With a staggering 72% of marketers recognizing content creation as a top-notch SEO tactic, it's crystal clear that a solid content marketing plan is the cornerstone of any thriving digital content strategy.
Around the globe, digital marketers invest wholeheartedly in content marketing plans to secure more leads, cultivate a robust online reputation with customers and search engines alike, and secure a coveted spot among industry thought leaders.
The Potential of Content Marketing for SEO
For marketers stepping into the world of digital content marketing, the question arises: What does content marketing include? Before we delve into the diverse content marketing types, let's first establish a firm foundation by defining content marketing.
What exactly is Content Marketing?
As eloquently defined by the Content Marketing Institute:
“...a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience - and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Simply put, share great content that resonates with your target audience. No cold-calls, no intrusive sales pitches. Content marketing is about building your brand's reputation, attracting foot traffic, and addressing your consumers' most pressing challenges while educating them about industry-specific matters. Oh, and sprinkling in a touch of entertainment along the way.
In today's dynamic digital realm, content marketing stands tall as a crucial pillar of any successful marketing team's core strategy.
Exploring the Diversity of Content Marketing
Content marketing is vast. Whilst the sheer size may be daunting to the uninitiated there is also opportunity. Lots of opportunity. There's a multitude of ways for marketers to formulate strategies and create marketing assets. Nevertheless, these diverse content marketing strategies often fit into five essential buckets:
Written Content:
Think blogs, landing pages, email campaigns, whitepapers, case studies, FAQs, how-to guides, press releases, infographics, custom designs, CTAs, and GIFs.
Video:
Captivating animations, compelling customer testimonials, engaging webinars, site-based videos, event coverage, virtual reality experiences, and captivating vlogs.
Social:
Take advantage of popular social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, leveraging social posts and paid ads, hashtags, contests, user-generated content, customer reviews, testimonials, and sponsored content.
Audio:
Explore the world of audio with captivating podcasts, resonating radio ads, and enlightening interviews.
Link Building:
Building backlinks from other online entities, driving traffic from their platforms to yours. A testament to your valuable, reliable content that others will eagerly share with their audiences.
Key Content Marketing Channels
To share your content effectively with your target audience, you need to ensure you on using the right channels, those where your target audience are. The top five content marketing channels are as follows:
Organic Search:
Allowing your content to gather organic traffic, reaching users without spending a dime. Search engines index your website's content, determining its relevance for users' search queries.
Paid Search:
Investing resources to showcase your content prominently in search results or ad spaces on various websites.
Social Sharing Platforms:
Harness the power of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where consumers eagerly digest content.
Emails:
The original inbound digital marketing initiative. Distribute your content via email to an audience that has already shown interest by signing up for your emails.
Link Building:
Other online entities linking to your content, directing traffic from their platforms to yours. The value of your content drives this sharing phenomenon.
Content Marketing Examples
In our experience, many marketing teams are just dipping their toes into modern content marketing strategies. They might have a blog and even put together a formalized campaign with downloadable whitepapers. Yet, a robust content marketing plan goes even deeper. It involves a comprehensive mix of written content, videos, social sharing strategies, and various assets that work together harmoniously.
Content marketing plans should transcend written content alone. Consider tapping into internal talent and local agencies to develop captivating videos, graphics, customer testimonials, and even sponsored user-generated content.
Crafting the Perfect Content Marketing Plan
Before you commence on your content marketing journey, start by identifying your marketing goals and defining your target audience. For broader demographics, a well-rounded assortment of content can resonate with the masses. Try and understand how your audience prefers to consume content, where they spend their time, and how they interact. Armed with this crucial information, you can develop impactful content marketing plans that prove your efforts and budget are a resounding success.
