Today’s marketing landscape is one that is constantly evolving. With technology improving and spreading as fast as it is, marketers have to keep up with what is new in order to stay relevant. The past several years have seen the rise of social media and mobile usage, a trend that is not going anywhere anytime soon. With this knowledge, brands trying to capture their audience’s attention can no longer rely on traditional forms of advertising.
So how do brands market their products? What does “advertising” look like today? While there is no one answer to that question, one particular marketing strategy that brands frequently use is content marketing.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing has been listed as one of the top digital marketing trends for 2016. ZenContent, a company dedicated to content creation, produced a useful infographic discussing the digital marketing industry, with a specific focus on the impact of content marketing.
Content marketing produces more leads, and on average costs less than other types of marketing.
Content marketing involves creating unique content that is shared with your target audience with the intent of both acquiring new customers and retaining those you already have. While this may sound simple, in reality it is a complex and challenging process. The content you create has to be relevant and highly targeted at your target demographic. With the right content, you will have an interested audience that regularly enjoys your content and, hopefully, turn into loyal customers.
The content you produce and share should be seen as valuable, unique, and relevant. This can be accomplished in various ways and through differing media. Some of these strategies and platforms are highlighted in an infographic developed by Smart Insights. Titled ‘Content Marketing Trends in 2016,’ it lists the 12 trends that are expected to be huge in the content marketing industry this year.
Influencer marketing is expected to increase in popularity in 2016.
One such trend is influencer marketing, a type of content marketing where brands reach out to influencers in their field. These influencers already have large social and online followings, making them great targets for brands who wish to target established audiences. This type of marketing tends to be highly effective and more cost-effective than traditional types of paid advertising.
Many brands decide to hire a marketing firm to handle all of their digital marketing needs. At Webdirexion, we are well-equipped with all of the necessary skills to develop unique, relevant, and shareable content for your brand. By letting us take charge of your marketing efforts, you can focus your time and energy on other important aspects of your business.
How do we handle content marketing?
Our team works on creating quality content for a variety of brands spanning several industries. We work directly with each client we take on, developing a unique marketing strategy that is tailored to each brand’s individual needs.
An important aspect of content marketing is that the content produced is not an advertisement for a product. The content should be relevant to your brand, and should of course inspire your audience to purchase your products, but the content itself is not an advertisement. When asked about content marketing strategy, Chief Optimizer for Webdirexion Scott Frangos explains, “The power of your story, told well, will compel people to seek you out and make a connection. We use this perspective wherever we can to help clients and our own team position themselves as thought leaders and to make a smart case for their company’s products and services.”
For example, we have team members who work on determining industry news, reporting on the latest trends and developments. We take the time to research your specific industry, learning all there is to know, and producing unique content covering important topics that your audience will find compelling.
Most importantly, we strive to create content that will benefit your audience. Whether that involves totally unique content, compiling a list of resources that will save people time, or something in between, we understand that the goal of content marketing is serving your target audience. Quality content should educate your customers, giving them the knowledge they need about your industry that will inspire them to purchase your products.
How do we measure content marketing results?
A great piece of content is worth nothing if it does not produce results, and we understand that. We use a variety of tools, including Google Analytics, to get detailed reports on the activity of our content. For social media, tailored tools such as Facebook Analytics are used to understand the performance of our work in the social media sphere.
This screenshot shows one way we look at value of articles we write, where we first set dollar value goals in analytics for what a reader may do after reading a post, then further look at segments (here we are comparing the segment New Users to All Users of the site) and their relative value.
This example highlights what we do when analyzing content, with Scott Frangos specifically noting that, “What’s interesting about this screenshot is that this look at new users versus returning users for this client, a B2B offering software for hospitals, shows confirmation of our strategy that over time, those that engage with articles we post for content marketing will begin to take more desired actions at the website.”
We create custom analytics reports employing the R.A.C.E. (Reach. Act. Convert. Engage) marketing model. By using this model, we are able to analyze not just the performance of the content itself, but also what happens after a person interacts with that content. By looking at the full spectrum, we can get a better understanding of how our content fits into the overall marketing scheme.
While content is analyzed in real time through the use of analytics tools, we also look at our content at the end of each year, analyzing which posts performed the best. With this information, brands can choose to highlight these posts prominently on their website, and can also use this knowledge to help determine new content.
This screenshot, taken from a client of ours, The SSI Group, is an example of a brand highlighting exceptional content. We ran analytics on our content for the client and highlighted the most popular posts on their blog homepage in order to continue prominently marketing them. With the help of the Divi Builder, we were able to create a slider for the website that rotated through the best performing articles from the previous year. Key aspects of the posts are displayed in the slider including the cover image, title, a short summary, and a CTA button that sends the user to the full post.
Content marketing is a complex system of creating, distributing, and analyzing. We have knowledgeable team members at each stage of this process, ensuring that our content will best serve your brand, attract new customers, and increase conversion rates. As this form of marketing only increases in popularity and effectiveness, don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect with your audience in a meaningful way. If you are interested in working with us, or simply want to learn more, please contact us.
