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Are you a greenhorn in the world of content marketing? Here’s a a quick and dirty cheatsheet in GIFs

1. What is it even?

Do a Google search and you’ll find various definitions of content marketing. If defining content marketing is in itself such a challenge, imagine convincing your boss or client to sign-off on your content marketing budget. To keep it simple, let’s use this definition:

“Content isn’t ‘stuff we write to rank higher’ or ‘infographics’ or ‘long-form articles.’ Content is anything that communicates a message to the audience. Anything.” Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent Inc.

Just like traditional marketing (TV spots, print ads, billboards, etcetera), the message aims to elicit a response from the audience–from brand awareness, customer acquisition, a sale, and further down the funnel, repeat business.

Now, unlike traditional marketing, content marketing uses the Internet as its primary medium which means almost anybody can start creating and distributing digital content. And hey, some make millions off it too.

2. OK, so how do I even?

Well, it depends. Here’s a caveat: there’s a massive industry of experts, software, and services behind digital content creation, distribution, analytics and monetisation–and we’re just skimming the surface here.

Start by looking at your product or service, then ask, “who is my audience” and “where are they”? Once you find your audience, study their behavior–what kind of content are they consuming? How can you contribute meaningful content to the conversation?

Also Read: 10 trends that will shape up the future of mobile ads and marketing

I once saw a sponsored Instagram post from a server rack provider advertising their promotional rates and I could only wonder why. Not saying Instagram is off limits to B2B products but transactional messaging in this particular channel may not get you the best audience response.

3. To spend or not to spend?

“There’s no free lunch”, so the saying goes. You might think publishing a self-made video or posting a blog post is ‘free’, but consider your monthly internet subscription or the time you spent producing the content.

Also Read: 4 key mobile metrics for next-level marketing

Understanding that there will always be a cost is important because it also helps define your goals and set KPIs–in other words, determining the ROI. Also bear in mind that content marketing has both tangible and intangible returns. With engaging content, your SEO might improve, drawing in new traffic but it won’t necessarily guarantee conversions. You may need a different content marketing strategy to drive those leads into paying customers altogether.

Assuming your ‘owned’ channels don’t have considerable audience yet, you can also consider pushing your content onto more established platforms where your potential audience or customers might already be engaged.

4. Take the plunge

Once you’ve done your research and planning, there’s no better way to validate and get results than just executing it. Publish that resource article, share an interesting infographic, take part in discussions and most importantly, pay close attention to the data.

What content or source is bringing in the most traffic? The least traffic? What does your audience do, if any, when they finally reach your landing page? Are you getting any interaction or sign-ups? How are your competitors faring? Tools such as Google Analytics, Buffer and BuzzSumo can help you here.

5. Rinse and repeat

Content marketing is by no means a one-size-fits-all solution. Far from it. Similar to traditional marketing, there will be successful and not-so-successful campaigns. You just have to keep going (aided by data, and I can’t stress that enough: aided by data!).

Also Read: Content Marketing for Dummies with Mariel Argonza

If it’s working, improve, if it isn’t, understand why and improve further. Whatever it is, you’ll discover content marketing is one of the most fun and rewarding ways to find, engage and retain your customers and can do wonders for your brand.

How’s your experience with content marketing so far? If you’re just starting out, feel free to write to us or leave a message in the comments below. 🙂
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