The art of content marketing is the 21st century’s breakthrough towards bridging the gap between consumers and businesses, all through authentic, human connections. It sets the scene for a new era of sales and marketing, where a people-centric approach is the key to success. When done right, content marketing’s impact is immense – giving you the chance to seize your big break and rise to the top, all the while providing your audience with the answers they’re looking for. The trick here? Doing it with added personality – no one likes feeling like they’re talking to a robot behind a screen.
In the end, when businesses can nail their content marketing strategy, it’s a win-win situation. Nurturing your target audiences while enticing them to engage with your brand is blend of positive, human-focused marketing – an avenue that’s always welcome in the age of “sell, sell, sell”.
Now let’s get down to the good stuff. Here’s how you can make content marketing give your business that big break it needs.
The essence of content marketing is in the experience
Put simply, content marketing is a mix of information-sharing and communicating insights, infused with the essence of unique soul, personality, and identity. It shows your audience exactly what you’re made of, and how you’ve got the potential to help them make their lives (or jobs) better. How? Through the experience of interaction – be it with the knowledge you dish out, services that you sell, or products you stock.
Strategy in this field takes careful thinking. When planning out your tactics, entwining emotion with information and marketing and opting for storytelling before sales, is the ultimate path to success. Instead of having the pure intention of just gaining more leads, your priorities should also remain in creating a sense of authenticity and genuineness. Engaging your audience with a story that they can relate to brings true connection and emotion to the forefront; the end result is, therefore, more likely to be winning over your audience with a non-salesy approach that speaks to their own identity, aspirations, and lifestyle.
The best content involves emotion
Storytelling is a centuries-old practice that still finds itself front and centre in the modern world. With the endless amount of information bombarding us today on-screen and off, being immersed in an emotion-filled story breaks through the monotony of all the marketing eras past, and leaves memorable content in its wake.
If you’re able to truly commit to this field, content marketing gives your audience:
- Information that is valuable to the audience and makes their life a little easier in some way, shape or form;
- Emotion-filled content that inspires your audience to feel emotion themselves;
- A sense of aspiration that instils an uplifting message;
- A clear-cut vision of your company’s identity and personality.
How content marketing drives sales
In the current cultural climate, authenticity, information, and a helping hand go a long way. People no longer respond to traditional “sales” pitches. Instead, they want to know what’s in store for them and how your brand can combat any challenges standing in their way.
But the common misconception is that content marketing doesn’t encourage sales or generate leads at all. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This avenue drives your return on investment by a more outside-the-box mode of communication with your target audience, rather than just throwing the hard-hitting messages in their faces. Taking a more subtle, careful and nurturing approach will get you much further in your digital marketing journey than tired tactics that should have gone extinct long ago (did someone say cold-calling?).
There’s something truly remarkable about giving an audience a glimpse at the things that you have authority in. Be it passion, knowledge, and genuine care for who they are as your demographic – it all plays a big role. Resonating with their own beliefs, values, and biggest hurdles will see you charge ahead of your competitors when they’re stuck throwing invasive sales messages in their faces instead.
What content marketing is not
The subtle complexities of what this field is, or how to do content strategy effectively, is an exhaustive list. While we’ve outlined that it’s all about providing valuable information with a human-centred approach, there are some things that fall outside the scope of this magical marketing art-form. Unlike traditional marketing, it isn’t:
- Directly money-related marketing;
- Content without strategy and embedded purpose that benefits your audience;
- A piece of text that exclusively revolves around the company and its services/goods.
By the same token, it’s also not a piece of content that excludes the company’s voice and message altogether. After all, it is still a form of marketing. Rather than being overtly domineering with the influence of the company within each piece, it opts for a more integrated approach. This includes weaving the brand into the story in a more ‘by-the-way’, authentic vibe. That’s exactly why it’s often referred to as ‘brand storytelling’.
Image source: Content Marketing Institute
In spirit, this marketing concept is a truly creative form of bringing people and business together. It takes a potent mind that balances analytical thinking, creativity, uninhibited fun, and an understanding of both business and people. This is a rare concoction that makes for a blast of brand success. It also takes a solid knowledge-set and arsenal of knowing what content marketing platforms are best suited for what industry, niche and demographics. Once you’ve got it all in tow, you’ll find yourself richer in authority and audience loyalty.
Thankfully, talent isn’t too far away with the creatives that make up the core of Content Marketing. With writers, photographers, and videographers, we have all your content outlets covered; no matter what channels you’re tuned into. Check out our client testimonials to see what magic our marketers have made for businesses to date.