Traditional marketing alone is becoming less effective by the minute.

Traditionally, marketers would have to “rent” the attention of their audience through display ads.

Content marketing, on the other hand, allows marketers to become publishers by building their own audiences and attracting their own attention.

The plethora of software’s out there now that allow marketers to identify, quantify and nurture leads securely and with ease is countless.

That’s why the content used to optimize traditional marketing campaigns is what truly gets people over the line.

The shapes and sizes of content marketing

When you hear “content marketing,” you’re likely to immediately think about social media and news articles but it’s much more than that.

So, let’s define it.

Content marketing is… a strategic marketing approach focused on creating, publishing and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract and retain an audience for a desired outcome or action.

Content marketing is a long-term strategy that uses content in a variety of formats to build a stronger relationship with an audience.

This is used not only to capture attention but also to improve engagement and a business’ brand.

Some of the highest performing content marketing types include blogs, infographics, case studies, emails, forms, landing pages and e-books but the most impactful content type is video.

Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users according to Word Stream.

For example, our tweet on our published Education Insider booklet:

Videos are easy to digest and builds trust as the audience can clearly visualise the product or service.

Building your own content strategy

Five tips to content marketing:

1. Get SMART and set clear goals for your content

2. Choose your target audience and content channels

3. Understand the partner’s journey

4. Decide on the content you will share and be consistent/relevant with it

5. Ensure the content can be understood by your current customers and potential prospects

6. Launch and keep track of metrics, analyze and measure results for ongoing refining

Take it a step further with automation

Marketing automation and content creation work hand in hand as a critical component for long-term, sustainable business growth.

Coupling content marketing with automation benefits various stages of the sales funnel and can:

– Visibly boost organic search

– Improve trust with customers through lead nurturing

– Expose the business to new prospects and a larger audience

– Be a means of promotion without directly selling yourself

Marketing useful content to inform and educate a target audience, showcasing how a product or service works and how it effectively solves pain points can increase conversions and boost revenue.

Businesses can implement content marketing tactics and strategies to connect with unreached audience members and have a greater impact on their success rate.

Content marketing is used by leading brands and has grown to be such a profitable investment, with companies of all sizes hiring someone to manage their strategy.

If you’ve taken the step and made the investment or have been creating unique and consistent content for a while, ensure you stay on course using our 5 tips to connect with your audience on the most effective level.