Content Marketing FAQ’s

What is content marketing?

Content marketing has been around under various guises for a long time but it’s the emergence of the interactive web and web based tools that have caused resurgence in popularity. Content marketing is basically a marketing technique where through the creation and distribution of content that is judged to be relevant, compelling and valuable you will attract and acquire and engage a clearly defined audience with the objective of converting that prospect into a client. Content marketing works because people are actively searching for what you have to offer, content drives search and buyers are spending more time researching their requirements on-line because they’re fed up with being interrupted by traditional marketing techniques.

Why should I use content marketing as part of my marketing strategy?

The concept of content marketing can be new to many even those who’ve been involved in marketing for some time. The value of using content as the centre piece of your marketing strategy can be a difficult sell to those mainly involved in traditional marketing approaches.

The value of content marketing lies in the engagement between the prospect and your company, this engagement can be measured with various tools over many different platforms. Through the use of content marketing, a company can set themselves apart from their competitors, developing trust and credibility with their online communities. Content marketing enables companies to deliver relevant content and build intimate relationships with customers before they even contact them, and long after they become customers.

How does Content Marketing fit in with my existing traditional marketing methods?

There are two main triggers that can be attributed to the gain in popularity of content marketing. The first is the reduction in impact of traditional marketing methods such as trade shows, direct mail, advertising and telemarketing etc. Some in the business will dispute this however more and more people are adding themselves to the telephone preference service, tradeshows figures are in decline, the effects of advertising has been diminished through fragmented platforms and technologies such as TiVo where users can eliminate the ads on the programmes they record and there is just too much junk mail sliding across our desks and through our letterboxes. The second trigger is the rise in social media platforms, these have increased the ability to get found via video, slidedecks, podcasts, photos, tweets, eBooks etc that are hosted on sites in addition to your traditional website.

However many traditional techniques still have their place and can support a content marketing strategy for example targeted email campaigns to an audience captured through a content marketing programme (who have opted in to receive company information) can be used as a lead nurturing tool. Print or on-line advertising can work within a content marketing programme to help raise awareness and brand equity; this can have a positive impact on clickthrough rates. The content marketing argument is that the ratio of resource should be 80:20 in favour of content creation and distribution and not the other way around.

What skills do I need to successfully manage content marketing?

I would argue that to be successful in any business you need to have a good understanding of marketing and marketing strategy. You need to know your audience and what keeps them awake at night and you need to fully understand your own products and services. Content marketing is just another part of the marketing toolkit but it’s a complex one because it continues to evolve through changes in technology. Content marketing goes hand-in-hand with social media so it helps if you can think like a publisher and have a view on how you can wring the ROI out of each piece of content you deliver. In addition a good overview of the various social media platforms will help and how best to use them to achieve your objectives. It would be remiss of me not to mention the various Google tools available such as Analytics, AdWords, Places etc. Throwing all of the above into the mix means that an additional skill to help you survive is the skill of project management, bringing the mix of these tools together in a successful manner.

What’s the best way to started in content marketing?

It depends where you sit within the organisation, if you run the show or manage the department then it’s obviously much easier to implement a content marketing programme than if you’re just part of a team. Either way it’s important to get the buy-in or sponsorship from a senior figure. Then it becomes just like any other marketing strategy where you need to:

• Know your audience
• Set out your plan and objectives
• Implement and measure

Content marketing doesn’t have to be the sole domain of marketing, if you have employees who are already active within the social media world or who are active bloggers in their own time then don’t be afraid to recruit them to your cause. All you need is a set of well understood company guidelines accompanied by an editorial calendar.

If these skills are thin on the ground you could consider  bringing in a consultant to take you through the process, training your staff and possibly working with an outside creative agency to implement the content creation/design/distribution phases.

How do we measure success?

Like all plans this depends on the objectives you set yourself at the start of the programme or campaign, it’s also impacted by how close your marketing and sales/commercial systems are linked  but the ultimate aim we are looking for is a conversion. This is where monitoring tools such as Google Analytics or Social mention are very useful. Facebook and Twitter also offer on-line statistics.

Rame Marketing can work with you on the 7 key stages of the content marketing process or just on the stages most relevant to your needs.  Contact us today to find out more on 0845 8620769 or email  info@ramemarketing.co.uk

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