Content Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

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Content marketing is communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. Use these content marketing ideas to grow your business.

In a recent blog post, I talked about the fact that your website alone is not a marketing strategy. Once you do get down into the nitty gritting for being strategic about your marketing efforts, you’ll know that just having a static website is not enough.

Marketing in 2016 includes the ability to produce and distribute quality content that align with your overall marketing and business goals. Brands, retailers and businesses are now becoming publishers in order to reach audiences, market their products and services, and increase revenue.

This strategy is referred to as content marketing: the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. The theory is that if businesses deliver consistent, valuable information, customers will ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

A great example of a content marketing powerhouse is Red Bull. With an archive of over 5,000 videos, 50,000 images and a range of high-octane sports events to its name, Red Bull is a massive content marketing industry. It’s core business is selling energy drinks. But in order to do this, it markets itself as a lifestyle built on adrenaline.

This may sound daunting for a small business or individual freelancer. But see it as good news. With a well-executed content marketing strategy — small businesses now have access to the same reach and impact as larger enterprise businesses.

[bctt tweet=”Produce quality content for your audience and you can quickly convert them into customers or clients.” username=”alethea_r”]

What’s the bottom line? Produce quality content for your audience and you can quickly convert them into customers or clients.

Infographics

Data visualization is an effective method of quickly illustrating complex processes, data and information and patterns. Infographics have an emotional power because they can show you an idea, or a relationship, or how something works very quickly.

People love looking at infographics, starring at them and sharing them. Use an online platform like Vennage to easily create infographics for your blog and social media platforms.

Information Products

“Info-products” can include e-books, video series, pamphlets or newsletters, and they’re all the rage right now.

Information is one of the most valuable things that you can sell, so if you consider yourself a “thought leader” or have an original idea, creating information products as part of your content marketing strategy might be an interesting idea to explore with your team or marketing consultant.

Blogs

Your blog should act as the hub for all your content. Websites with a blog have up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines. Which means people will find you online easier.

Blogging for your business is a relatively easy, inexpensive way to not only boost search engine optimization, but also to create brand awareness, establish your expertise and attract more perspective clients.

Social Media

No content marketing strategy would be complete without social media. In fact social media is a crucial component of your content marketing. Once you create the content — you’ll need to use your social channels to distribute it, thus using the content to market your business, service or product.

With social media as part of your content strategy, you can also keep track of trending topics that might present opportunities for you to become part of the conversation and showcase your expertise.

Videos

Use of video as a content marketing tactic has risen from 52% to 70% year on year. Engaging and rich as a content format that can be re-purposed, video is effective tactic for content marketing.

Podcasts

Podcasts are relativity inexpensive and easy to produce. You can interview thought-leaders within your area of business or interest, and discuss topics relevant to your customers while also providing useful information.

One of the reasons, I host the See Girl Work podcast series is to meet other female entrepreneurs and discuss the realities of starting and marketing a business. It’s not only insightful for me, but valuable information for prospective new clients.

Webinars

Audio combined with presentation slides, Q & A and chat provide a content experience that can also be replayed when stored in an online archive.

Final Words

If at any time you have questions about content marketing, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.

 

Image via GFK