Guide to Content Marketing
Quiz
What is content marketing? Well, do you know who Barbie is?
Yes, she is a popular doll. But she is also one of the greatest examples of content marketing of all time.
That's right. Content marketing isn't just blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. At its heart, content marketing is about storytelling—and humans have been telling stories for as long as they could speak.
So when Mattel partnered with various media outlets to launch their Barbie franchise in 1959, their main marketing strategy was to create a compelling narrative around their dolls.
And it worked wonders. Within a short period of time, Barbie became a cultural icon and a beloved toy for children worldwide. With the help of TV shows, movies, books, and other media tie-ins, Barbie's story captured the imagination of millions of kids.
How's that for using content to market a product?
A lot has changed since then, and what worked in the past won't necessarily work today. However, with new marketing channels like social media popping up almost daily, there are endless opportunities to engage with audiences and continue the legacy of successful content marketing.
So what exactly is content marketing?
Answer: Content marketing is a marketing strategy that aims to attract targeted audiences by creating various forms of content. Its purpose is to answer their questions, address their pain points, and ultimately drive more traffic and conversions.
A longer definition of content marketing
Content marketing is a long-term strategy that focuses on building strong relationships with your target audience by consistently delivering high-quality, relevant content that educates and, ultimately, sells.
It is not a hard sell, though. Your content should generate so much value that when a prospective customer chooses to make a purchase, you are the first person they think of and the authority they trust most.
In contrast to one-off advertising, content marketing shows that you actually care about your customers. That is key to the strategy’s success. Today, more than ever before, people want to feel like they matter. The world is louder and noisier now, and retaining consumers’ attention and trust is a marketer’s most valuable resource.
Content marketing is also different from copywriting. Copywriting is focused on conversions primarily, while content marketing is focused on building an audience. It doesn’t have to be a case of copywriting vs. content marketing, though. You can use both to create content that educates and sells.
If you are new to the field and want some more baseline information, check out my beginner’s guide to content marketing. If you are looking for some more comprehensive insight, read on.
What does content marketing mean?
While many people associate content marketing with blog posts and eBooks, it encompasses a wide range of content types. Content marketing includes not only online writing but also social media posts, images, videos, infographics, and more.
What are some examples of content marketing?
Examples of content marketing vary and can include a blog, a branded YouTube channel, an eBook, or even an email newsletter. The Neil Patel blog serves as an example of content marketing, as it raises awareness for Neil Patel's digital marketing agency and his online marketing tool, Ubersuggest. A branded YouTube channel and newsletters like Morning Brew are also instances of content marketing.
What types of content marketing exist?
Content marketing encompasses numerous types. Some popular forms include eBooks, blog posts, articles, white papers, social media content, paid advertisements, billboards, and more. The possibilities are extensive and diverse.
Why is content marketing important?
Now that we know what content marketing is, let’s explore its value and importance today.
In some ways, content marketing is the complete customer acquisition channel. It builds and drives traffic down the freeway of your website, it also builds trust, establishes your authority, and generates revenue for your company.
Content marketing builds strong relationships by delivering quality content that educates and sells. No hard sell here! Your content adds value, making you the go-to authority in customers' minds. Which is always what we should be aiming for.
It's about caring about your clients and customers, not one-off ads that seem sharp and sleek. People want to matter, so grab attention and build trust with them with content marketing.
Sure, pay-per-click (PPC) ads can bring traffic and revenue to your business. Social media can be used as a way to give your brand a sense of authority. But only content marketing helps you achieve a host of marketing goals without coming across as salesy and gimmicky.
Content marketing is so important—and works so well—because it captures people throughout the sales funnel. Which is important! Content marketing differs from copywriting, which focuses on conversions. You can build an audience with content marketing. To be clear, it's not copywriting vs. content marketing. Nope, you can use both to educate and sell effectively.
You can use content marketing to attract users at the very top of the funnel, before they are even entertaining the idea of a purchase.
In many cases, a good, effective piece of content will cement your relationship with the customer, before they start buying from you. Your content is going to stay with them every step of their beautiful customer journey.
That’s all good, but is your content generating revenue? Fact: the yearly return on investment (ROI) for a successful content marketing campaign is around $984,000.
This is why 82% of marketers are still actively creating and putting their money into content marketing. And it’s why you should, too.
Even though the various methods for content marketing have shifted over the years, the formula for great content has reamined the same.
This is the age-old formula for getting people to purchase your products.
Agitate and activate that pain.
Solve the problem that their pain point creates.
What makes a successful content marketing strategy?
A successful content marketing strategy has a damn clear goal and a focused target audience in mind.
Here’s why: If your content doesn’t talk to the right people (with the problem that your company solves), then you will most likely end up wasting your efforts and time.
Number one, please do start clarifying what you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts. Do you want to raise your brand awareness, or access email addresses, or make your conversion rates higher?
Next, clarify who exactly you need to target. Are you talking to marketers and entrepreneurs who have online companies and need to increase traffic to their websites? Or to small business owners? Or stakeholders?
Finally, write a clear plan about how you will achieve your goal.
If you want to increase email subscribers, for instance, your content plan may be to create an eBook, write a landing page for the eBook, and then create a series of blog posts and emails that drive traffic to that landing page. Your plan should highlight who will create each piece of content, when it will be written, and where it will be posted.
What are the stages of the content marketing purchasing funnel?
The content marketing purchasing funnel consists of four main stages: awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty.
In the awareness stage, content is created to attract the attention of potential customers, making them aware of a brand, product, or service. This content focuses on educating and engaging the audience.
The consideration stage involves providing in-depth information, case studies, comparisons, and testimonials to help prospects evaluate the offering and its benefits. The goal is to encourage them to consider making a purchase.
The conversion stage aims to convert interested prospects into paying customers. Content at this stage includes compelling calls to action, offers, discounts, and incentives to prompt the desired action.
Lastly, the loyalty stage focuses on retaining and nurturing existing customers. Content here may involve loyalty programs, exclusive content, personalized communications, and ongoing support to foster long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Content marketing leverages these stages to guide customers through their buying journey, from initial awareness to becoming loyal advocates for a brand or product.
Content marketing types
Offline and Online Examples
Content marketing encompasses various forms beyond blog posts. Here, we will explore different offline, online, and hybrid examples.
Offline content marketing, while less popular nowadays, still provides inspiration. One instance is Netflix, a prominent streaming service and leader in offline content marketing. They transform shows into interactive experiences through billboards, murals, and immersive installations. For their hit show "Money Heist," Netflix created such experiences, allowing people to become part of the heist. Furthermore, Netflix effectively advertises its original shows through outdoor banners and ambient marketing, strategically placing ads in unexpected yet unobtrusive locations. Crucially, their offline advertising strategy harmonizes with their online content marketing efforts, forming a cohesive multi-channel approach.
Another case is Hasbro, faced with a challenge when promoting its G.I. Joe comic book series. Toy commercials were restricted to showcasing the toys for only 10 seconds of animation, not conveying their full capabilities. Hasbro ingeniously tackled this obstacle by focusing solely on the story, eliminating the toys and promoting the comic book series instead. By bending the rules, they aired a TV commercial that uniquely promoted comics, featuring 30 seconds of fully animated content. The original commercial even found its way to YouTube.
As explained, content marketing doesn’t just take the form of blog posts. There are several offline, online, and hybrid content marketing types I’ll explore below.
Online content marketing
Right, so offline translates to online eventually, but hasn’t content marketing always been all about the web from the beginning?
Sure has.
Brands are big big big into it, and some do a pretty good job. Which is why we are now going to look at some of the best examples of content marketing that started online.
Online Example #1: Lead Magnets
Even if you’re relatively new to marketing, I’m sure you’re familiar with the term “lead magnet.” If you’re not, it basically means creating an irresistible piece of content your target market can’t wait to trade their email address for. It usually takes the form of an eBook, cheat sheet, or white paper.
Once brands have a user’s email address, they can send emails to nurture the relationship and, ultimately, turn that consumer into a buyer.
There are numerous examples of lead magnets I could cite here, but I’ll go with the online marketing tool WordStream.
The site offers dozens of free resources that help users overcome major pain points like getting the most out of Google Ads, finding better keywords, and increasing conversion rates. All users need to do is fill in a short form to download them.
What WordStream does particularly well is integrating these lead magnets into blog posts. For instance, if I’m reading an article about subject lines, WordStream serves up an email-related gated asset at the end.
Online Example #2: Podcasts
Podcasting has become a lucrative venture for individuals such as Tim Ferriss and Joe Rogan, who have successfully transformed it into full-fledged businesses. However, many other brands leverage podcasts as an exceptional content marketing tool, eliminating the need for traditional written content creation.
Take Shopify Masters, for instance. Shopify doesn’t need a podcast to boost profits, but it uses podcasting for brand awareness, by encouraging would-be entrepreneurs to create and master their own stores.
Online Example #3: Guides and eBooks
Free guides and eBooks have emerged as a powerful strategy for businesses to provide customers with a preview of their products or services prior to making a purchase. By offering these resources at no cost, companies can effectively capture the attention and interest of potential customers, while simultaneously establishing themselves as knowledgeable authorities in their respective industries.
The primary benefit of utilizing free guides and eBooks lies in their ability to offer a sneak peek into the value and expertise a business can deliver. These resources provide valuable insights, tips, and information related to the industry or niche in which the business operates. By sharing such content, companies showcase their depth of knowledge and expertise, positioning themselves as trusted sources of information.
By granting customers access to valuable information through free guides and eBooks, businesses are able to establish a sense of authority. When customers perceive a company as highly knowledgeable and informed, they are more likely to trust its products or services. This increased trust translates into greater credibility and confidence in the business, which can ultimately lead to an increase in customer acquisition and loyalty.
Furthermore, free guides and eBooks serve as powerful tools for showcasing a business's unique selling points. These resources allow companies to highlight the distinctive features, benefits, and advantages of their products or services. By emphasizing what sets them apart from competitors, businesses can effectively differentiate themselves and demonstrate their value proposition to potential customers.
In addition to building authority and highlighting unique selling points, free guides and eBooks enable businesses to engage with their target audience on a deeper level. By offering valuable content, companies create an opportunity for meaningful interaction and ongoing communication with customers. This can be achieved through capturing customer email addresses in exchange for the free resource, allowing for future marketing efforts and personalized follow-ups.
Ultimately, free guides and eBooks play a pivotal role in content marketing by providing businesses with a powerful tool to attract, engage, and convert potential customers. By offering valuable insights, building authority, and showcasing unique selling points, companies can establish a strong foundation of trust and credibility, setting themselves apart from competitors in the minds of their target audience
Customer support platform Intercom uses free guides on just about every aspect of online customer service you can imagine.
These are seriously in-depth guides that weave together expert advice with the company’s product to create something that educates and sells. Just reading one is enough to prove that you can trust Intercom to help you improve online customer service.
Content Mapping Based on the Customer Journey
Content mapping is the act of understanding your audience so well that you can then create content for each stage of their journey toward buying your product.
Few people go straight from discovery to buying. Instead, they usually discover your website and product, spend a few months thinking, see a retargeting ad, and then buy.
Or something similar to that.
What’s great about content marketing is that you can use it to target every stage of the customer journey: attracting, engaging, delighting, and gently nurturing them until they become a buyer, and hopefully, a loyal customer.
If you get it right, these loyal customers then become evangelists for your brand, spreading the word about your product/services among friends/family, social media, and other formats.
But you can’t use the same type of content for each state of the buyer journey. As I explain below, each stage requires a different kind of content marketing.
Awareness stage for content marketing
The first stage of a buyer’s journey is awareness.
They aren’t necessarily ready to buy yet or even ready to opt in to your email list or newsletter. But that doesn’t mean you can’t offer value by creating content around broad topics and solving their problems.
Why is that valuable to your business? Because by creating content that solves people’s problems, you help them to discover and trust your brand. And then in the future, when they are ready to buy, you’ll be one of the first people they think of.
For example, I searched for “How to write a blog post” on Google. This is what came up.
Which result would you click on? That’s right: the big Google snippet from Wix.
If you want to be successful at creating content for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, then pay attention to the most important content marketing metrics. These include measuring:
Users, page views, and unique views to understand brand awareness
Click-through rates, bounce rates, social shares, comments, social mentions, time on site, and inbound links, to analyze engagement
Page and domain authority for SEO
Click-through rates and conversions, to see conversions
Demo requests, sales conversion rate, and sales cycle length, for understanding sales enablement metrics.
Blog content isn’t the only medium you can use for top-of-funnel content marketing.
Social media content is another great way to build brand awareness.
Since most people access their accounts every day or every week, the chances of people seeing your posts skyrocket. That’s true even if you only post three or four times a week.
It’s exactly why massive retail brands like Dove use the platform to spread brand awareness and engage their audience.
Just remember that people don’t go onto social media platforms because they want to see your posts and buy your products (unless we’re talking about Pinterest).
For that reason, don’t be too salesy.
Ideally, you want to spread your brand message and strengthen your brand identity by being helpful and entertaining.
Consideration stage for content marketing
Consumers don’t buy from brands the moment they learn about them. It can take weeks, months, or even years for consumers to move through the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey.
The good news is you can speed this up with content marketing.
Ask any great salesperson and they’ll tell you this: People are far more likely to buy when you guide them through the process.
However, you can’t, or rather shouldn’t, use the same brand awareness tactics during the consideration phase.
In particular, pay special attention to newsletter sign-ups, number of returning visitors, form submissions, and resource downloads.
Basically, you’re trying to gauge the interest of your current prospects.
To do that, though, you first must create content to continue attracting people who are interested in your products.
Content like eBooks, for instance, does a remarkable job of building trust during the consideration phase. Why does an eBook do such a fantastic job at this stage?
Well, before people buy from you, they must trust you. As a consumer, you understand that yourself. You wouldn’t buy from a brand you haven’t heard of, would you? Nor would you buy from a company if it had a reputation for delivering shoddy goods or poor customer service.
Customer trust is imperative to every business, and research supports this. For example, a study from Adobe shows 70 percent of those surveyed buy more from brands they trust than ones they don’t.
It’s clear: Trust spurs spending, and consumer trust is all important, especially with e-commerce dominating retail, meaning many buyers never get to interact personally with sellers.
To gain trust, your prospect must become familiar with your stance on certain topics, your brand image, and even the tone of your business’s voice.
Only then can someone decide whether they trust you or not.
That’s why an eBook gives people something to latch onto. They can read about your stance on certain topics, grasp your tone of voice, and how you present information.
Is the information reputable, for instance? If it is, then people can also believe that your business is trustworthy.
If it’s not, then they attribute that same carelessness to your business.
A newsletter is also a great way to generate trust during the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey.
A consistent newsletter creates a sort of ongoing conversation with your prospects.
They might not be ready to buy yet, but if they sign up for your email list, then they are likely considering it.
If you can stay in contact with prospects during the consideration phase, then you have a far better chance of converting those people.
A newsletter does that with finesse.
Different entrepreneurs and businesspeople use newsletters to stay in constant contact with their prospects.
That way, their business is top of mind when the person is ready to buy.
Of course, SEO also works for the consideration phase, but it’s a different kind of SEO.
Long-tail keywords, in particular, focus on people who are in the consideration phase more than their shorter counterparts.
Think about it.
If you’re really interested in a product from a business, then you’ll search for something like “buy shoes from Adidas” rather than “shoes for sale.”
Plus, those long-tail keywords are less competitive, so you have a higher chance of ranking for them.
To recap for the consideration phase, focus on long-tail SEO keywords, newsletters, and eBooks.
You could also use blog posts, infographics, case studies, or even videos.
With those, you can guide people through the consideration phase rather than leaving them to their own devices.
In the end, you want to create content that builds trust and builds the prospect’s relationship with your business without being too salesy.
At least, that’s your approach until those people reach the decision stage of the buying process.
More Content Marketing Tips and Tricks
Let’s end this exploration with a dozen or so marketing tips and tricks.
Use Analytics
The first tip I have for you is to always pay attention to your analytics; they tell you what’s working and what isn’t, so you can tweak your strategy and optimize results.
If you don’t know how your current content is performing, then you won’t be able to prevent blunders and iterate what’s working well.
Google Analytics will give you all of the necessary information.
Use A/B Testing
Once you know how all of your content is performing, run tests. A/B testing is a way to test two pieces of content that are identical except for one factor. Maybe it’s the copy. Maybe it’s the CTA. Maybe it’s the title.
Whatever the case, A/B testing removes all factors except for what you want to examine, giving your test far more accurate results. It’s also a great way to gather the information you need to iterate your current content marketing strategy.
A/B testing is particularly powerful at increasing the conversion rate of your copy. A study by AdPushUp showed conversion rates typically range from 1 to 3 percent. A/B split testing helps you drive that rate up, and even a single additional percentage point in your conversion rate can be significant.
Whether you’re on a team of B2B marketers or you’re a small business owner, running A/B split tests is crucial to know for certain which headlines, calls-to-action, and types of content work best for your readers. Once you know what strategies work, your work becomes much more effective and your overall content marketing strategy much clearer.
A/B split testing can send more targeted buyers to your product pages, as well. For example, Lyyti.com, an online event management software company, ran a split test on its product pages. They set up a product page variation and tested it against the control.
At the end of the testing, the variation page performed better. It clearly showed the features offered in each plan, while the original design wasn’t quite clear enough. Implementing the results of this test increased visits to their “Free Trial” sign-up page by 93.71 percent.
Organize Your Content Schedule
An editorial calendar helps make your content marketing strategy less stressful and more rewarding. Unfortunately, most people never take the time to craft a plan for creating content, marketing it, and tracking its effectiveness.
The importance of an editorial calendar can’t be overemphasized. You need to develop yours as quickly as possible and use software to guide your process:
The three steps you need to take to make your editorial calendar effective are:
Know your audience and the content type they’re interested in.
Research your topic thoroughly.
Create content and measure its effectiveness.
Remember to keep a steady flow of content going out. That’s the way to generate more leads and indexed pages and improve organic traffic.
Build More Targeted Landing Pages
Mailshake, a comprehensive email outreach platform, had success with this, repackaging its cold email masterclass into an eight-part email series. This allowed them to create targeted landing pages and offer user-specific content that matched their place in the customer journey.
In under a year, Mailshake acquired 5,321 email opt-ins for its masterclass.
Or, take a look at Copyblogger Media. Copyblogger has dozens of landing pages, each aimed at a keyword that the target audience is passionate about. That’s a lesson for you when developing a sound content marketing strategy: When creating more landing pages, think strategically about keywords and build your content around the right ones.
The easiest way to start creating high-quality landing pages is to use templates.
There are plenty to choose from, but you can use Unbounce and Instapage. Both are paid platforms, but they’re a great way to create effective landing pages quickly.
Implement Adaptive Content
Millennials and Gen Z now make up a huge segment of the U.S. population.
There’s a good chance these groups make up a large chunk of your target audience. If so, your content should speak to their needs and values.
Both of these groups grew up with technology as a big part of their lives, so they have high expectations for how businesses use technology. They also value experience above almost anything else, and this plays right into what content marketing is all about.
While both groups have similarities, you need to target each of them in a slightly different way.
Adaptive content is one way to go. Adaptive content is simply the content that supports meaningful interactions across different platforms. Think of it like water—whatever you pour it into, it takes the shape of that container.
For example, you might use their name at the top of a booking site or suggest content based on their past interactions with your brand.
Your readers should be able to access your content on a desktop computer, then continue where they left off using their smartphone or complete their purchases through your mobile app, with absolutely no hassles at all.
Consider the Hedgehog Model
A hedgehog is a small mammal with stiff spines and a small, pointed snout. What does a small mammal have to do with content creation and your marketing strategy? (There’s a point, I promise!)
The hedgehog concept is based on an old parable about a hedgehog and a fox. The fox knows lots of things—he’s constantly trying new ways to beat the hedgehog. The hedgehog, however, stays focused on one big idea.
What does this mean for your content strategy?
It simply means you should start where you are and stay focused. Why worry about the fact your blog isn’t generating 1,000 monthly visits yet? Instead, create content consistently and use a content marketing strategy to reach your goals.
Instead of obsessing over reaching 1,000 monthly visitors, for example, focus on 100 each month. Just make sure that your goal is realistic and measurable.
If you’re able to hit that smaller goal, the hedgehog model says to treat them well and deliver great content they’ll share with their friends across their social media channels.
Apply the same technique to your email list. Focus on getting three to five subscribers every single day, instead of your first 100 subscribers. By the end of the month, you’ll have 90 to 150 email subscribers.
Invest In Topic Training Modules
Thanks to online learning platforms like Udemy and LinkedIn Learning, you can become a subject matter expert in a matter of hours. There’s no longer any need to waste tons of time researching your topic because someone with better training, resources, and time has done all that for you.
So, let’s say you want to create an in-depth article about link building. Here’s how to research your topic using Udemy:
Step #1: Go to Udemy.com. Type your main keyword (e.g., link building SEO) into the search box. Hit the enter button on your keyboard.
Step #2: Analyze the courses. From the top results, choose one that suits your keyword, then click on it to see the modules.
Step #3: Extract ideas from the module. You can find the module for that particular topic when you scroll down.
Note: Most courses at Udemy will typically cost you between $15 and $199, although there are free courses available. If you have the budget for it, you can buy the course. Here, however, we’re just looking for ideas to organize your blog post from module titles, so there’s no need to sign up for the course itself.
From the highlighted module above, I can create five unique and high-converting headlines for my next blog post.
11 Traffic-Generating Links and Where To Get Them
How to Use Broken Link Building to Create Links Google Will Love
Traffic-Generating Links: Where to Get Them and Improve Search Traffic
How to Get Traffic-Generating Links with Help from Your Competitors
The Best Way to Develop a Traffic-Generating Link Building Strategy
Spending just 10 to 20 minutes each week studying Udemy course modules will give you lots of ideas to write about and expand your analytical skills and give you a more thorough understanding of your industry and your target audience.
Overall, it’ll enhance your content marketing strategy and inform your content creation.
Just remember, the goal is inspiration. Don’t copy other people’s work.
Build Engagement Onto Your Own Space
Social media is one of the best ways to reach your audience today. If you’re not marketing yourself on social media, you could be missing out on a huge portion of your audience.
It’s not just about building out your profiles and engaging people through the platform, though; it’s also about what action you want followers to take. One of your goals with social media should always be to bring people to your own space.
You have more control over your blog and email list than any social media profile or platform. No matter how successful you are on social, you don’t own that connection. Make sure you’re not abandoning your blog audience for social followers.
Grow your social media presence, but make sure you’re using it to bring people to a medium you control. From here, you can control the customer journey, build your email list and nurture your subscribers.
Repurpose Your Own Content to Get the Most Mileage Out of It
Blogging can help you reach more of your target audience, particularly if your blogs are frequently shared across social media channels. How do you get more referral traffic from your content, though?
You’ve got to think outside the box. Inbound marketing works, but you’ve got to diversify your efforts if you want to get outstanding results. The majority of your target audience hasn’t visited your blog yet. They are, however, on Slideshare,YouTube, and other content platforms.
You’ve got to be everywhere they are. Your content should make a mark online. If you’ve spent your precious time creating great content, don’t let it sit there in oblivion.
It’s time to embrace content repurposing.
This content marketing tactic helps you make the most of your content by using it in different formats.
For example, you could take an article, convert it into a PDF report, and offer it as an eBook. You could also create PowerPoint presentations and upload them to Slideshare or create an infographic out of a case study.
Be very careful to repurpose only your high-quality content that produced measurable results the first time around. Not every piece of content will work for this purpose.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article gives you a good idea of what content marketing is and what it takes to be a good content marketer.
Those who focus their energy on telling good stories, no matter the platform or context, are the real winners in today’s marketing world.
