45 minutes per session on YouTube consuming video content.
Podcast
41% of Americans listen to a podcast monthly. The number of podcast listeners has grown exponentially over the past three years. That's one of the reasons why more and more business owners decided to lunch a podcast.
Podcasts allow for creativity because you can determine what you went to talk about in each episode. You can decide who you want to invite on your podcast and show as much of your personality as you want.
Blog
Publishing blog posts is a powerful way to distribute content. Writing blog posts and publishing them on your website does not only provide resources for visitors but can also help with SEO ranking.
Blog posts also allow for creativity because you can design and write your blog post in your own way. Your writing style can be witty, serious, informative, authoritative, or funny.
Content marketing is one of the most economical forms of marketing. It is cost-effective because you are mainly investing your time creating content instead of spending lots of money on advertising. It is an excellent way for small business owners, bloggers, and solopreneurs to get in front of their audience with little to no budget.
Content marketing builds the foundation. Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Results cannot be expected publishing your first blog post.
Consistency is key when it comes to publishing content. You have to show up online consistently while providing free value.
Don't hold back on the value. Often times course creators or educators hold back on the value because they think they give away too much. Don't hold back. When you offer value to your audience, you show them the "what," which is barely scratching the iceberg's surface. In contrast, you will reveal the "how" in your paid offer. For example, as a fitness instructor, you can offer free 10-minute workouts, but in your paid offer, you can sell a well-thought-out 30-day workout Program, including nutrition tips to maintain a healthy weight.
If you want to learn more about content marketing, check out my 6-step content framework to perfect your content creation game and build credibility online.
Now that we've answered the question "what is content marketing," let's move on to an even more important question "why is content marketing important for your business."
Why is content marketing important for your business?
To understand why every business needs content marketing, let's take a look at a consumer's buying journey. I always like to use a funnel to demonstrate the sales cycle because not everyone who visits your website or gives you follow will turn into a buying customer. A funnel is broader at the beginning and will be very narrow at the end, and throughout the funnel, clients will fall off.
The first step in the sales funnel is awareness. You want to make clients aware of your product and how it can solve their problems.
The second step in the sales funnel is relationship. During this step, you want to build trust. This can be achieved by providing templates, testimonials, or how-to videos that explain your product further. During this step, the potential client reviews options and compares products. In this step, it is important to educate your client on our product so you can position yourself as the expert.
The last step in the sales funnel is conversion. During this step, the client makes their decision and purchases the product. In this step, you want to provide case studies and product benefits to convince clients to purchase your product or service.
While you can use paid media (running ads on Facebook or Google) to drive clients to your landing page or retarget them, each step still requires content.
Content marketing taps into each funnel step of the buyer's journey by raising awareness and educating consumers about a product they may have never considered before.
The return on investment that you can achieve with content marketing is exceptional. Suppose you use content marketing strategies across social media and your website. In that case, you have the chance to connect with thousands of people and drive them to your offer without spending a dime.
Content marketing also offers other benefits that can support your digital marketing efforts. For example, writing blog content can contribute to your SEO efforts by creating great content that can be found in search engines.
If you want to learn how to utilize content marketing to grow your business check out my online course "The six-step content framework" to leverage the power of content marketing.
