A strong content marketing strategy is essential for any company’s digital marketing efforts. It not only attracts new visitors to the website but also helps build links and credibility. Additionally, it converts visitors into paying customers and drives consistent, organic growth.
Game-changing content marketing entails comprehending the correlation between content needs and business goals. It’s about identifying valuable content that people would appreciate and be eager to share – and then systematically magnifying your content marketing reach through a well-strategized distribution plan.
Content Creation vs. Content Marketing
Crafting high-quality content, content creation, and effectively promoting it, content marketing, are two distinct endeavors. Simply creating content is just the first step. Once the content is ready, executing a well-thought-out content distribution plan is crucial. Without a distribution plan, even the most remarkable content can easily be lost amidst the vast sea of online content.
Keys to Content Success
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- Content Stickiness
- Content Opportunity
- Content Distribution
- Content Success Measurement
- Creates a Business Impact
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Your content should captivate your audience instantaneously, providing tangible value they are actively seeking. It should ideally be niche enough to
avoid competing with high-authority pieces on the same topic. Your content should be easy to find and measurable, meaning you should understand how you will prove its value. Most importantly, your content must create the right impact for your business. A great piece of content that doesn’t serve a business objective isn’t worth the time it took to create it.
Types of Content Marketing
There are two types of content marketing campaigns that marketers may create;
1) Tactical Content Campaigns – Content aimed at a specific purpose
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- Link Building
- Conversions – Uses a CTA to drive people to the next step in the funnel
- Authority, Credibility & Trust Building
- Brand Building
- Audience Building
2) Holistic Viral Content Campaigns
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- Comprehensive campaigns aimed at driving substantial viral success
- Campaigns are themed and span multiple channels that work in harmony
- Campaigns usually involve the entire company when it comes to messaging
- Require some creative out of the box thinking
- Proof of concept is required before large-scale rollouts to keep costs down
Tactical Content Marketing
Tactical content enhances various marketing efforts needed to establish a strong online presence. It aids in activities like generating valuable backlinks, increasing brand awareness, driving conversions, and establishing credibility.
Holistic Viral Content Marketing
Holistic viral content marketing campaigns are large-scale initiatives designed for rapid growth. The campaigns combine channels and tactics into one strategy, complete with segments, distribution plans, KPIs, targets, and goals. If done correctly, these campaigns have a profound impact and stimulate rapid growth.
These campaigns are usually discovered by testing small ideas and then building on those that show promise. Below are examples of very successful campaigns that generated impressive growth for the companies.
WestJet Christmas Miracle
Before fully committing, West Jet decided to test out this idea on a smaller scale. The test proved to be successful, which ultimately led to the launch of their heartwarming and highly successful campaign.
The Purple Mattress Raw Egg Test
The Purple Mattress Raw Egg Test is another fantastic example of incredible holistic viral content marketing.
This campaign entertains and educates while at the same time implants the company’s UVP. Here’s The Raw Egg Test Case Study.
The Squatty Potty
Squatty Potty was another campaign that launched the company into the mainstream and is still bringing in revenue today. If you haven’t seen it, you might want to buy it after seeing it, it’s that good!
Here’s The Squatty Potty Case Study.
In Summary
Content marketing is often considered the forefront of digital marketing. To achieve success, it’s crucial to understand your business needs and establish goals for the content you create and promote. Your content marketing should be purposeful and measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that demonstrate its value.
It’s important to note that content creation is not the same as content marketing. Once you have your content, you’ll need to promote it to a defined audience that is interested in what you are providing. The key is to provide value to your audience. If you do this and make sure you are visible, you will achieve your content goals.