CONTENT MARKETING – HOW TO CREATE RELEVANT AND VALUABLE CONTENT TO ATTRACT TARGET AUDIENCE

Although Content Marketing is one of the most fashionable online marketing disciplines, it is not precisely something that has been invented recently.

Most users think that content marketing is based solely on content creation. Well, they are not misguided; the problem is that creating content does not have to be content marketing.

Virtually everyone is focused on the first stage, it is perhaps the simplest and the most internalized since, after all, it is all about creating content in order to generate visibility.

CONTENT MARKETING: WHERE TO BEGIN?

Have you heard of “website content is king” and come here looking for answers?

Easy, you’re not the only one. The content is very fashionable and things that we did not even hear like content marketing, SEO, Inbound marketing, branding or editorial calendar are the bread and butter of today.

On this page you will find the minimum you need to know to understand content marketing and what you need to do a content marketing strategy in 2017 and the years to come.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is the art of preparing valuable content and distribute them for free with the double idea of attracting new potential customers (prospects) and / or retain your current customers and try to make them buy new services / products.

Content marketing is part of a strategy to bring value before asking for anything in return, and not to interrupt, as they usually do TV / radio ads or traditional direct marketing tactics.

Objective # 1 of this 100% permissive strategy is to get the readers of your website or blog becomes subscribers to your mailing list. That is, stop dealing with IPs (web visits) and start chatting with people (email).

The idea is to continue adding value by email periodically with the idea of ​​consolidating your relationship with these subscribers, because they are your future customers.

This term is often confused with Inbound Marketing, although in this case content marketing is only part of that discipline.

Inbound Marketing involves all actions to attract customers to your business, including more traditional disciplines (advertising, for example), while content marketing only involves working the content.

What content marketing is NOT?

Just as important as defining content marketing is defining what content marketing is NOT.

I am not referring now to writing techniques for advertising (copywriting). It is also not a question of writing sales pages or brochures for your services and / or products.

People search the Internet for solutions to their problems. They do not want someone to try to sell them anything on the first visit (Hard Sell).

The idea is rather to build trust, credibility and authority with your content marketing. Once you have won this battle, by presenting an offer for a product and / or a service you will find less resistance in the buying process.

It speaks of Soft Sell or the art of presenting your offer without insisting: This is what there is. If you are interested, get over it, or else go on your way.

Nobody likes to be sold. But if you want to live on your content, you will have to submit offers.

What are the most common formats in content marketing?

There are many different ways of trying to take advantage of your content. You can, for example:

  • Build a blog
  • Prepare a sector report or a white paper, or some kind of free PDF for immediate download
  • Write a newsletter
  • Prepare a course with videos tutorials and deliver them by email using an auto responder system
  • Make a webinar, an internet seminar etc…

Even so, people are still pretty confused about how to craft an effective content marketing strategy in their niche.

Content and sales marketing

The vast majority of people who take advantage of content marketing usually have a ratio of 1 to 5 between free and valuable content and promotional content. Each case is different, so you’ll have to find your own ratio. The key is to listen to your audience and prepare ad-hoc materials to meet your needs.

The main benefits of content marketing

  1. Trust: When you regularly publish content and your audience perceives its value, it will trust you. The typical phrase “if you offer this for free, what it will be that you offer for payment?” Will begin to generate that trust you need to get future customers.
  2. Sales:  derived from the previous benefit you will see how your sales increase. Using different strategies to attract customers with content marketing will bring you more users, help you convert more visits to customers, etc.
  3. Tranquility:  A well-executed content plan gives you the peace of mind of knowing what you are going to do in the long run. Without such a guide or a proper content marketing strategy you would go blind.
  4. SEO positioning:  content is the king and without it there is hardly any chance of positioning yourself in Google. Give good content to Mr. Google and he will return in return that amount of organic traffic that you want.
  5. Authority:  When a newspaper searches for references on a topic and links you, you gain authority. When a user creates a post and links you as a referral source, you gain authority. When someone asks another person “who is the referent of this subject” or “what company should I follow to learn about this?” And say that you, you will gain authority. You will be the guide of your sector and who answers all the questions.

Strategies to Attract Customers with Content Marketing

There are many strategies, but I’ll tell you the simplest and most direct that I use to generate my income with Lifestyle Al Square.

Why should I tell you more strategies if this is the one that works for me to perfection?

  1. Create exceptional content: The foundation of any content marketing strategy is to create content that leaves users impressed. The so-called cornerstone or pillar contents should be the base, with posts of thousands of words that are the guide and reference of your sector.
  2. Work SEO on your content: if you create brilliant content but nobody sees it… difficult to get customers. I know that social networks are another great source of visitors, but the only one that is “passive” is SEO. Read this article and position as much as you can all your posts.
  3. Create a hook to convert visits to customers: visits are worthless, subscribers are worth money. You have to turn those visits into a name with email or you’ll lose them forever. For that you need a Lead Magnet and a minimal email marketing strategy.
  4. Generate trust in your subscribers with an auto responder: when that visit gives you your email, add it to an auto responder sequence in which you gain your trust with questions, examples, success stories, traffic to other articles, etc…
  5. Plan long term: Once you have the whole system set up, create an editorial calendar and plan your content plan in the long term to generate subscribers and sales. There is nothing better than to plan from top to bottom knowing that you write to generate subscribers and sales.