Content That Converts
Providing content to target audiences in a way that feels organic is critical to improving your brand and converting leads to sales. The right information needs to be provided at the right time - this is where content marketing comes in. Content marketing is a strategy that uses written and visual material to attract and retain customers by sharing appropriate content at the right time. Read below for some tips and tricks on how to successfully execute a content marketing strategy by strategically selecting the right content, following a step-by-step process and including some industry best practices.
Types of Content Marketing
Content marketing consists of distributing content in various forms. This includes articles, podcasts, blogs, videos, ebooks, infographics, webinars, emails, social media and more. Some great examples of content marketing that you may be familiar with are Spotify wrapped, Canva’s Design School, Wordle run by the New York Times, Wendy’s Twitter (now X) roasts, GoPro’s YouTube Channel, Mazda’s Newsletter and more!
Benefits of Content Marketing
There are many advantages to content marketing. Some of the main benefits include increased brand awareness, increased engagement and sales, building brand loyalty and demonstrating expertise. Content marketing puts the right messages in front of consumers to help keep a brand top of mind, strengthening brand awareness. It also provides valuable information about a brand and products that can increase engagement and eventually sales. Content marketing also allows businesses to showcase their industry knowledge and expertise, reaffirming their brand as the top choice, by increasing credibility and trust.
How to Develop Good Content
We have talked a little bit about the forms of content, but how do you develop good content? The first step is to identify your target audience. This will also help to develop your audience persona. What age is your audience, and what are their interests? When developing good content, keep in mind your brand's story and how that ties in. Think about your mission and key values.
Another piece of the puzzle is making sure the content is relevant and evokes some emotion from the audience. What do you want them to feel? Emotion will incite more action and make a relevant connection for your audience.
To break this down more, think about the 5 C’s of creating content: The first reason one might consider a community-based marketing strategy is simple: traditional marketing doesn’t work like it used to. Today, we are bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information every day. It’s coming at us through our cell phones, our laptops, and pretty much everywhere we look. With this increased information density, also comes increased competition. With social ads becoming more and more accessible, it’s easier than ever to advertise. Meaning, more brands are doing it! If you want your brand to stand apart from the crowd, you need to go above and beyond traditional marketing tactics. This is especially the case if you’re just starting out and don’t have the luxury of brand recognition.
1. Clarity is exactly what it sounds like. Make sure the content is as clear and understandable as possible. Avoid confusing language and be specific.
2 . Consciousness is keeping your content to the point and avoiding long headlines.
3. The third C is Compelling. This may be one of the harder C’s. Coming up with interesting content that your audience will want to engage with will take some creativity and storytelling. Refer back to your messaging framework to understand the key points you want to say.
4. Credibility is one of the most important. The information that is being shared must be correct and true. This is the information that your audience will trust.
5. Lastly, the Call to Action is where everything ties together. The call to action is where the purpose of your content will come into play. Think about the end goal and where the audience should land to further move down the sales funnel.
Content Marketing Strategy Step-by-Step
As mentioned above, content marketing is a strategy, but how should this be executed?
1. Identify the target audience
Who should be targeted? Think about leads and new or existing customers. Try to get into the mindset of the reader or viewer and imagine what information they want to receive. Go back to your audience profiles and look at where they spend their time, and what medium they engage with. What do they care about most? What doesn’t matter to them?
2. What purchase stage are they in?
Are they new prospects just starting their buying journey and therefore at the top of the funnel? Or are they well-informed about your brand and almost ready to purchase and therefore towards the bottom of the funnel? Will the purchase be a complex one that takes time and research, such as buying a car, or something more simple, like what kind of cereal will you put on your grocery list?
3. Select format
What format is best to distribute this type of content? Is it a newsletter, a social media post, or a video? Think about the channels most likely to be viewed by your target audience and the call to action. Is the format making it easy for leads to move further down the sales funnel?
4. Select a channel
Once a format has been selected, then decide where it will “live”. Will your social media post be on Instagram, will your video live on YouTube or your website? Is the content best sent as an email or SMS? Will your content be the next TikTok trend? In many cases, the content can live on multiple channels, adapted accordingly to suit the particulars of that channel.
5. Select the frequency of deployment
What frequency of deployment feels organic without bombarding the viewer with information? Make sure the deployment schedule can be sustained and is consistent.
Customer Sales Cycle
It is important to understand the consumer purchase funnel and its stages. The top of the funnel is the first eye a customer will have on a brand. The content purpose should be to drive brand awareness and provide education. This content could answer any questions a customer may have about a product or service. It could also highlight any pain points they may be currently experiencing, or any gaps that exist in the market, and position your product as the solution. This content could be best explained in the form of videos, social media posts, and sharing articles.
Mid-funnel is the consideration phase, where customers will develop an opinion about a brand. The purpose of content in this stage could be to provide relationship-building content to establish trust. This can be achieved by providing how-to content in the form of a list or video, checklists, newsletters and case studies.
At the bottom of the funnel is the conversion and sale stage. This is where the product should shine through. The goal should be to really capture feature and benefit details to help give the final push towards a purchase. At this stage sharing pricing, offering a way to test the product and creating a sense of urgency will all help to drive conversion. A good form of this content would be product videos, price lists, case studies, testimonials and personalized emails.
After purchase, there should be a focus on loyalty and retention. This could mean providing supporting information on how to use the new product, FAQs, informing customers of new products or services available, and eventually any deals or offers on complimentary products. It is also an opportunity for reviews and referrals. This can be delivered in the form of emails, SMS notifications and YouTube videos.
Depending on the type of business and the product or service being sold, the funnel may have additional stages depending on factors such as if it is a high or low-involvement purchase.
Best Practices in Today's World
As with anything marketing and strategy, we can learn from best practices. For content marketing, the main one to consider is search engine optimization (SEO). Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand. This includes keywords, search volume and interest. Including internal links and external links where it makes sense, meta descriptions, alt tags, headers and quality content are all important. Consistency and a regular deployment schedule are also crucial in sustaining a successful content marketing strategy and SEO.
Another best practice is to establish and review benchmarks and metrics. This will help provide better quality content and see what's working and what can be improved. Reviewing benchmarks is closely related to completing a content audit. While reviewing past and current content, think about repurposing and refreshing any outdated and underperforming content.
When it comes to sending content, another important best practice is to consider brand guidelines when building content or developing them if they don’t already exist. This will aid in ensuring all information is consistent with the brand and avoids any discrepancies that could occur.
Lastly, consider the opportunity to synergize between departments. This means utilizing the knowledge and expertise of different departments and leveraging it in content. An example of this can be found in the work we do with Mazda Canada. Within their monthly newsletter, in addition to information on the brand and Mazda vehicles, we often include a service message, and news from other Mazda offices around the world or from customer relations. This helps shed some light on the brand as a whole, while also providing some valuable content and building loyalty.
And That’s a Wrap!
Content marketing when executed properly can increase brand awareness, increase engagement and sales, build brand loyalty and demonstrate expertise. Strategically selecting the correct format and channel while considering the sales funnel and the information your leads would benefit from most, are all important in creating a successful strategy. Every product and sales funnel is different, so not all should be treated equally. If you would like to chat more with us about your brand specifically, we would love to connect!
Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing
https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-marketing-strategy-guide/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/create-content-converts-5-cs-marketing-wiredus-media-pvt-ltd/