Definition: Content marketing
Content marketing consists in creating marketing content to promote your offer/service through various acquisition channels. Today, it's no longer enough to have an innovative product or service to stand out from the competition; you also need to know how to communicate effectively about your product to go out and find new customers.
1. Content marketing objectives
This aspect of marketing involves creating and distributing brand content. This content can take a variety of forms (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.), and must meet the needs and expectations of prospects in order to create a relationship of trust and generate sales. A company's online presence must therefore be constantly nourished by content marketing actions.
2. Understand your target's expectations
One of the fundamental principles of content marketing is to focus on the concerns and needs of prospects, rather than on the specifics of the products and services on offer. It's all about offering useful, relevant information that meets the audience's expectations and creates a link with the brand.
3. Build a coherent, sustainable editorial strategy
For a content marketing campaign to be effective, it is advisable to develop a solid editorial strategy that defines the objectives to be achieved, the tone to be adopted, the preferred formats and distribution channels. This strategy needs to be thought through over the long term, so as to align communication actions and involve all relevant collaborators.
The objectives
In an editorial strategy, it's important to establish precise objectives in line with the company's needs. These objectives may be to increase brand awareness, generate leads or provide targeted communication to customers (launch of new features, sponsorship offer...). Defining these objectives will enable you to direct your efforts and your teams in the right direction; and to effectively measure the ROIs of your actions.
Content formats and distribution media
Depending on your target audience and objectives, you can use a variety of content formats and media. Blogs, social networks, newsletters and video platforms are just some of the ways to reach your audience with appropriate, powerful content. Thinking 'mobile first' has also become essential, given the growing number of users browsing from their smartphones.
Give your sales and marketing teams the best of Sales Enablement!
4. Personalize your content
Faced with a profusion of information, it's vital to stand out from the crowd with original, personalized content. A " one-to-one" approach means tailoring messages to the specific needs of each prospect, creating a unique interaction with the brand.
5. Offer educational content
Content marketing is all about seducing buyers by providing real added value. With this in mind, focus on creating educational, informative and/or entertaining content that brings real benefit to the target audience, while promoting your company's expertise in its field.
6. An appropriate tone and a coherent editorial line
The tone used in your content must be in line with the image you wish to project and the expectations of your audience. Adopting a consistent discourse over the long term will foster greater brand identification and loyalty.
7. Integrate search engine optimization (SEO) into your content strategy
To increase the visibility of your content on search engines, you need to work on your SEO. This means optimizing texts, titles, tags and keywords in line with Google's algorithmic criteria. Good SEO will improve your ranking in search results and help you reach a wider audience.
8. Analyze performance and adapt strategy
Measuring the impact of your content marketing actions is essential to ensure that they are in line with your objectives, and to determine which levers are most effective. Click-through rate, time spent on the page, shares on social networks... Performance indicators (or KPIs) provide a better understanding of how web users behave in relation to your content, and enable you to progressively refine your strategy to maximize its impact.
9. Engaging and building loyalty through storytelling
Storytelling, or the art of telling stories, is a highly effective way of touching your target emotionally and creating a lasting bond with them. By talking about your company's history, the values that guide you or sharing testimonials from satisfied customers, you'll be better able to arouse interest and build loyalty among your audience.
10. Involve employees and brand ambassadors
Finally, don't forget to involve your collaborators and other stakeholders (influencers, partners...) in the content creation process. Their expertise and enthusiasm can greatly enrich your content and make it more attractive to your audience. What's more, their engagement on social networks can significantly increase the reach of this content, and thus optimize its impact.
