Content marketing is the cornerstone of any successful digital marketing strategy. The age-old adage, “Content is king,” is relevant to this statement.
“What I love about content is that it has the power to change people’s lives for a second, a day, or forever. Great content creates space for people to pause and reflect. , and this space is where the transformation occurs. – Pretty Miller
However, before we dive into the ins and outs of content marketing, let’s first consider a definition of content marketing:
Content marketing: what, why and how?
Josh Steimle gives the following definition of content marketing in his article titled “What is Content Marketing”, published on Forbes.com.
“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the goal of generating profitable customer action.” –Josh Steimle, Forbes
The salient point of this definition is that content marketing creates and distributes valuable content. Thus, the concept can be divided into distribution channels and content creation mechanisms.
Therefore, the next question to ask and answer is, “What is valuable content?”
In summary, valuable content is content that people want to consume or read. It answers the question “why” or provides the reason for its existence. Articles included in the phrase “content of value” are authoritative and contain useful information created for a particular audience. It is designed to change the lives of its readers through its ability to educate, inspire and help them.
One of the best ways to describe the value of content and its ability to drive profitable customer action is to cite a small case study.
Suppose I own an online adventure clothing store that sells both winter clothing and sportswear. It’s autumn or fall in the southern hemisphere, and I’d like to draw your target audience’s attention to a recycled eco-softshell jacket and down jacket filled with certified 100% recycled down.
Recognize the fact that guest blog is a great way to draw attention to your brand as well as these products, I am writing a 1000 word blog post on the benefits of using recycled materials to make warm jackets. And, at the bottom of the article, I say “click here for more information on these jackets”, with a link to the relevant webpage on your website.
This is the article’s call to action (CTA), and its intention is to direct blog readers to the webpage with information about these jackets. If readers like jackets, there is an option to buy each jacket on the webpage. Therefore, this article aims to drive traffic to your website and bring visitors into the product sales funnel. Once they’re at the top of the sales funnel, chances are they’ll buy at least one of these jackets and convert into loyal customers.
Content Marketing and HARO: Distribution Channels
Now that we have a great article with a CTA, the next step is to find a distribution channel to publish the article. As mentioned above, this article is designed to be posted on a niche-specific blog. Make sure all of your blog posts are distributed on a site that will help you with your niche branding.
If you sell a certain type of clothing, you will want to approach any bloggers who have adventure clothing blogs to ask if they will post your article on their blogs. Again, for the purposes of this case study, we’ll assume that this article was posted on a relevant blog, that it helped drive traffic to your brand’s website, and that your sales numbers increased significantly. increase.
Guest blogging isn’t the only successful content marketing channel. Another option is to get your brand mentioned on some of the top news websites around the world. How can I do this? It’s not easy to send an e-mail or contact a journalist and ask for a mention.
The main answer to this question is to register on a website called HelpAReporter.com (HARO). This is where journalists and bloggers look for experts on a particular topic.
And, because I am an expert on the subject of recycling, adventure clothing and protecting the environment through recycling, I register with HARO as a source. Thus, the HARO platform sends a daily summary of all questions posed by reporters and bloggers to all their sources according to their expertise.
If a journalist asks a question about one of the areas of expertise, I can respond by email with the required information. If the journalist chooses to use this information, your brand is mentioned in their article, with a link to your website or social media presence.
Image credit: provided by the author; Thanks!
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