Content marketing
Content marketing is about producing valuable content for a clearly defined target group. Learn more about what content marketing is, how it boosts business success, and how to do it.
What exactly is content marketing? There are two answers.
Traditional marketing methods are on the way out. You have to think fresh. What is content marketing? How do you do it, and why should you?
What exactly is content marketing? There are two answers.
A simple definition and a more in-depth definition
Simply put, it’s about building lasting customer relationships by publishing relevant content.
Going a little further, the Content Marketing Institute defines the term as follows: “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Content marketing is about creating useful quality content for your target audience.
Content marketing is certainly not new
Many cite John Deere, the American tractor manufacturer, as an early example. They launched the customer magazine The Furrow as early as 1895. In 1900 came the first Michelin guide: guide books awarding quality restaurants. Michelin produces tires and has nothing to do with restaurants. The point was to tell motorists about gourmet experiences along the road that would increase the need for cars, which in turn would increase the need for Michelin tires. A long-term – and effective – strategy, in other words.
What about the difference between content marketing and inbound marketing? The concepts often get overlapped.
Read on to discover what separates these two marketing areas and how to create a result-orientated content marketing strategy.
What’s the difference between content marketing and inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is not the same as a big advertising campaign. Inbound is about creating content that attracts customers. Inbound doesn’t aim to reach a broad audience in one go but rather create content that customers seek out on their initiative. In inbound marketing, the customer is already seeking you out.
Content marketing can be an essential part of inbound marketing and can also, like the Michelin example above, still hit relatively broadly.
How to do successful content marketing?
Strategy
First, you need to know who your target audience is. Who should you target? Once you know this, you need to set a goal for your content marketing. Decide what the content should be about and what the results should be.
What kind of content?
You also need to decide what types of content to produce. There are several different possibilities. You must both think about which channels the target group uses and which channels you have a strong presence on or can adopt. Below is a list of common content types.
- Website
- Articles
- Blog
- Social Media
- Podcast
- Video
- Webinar
- Events
Themes
A place to start is to write articles for your company’s website or blog. Blog posts provide a platform to write about something your target audience will find interesting or useful. The point isn’t to sell a service or a product but to offer solutions to problems through the content itself.
A company that deals with web development could, for example, write a series of tips. The company has the chance to showcase its expertise. What are the five most important trends in web development at the moment? What ten elements does a good website need?
You can also write about what it is like to run a business in your industry. Company content is a way for customers to get a sense of the real people behind your company, and they can get to know the company in new ways – leading to relationship-building. You will also get to know your customers better and see what kind of content they like.
Why content marketing?
So far, we have looked at “what is content marketing?” and “how do you do content marketing?”. What about why? There are several good reasons to do content marketing:
- Increased sales: The content allows customers to find your business.
- Lower costs: A blog is more cost-effective than large advertising campaigns.
- Better customer relations: The content is useful for your customers. You get to know them better, and they also get to know you better. This builds greater trust and loyalty.
Content marketing attract potential customers and keep existing customers. You help customers with problems rather than selling services and products – your customers get quality content, which builds a better relationship.
Some examples of content marketing done right
Do you need inspiration for your content marketing strategy? Or are you still unsure if content marketing would work for your business? Here are some examples of the best content marketing strategies and campaigns.
Spotify’s “Wrapped”: Content marketing at its finest
Every December since 2017, Spotify has given users a recap of their year with music and podcast listening. “Wrapped” shows you which artists, songs, albums, genres and playlists you have listened to the most. It also gives you insight into how much you have listened to your favourite artists compared to the rest of the world.
Flipping through the different stats can be fun, but “Wrapped” can also give you useful insight into your listening habits. Perhaps you should try to branch out into new genres? Or maybe you have listened to much more jazz than you thought you did?
A prime piece of content marketing, “Wrapped” gives Spotify users something extra. Although Spotify pushes the recap quite heavily, you’re not forced to look at it. You check it out when and if you want to.
“Wrapped” has generated a lot of buzz and has helped increase the number of Spotify users. That makes it an excellent example of a content marketing strategy that works.
“Wrapped” has been shared a lot on social media – perhaps because it says something about you. When people see it on social media, they want to join in on the fun. In fact, Spotify app downloads increased by 21 % in the first week of December 2020.
Ahrefs, SEMrush and HubSpot: sharing knowledge
As the “Wrapped”-example shows, the content of content marketing can be both interesting and fun. It can also be a resource for professionals in a field.
In digital marketing, Ahrefs, SEMrush and HubSpot are among the absolute titans. They all provide excellent tools for digital marketing, but they also have blogs with guides and studies. The field of digital marketing is constantly evolving, and it’s important to have resources that are updated regularly. The blogs on these sites do just that.
Knowing your audience is a vital part of your content marketing strategy. Both professionals and amateurs alike use these sites. You can get an intro to digital marketing or delve deep into engaging your audience to maximise conversions most effectively.
Norwegian brands target Google users searching for recipes
You need to know your audience if you want your content marketing strategy to be effective. A few years back, Norwegian food chains and brands saw a potential opportunity for content marketing. A lot of people look up their recipes online. If the companies could get visitors to their site by publishing quality recipes, it could increase sales and brand recognition.
Meny, a Norwegian food chain, has made recipes an integral part of their content marketing strategy. In Norway, their recipes show up when you search for everything from “spaghetti carbonara” to “mozzarella salad”. The recipes are free and for everyone, but Meny makes it easy for people to purchase the ingredients in the recipe from their stores.
Other companies are doing the same thing. Tine, a Norwegian company producing dairy products, has multiple recipes on their site. Of course, these recipes use ingredients that Tine is selling: milk, butter, sour cream, yoghurt and so on.
Both Meny and Tine provide recipes for people who want them while also branding their products and themselves.
Let us lift your content marketing
Now you know a little more about what content marketing is. At Journey, we help you set up your content marketing strategy. We also help you produce valuable content for your target audience. In addition, we offer services within SEO (search engine optimisation), social media and web development – all in digital marketing.
Contact us at Journey if you want to start with content marketing. You can also read more about what other services we offer.