What is content marketing and why is it important?

Content marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract new customers, retain existing ones, and keep the audience engaged. The content marketing strategy provides relevant content to the customers and prospects instead of directly promoting your products or services. Content creation strategy is not only the marketing trend of the present but also the future.

Have you no idea about the what, how, and why of content creation and marketing? Don’t worry. A good content marketing strategist like Harish Kulkarni will surely guide you on the right path. Digital marketing has become almost impossible without content marketing. Why is content marketing in digital marketing that important?

Why Content Marketing Is Important?

• Builds relationships and trust 

When you interact with them, answer their questions, and solve their problems, you are more likely to gain more trust and build a lasting relationship with your customers. 

• Generation of more leads

The right content will lead the visitors to the landing page. Your  lead generation will shoot up when more people visit your site. To make sure your content attracts visitors, get the help of a leading digital marketing strategist like Harish Kulkarni. 

• Better SEO and better visibility 

Content marketing is an important Search Engine optimization tool. It improves SEO ranking and so visibility also increases automatically. 

• Builds online authority 

If your content is useful, credible, and interesting you are likely to be considered an expert in your field that helps in building online authority

• Creates brand awareness 

When your content starts to appear on several platforms it helps to build brand awareness. Your content creation ideas should be unique if you want your content to go viral. 

Most popular types of content marketing

The main types of content marketing include: 

• Blogs

Blogs are the keystone for content marketing. It is easy to create a blog platform and it is a versatile platform where you can post all types of content. Updated and informative blogs are one of the best digital marketing tools. 

• Infographics

Visuals are more effective than words. They help to explain complex ideas easily. Infographics are important because it helps the users understand your message quickly and easily. 

• Memes

Informative blogs can have a serious tone but some information will be interesting and attractive only if there is a fun element to it. Memes are helpful to make your content funny. Memes are useful as a content marketing strategy because they are likely to go viral. 

• White papers

Do you want your content to be longer than a blog? Do you want to publish research reports? Is your content not light reading? If so, you should go for whitepapers which are the right option for you. This is a useful content strategy for B2B marketing. 

• Images and graphics

The attention span of people is declining sharply. So, many will not have the patience to read long texts. Images and graphics are more attractive and captivating. 

• Reviews 

Customer reviews can give you good credibility. Most online buyers rely on reviews before placing orders. 

There are many more types of content marketing like case studies, eBooks, how-to guides, video marketing, and many more. To find which is the best for ideas from a content marketing strategist like Harish Kulkarni.

The content creation process and stages

There is a process for everything in digital marketing. Content creation is no exception. The process involves a few steps.

• Finalize the topic

The content creation strategy is to create appealing content and not some random content. So, you have to research to find the topics that attract your target audience. Choose the best topic based on your research. If you are new to this, you should consult an expert to guide you as the competition is very tough these days. 

• Create an SEO strategy 

SEO strategy and content marketing strategy always go hand in hand. So, creating an SEO strategy to create high-quality content, track performance, and make changes is an important step in content creation. 

• Analyse the competitors

Identify your competitors and look at their websites. Evaluate and analyze their content and then create a content strategy based on your analysis. 

• Do keyword research 

Keywords can create a marked difference in your Google ranking because without the relevant keywords your content will go unnoticed. Keyword research is not easy. You have to follow a few important steps like business-related keyword research, long-tailed keywords, Google search, research of competitor’s keywords, and many more. Unless you have the knowledge and experience, you may find it difficult. Getting the services of an SEO expert like Harish Kulkarni is a good option. 

• Write the content 

If you have chosen your keywords, the next step is to write the content. The content should be created focusing on the needs of the reader. Links, CTAs, keywords, images, and other essentials must be included. The format of the content should be appropriate to the chosen channel. 

• Proofread your content 

Proofreading should be done before publishing your content to correct factual, grammatical, and typing errors. 

• Publish the content 

Plan the platforms in which you are going to publish your content. Publishing your content online is easier as there is no need for printing. All you are going to do is to upload it. 

• Promote the content 

Content promotion includes a lot of strategies like posting content on social media, sending to email subscribers, posting on others’ blogs, using paid ads, etc. 

Doing all the steps on your own can prove to be very difficult and it will not yield you the expected results. Digital marketing expert Harish Kulkarni can help you with social media marketing, email marketing, website development, content marketing, and personal branding.

Content creation ideas for various marketing platforms

Here are valuable content creation ideas for various platforms: 

Blogs

• First, define your goals. Find answers to questions like why you are creating this content. Do you want to increase sales or drive more traffic or generate more leads or educate the audience? Your ‘Why’ will decide your content. 
• Do some research on the target audience. Find what they enjoy reading.
• Then, do keyword research. Check out the competition. 
• Give a name to your blog and create a blog domain. 
• Choose a Content Management System. 
• Pay attention to the looks of your blog to create brand awareness. 
• Write content including keywords, backlinks, etc. Avoid over stuffing keywords. First, create an outline. Make sure the intro is attractive. Use tools like Grammarly to avoid mistakes. Include images. Make it interesting by telling a story. 
• Publish your blog. 

Podcasts 

• Select the topic. It is always better to talk about topics that you ate interested in and topics of your favorite niche. 
• Tell stories but stay on the topic. 
• Focus on the target audience. 
• Make the content interactive. Ask questions. Respond to the answers. 
• Invite experts as guests to your podcast. Make sure you invite guests with good knowledge. The content from the guests should be entertaining and engaging. 
• The audio quality should be good. 
• End with a Call to Action telling the audience where they can learn more. 

Videos 

• Define your objectives.
• Do research on the primary concerns of your target audience. Your content should address their concerns. 
• Don’t look into your script when the camera is rolling. 
• Include real testimonials of customers. 
• Make sure the video is of high quality. 
• The message should be clear and it is more important than the video quality. 

Graphics 

• Create a unique customized colour palette. 
• Avoid too much text.
• Use high-quality images and videos
• Make sure you add your logo.
• The images should be in the right specs. 
• Use the right tools to create graphics. 
• Stay updated on trends. Let your graphics be trendy. 
• Create a calendar and post them when your target audience is seeing it. C

Content offers 

• Have a clear idea of your target audience. 
• Create an outline on the topic, keywords, and offers. Decide the content you are offering. 
• Make sure the content is valuable. 
• The content should be problem-solving and authentic. 
• Conclude with CTA. 

The content creation differs depending on the platform. An expert will give you useful tips and guide you to come out with the best. One of the best experts to go to is Harish Kulkarni. Experts know updated content creation tools to create unique content. 

Why do marketers need to create a Content Marketing Strategy?

• To create a strong brand identity 

Brand identity is very important these days because of the heavy competition. Content marketing strategy helps in creating brand identity by strengthening your brand image. 

• To increase web traffic 

A well-planned content marketing strategy helps to deliver high-quality content and it attracts traffic to the website.

•  To increase social media followers

High-quality content developed through a content marketing strategy is likely to be shared by readers. This will increase followers. 

• To boost audience engagement 

Forcing and pushing your customers to buy your product or service doesn’t work these days. Content marketing strategy is a subtle way of promoting your product through relevant content. 

• To improve relationships with customers

Customers start to relate your products with the great content you created with the help of a good strategy. Your good relationship with the customers plays a key role if you want them to choose you over your competitors. 

A content-creating expert will help you to develop the best strategy for content marketing. However, here are some useful tips for you. Not sure who the best is? Here is a recommendation. Harish Kulkarni is one of the best.

Content marketing strategy

• Decide on your mission and goals

The first step is to decide your target audience, the content you are planning to develop, and the goals like an increase in revenue, improvement in SEO ranking, boost in sales, etc. 

• Determine your KPIs

A content marketing strategy is meaningless if you don’t measure the results. KPI or Key Performance Indicators should be determined. 

• Understand your audience 

Content should be related to the target audience. So, understand them.

• Analyse your current position 

The internet is full of content. Analyse the position of your content and find if it I helping you to attain your objectives. 

• Find out what channels work best

Find the channel where your target audience is hanging out. This will help you to decide the right channel to focus on.

• Decide what type of content to include

As seen earlier, there are many types of content. Decide which one will work for you the best. 

• Identify and allocate resources 

Make sure you have all the necessary resources including the content producer, content-creating tools, content publishing tools, etc. 

• Prepare a content calendar 

Deciding the right time to publish your content. To schedule it in advance, prepare a content calendar.

The business advantage of good content marketing

• Organic search visibility 

Establishing your authority and knowledge through content increases organic search visibility.

• More referrals 

Good quality content attracts more inbound links and referrals. This will increase organic traffic to your website. 

• Better conversion rates

Customers who are impressed with the content are likely to trust you. This will lead to better conversion. 

• Cost savings

Content creation is done only once. Then it is enough to make slight changes and updates later. This helps in cost saving. 

• More traffic 

When you include CTA in your content your website is likely to get more traffic. 

10 content marketing tips you can use right now

• Go live 

Live content adds a personal touch. Going live has become easier now. All you need is your mobile phone, good content, and an impressive presentation

• Go for user-generated content 

UGC like reviews, videos, images, and text created by a customer or some other contributor is more effective. 

• Use the podcast 

Users have to spend time reading text but they can listen to podcasts while they are doing their day-to-day work. 

• Let the content be interactive 

Interactive content like polls, quizzes, surveys, forums, and story-sharing work better than static content. It also helps in data collection. 

• Diversify your content 

You should have diversified content like videos, graphics, photos, images, etc besides text content. This will attract visitors. 

• Promote your content 

Your content will go unnoticed if you don’t promote it. Promote it through your social media accounts, newsletters, emails, newsletters, etc. 

• Make the content shareable 

Be it text or audio or video or image or any other type of content, make sure it is shareable. 

• Make sure the content is data-driven

Your content should be focused on results. Find which content was successful and which one didn’t deliver the expected results. 

• Enable voice search 

People are too busy and lazy to type what they want to search for. They find voice search easier. So, make sure your content is voice search-friendly.

• Give importance to quality 

Quality is more important than quantity. Your content should be of good quality and should be consistent. 

I do hope you came to know a lot of useful info after reading this content. I am sure you would have realized the importance of content marketing to attain your goals. Technology is by your side. You can use it to create stunning content and create a sensation in the market. I can understand you have to focus on other important aspects of your business. It may be difficult for you to create an effective content marketing strategy and create the right content. You are missing out if you are not into content marketing. Why should you miss out when I can do them all for you? With a background in digital marketing, I can assist you and take you on the path to success. 

What are you waiting for? Just give me a call. Let’s talk.