Did you know that adopters of content marketing see website conversion rates six times higher than non-adopters?
This is just one of many eye-opening stats illustrating the importance of content creation for any business. Content marketing shouldn’t be viewed as a task or expense. It is a long-term investment—one that has become almost a prerequisite in digital marketing. Even after just a few months of partnering with us, our clients quickly come to see that content is the fuel that drives their marketing efforts.
Content Means More Than Blogging
Many people immediately jump to blogging when they hear the word “content.” Understand that there is much more to content marketing than churn-and-burn blogs. In a balanced content strategy, you might find yourself creating any combination of the following:
- Long-form blog articles
- Short-form blog articles or “blurbs”
- Curated blog posts (putting your own spin on trending articles from other sources)
- Email newsletters
- Contests and promotions
- Press releases
- Organic social media posts
- Promoted social media ads
- Landing pages
- White papers
- Infographics
- Videos
- Tutorials and webinars
Not Just Any Content
Content now probably seems a little more inspiring than it did when you were picturing pure blogging, doesn’t it?
Let’s take a step back from that long list we gave and recognize the importance of strategy. Before you create any content at all, you need to understand your audience. What are their needs during the buying process? What types of content do they consume? You can even drill as far down to identifying what time of day they view content. Your marketing agency should lead these conversations and deliver a clear, well-informed strategy in the early phases of onboarding.
The Three Pillars of Content Marketing
For businesses that are new to all of this, Raindrop Marketing has developed a proven “quick start” package for content production:
- Blog content
- Email newsletter
- Social media
These are the cornerstones of content marketing for just about any small to mid-sized business in any industry. The larger undertakings, such as videos and whitepapers, are best left to a “Phase 2,” once your marketing engine is running.
The goal with this strategy is to first maximize your nearest opportunities and develop ongoing content habits. Publishing two strategy-backed, keyword-driven blog articles per month can provide the “fuel” we’re alluding to, because those pieces help to propel your SEO while also providing content for your email marketing and social media—all at once.
10x Content
Consumers’ insatiable craving for content has raised the bar higher than ever in terms of content quality. The content you produce needs to be helpful, diverse, relevant and—most importantly—engaging. Put simply, it needs to be the best of its class. We call this “10x” content, meaning it’s 10 times better than your competitors’ content.
Creating 10x content takes time and energy, which is why so many businesses call on us to strategize, create, refine, and manage their content. We’re hesitant to say that we handle all of this for you, because we believe in a collaborative process. Nevertheless, the goal is to minimize your time spent on content while maximizing the output you see. Learn more about our services here.
By: Adam Wagner