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However, because it is so popular these days, it is essential that the content is top quality

Content marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

About 20 years ago, the most effective way of reaching your customers was magazine advertisements, TV ads and radio jingles.

It helped businesses with huge budgets to generate insane amounts of leads. In the digital era, traditional marketing is not effective and it turns off the consumer.

Or, the consumer turns it off.

So, what’s the most efficient marketing vehicle for companies big and small now? It’s content marketing. Content marketing costs 50 per cent less than traditional marketing and it generates about three times as many leads.

The caveat, though, is that everyone around you is starting a blog and experimenting with content marketing. 51 per cent of B2B companies surveyed by Content Marketing Institute said that they plan to increase their content marketing budget in 2016.

Essentially, content marketing is a strategy whereby you create and publish information to build meaningful relationships with your audience. Content includes, among other things blogs , FAQ’s , videos ,white paper , and e-books.

Also Read: Straight from their mouth: five entrepreneurs give the good and bad of starting up in Vietnam

This content need not to advertisement of your products and services but a brief and meaningful information about  your company,  your products and services and how they are beneficial to consumers.

How it is useful to established business

For an established  business it is not a hard task to create an audience due to prevailing brand name and goodwill in market.

Moreover an established business can make maximum utilization of content marketing by providing informative content to audience it can add to its brand value.

Such business can use content marketing to creak awareness of their brand among the unaware audience though the means of current consumers who get to know about the brand and products in detail with clear picture.

For established business content marketing is way to add to its social value and moral duties of the company towards society.

Along with the advantages there are disadvantages as well. If represented poorly, content in an inappropriate  format or unfriendly user interface may produce a different perception of the company, which may hinder the brand value of the business.

Content Marketing for startups

When it comes to startups, content marketing is probably the most affordable and effective growth solution. It costs 25 to 40 per cent less than paid search and it can increase website conversions six fold.

Startups benefit from creating a viral trend or suspense before officially entering the market. This kind of ‘publicity through content’ creates a word of mouth and good content at regular intervals attracts the eyes of the market.

By using surveys, startups can define product range and help them build a consumer oriented business strategy from day one.

Also Read: 5 Filipino startups that showcase a different Philippines

For example, the money managing company Mint is a well-known financial institution. But in 2006, the company started with a online blog and managed to attract and audience before launching its official product.

Within a short period it had many bloggers and an exceptional following giving its main product — a financial management app — a real chance at success before it even existed. Today, Mint receives 8 million visits a year.

Not all startups will find the same success of Mint, but if they can replicate the model, day one will be a much easier adventure.

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Content Marketing: apinan / 123RF

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