Introduction to Content Marketing: What You Need to Know as a Beginner

Content Marketing has gone from a new marketing concept to an essential marketing strategy for every business. Aside from selling your products and services, your customers and audiences want valuable content from your business. 

Customers want to be sure you are trustworthy and deserve their loyalty. With content marketing, you can achieve this. In addition, it helps keep your business top of mind when it is time to buy what you sell.

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract and retain an audience by creating, distributing, and publishing content via channels such as social media, blogs, websites, emails, podcasts, and more.

It is the distribution of relevant and compelling content to potential customers to convey expertise and make it clear that a business is trustworthy.

When your audience thinks of your business as a partner interested in their success or wellbeing, they are more likely to choose you when it is time to buy — this can be done through consistent content marketing.

Why is Content Marketing Important?

Content Marketing is the base upon which you promote your business online, so it is important to give it the attention it requires.

Here are reasons why content marketing is essential for your business.

• Establish your business as a thought leader
• Increase conversions because it allows you to reach out to your customers
• Attracts new leads which sustain healthy sales growth
• Build customer awareness
• Drives valuable search traffic and social engagement
• Answers your audience questions and helps you build trust and develop relationships

Building your brand image is an important aspect of the business. For simple tutorials on how to build a reputable brand image, message us now on Whatsapp to help you promote your business.

Content Marketing Strategy: Practical Steps to Get Started with Content Marketing

A content Marketing Strategy is a content plan that guides businesses on the type of content to create for their brand.

1. Set your mission and goals

A good starting point for your content marketing plan is to set out a mission statement. This statement makes it easier for you to focus on what is important and what is not.

The mission statement should cover:

• Your target audience
• The type of content you will use to reach them
• The benefits they will get

While you have come up with the mission statement, you must also consider what your business will get from it.

This is where your business goals come in. Examples:

• Improve brand awareness
• Increase customer engagement
• Improve brand loyalty

2. Establish your KPIs

Next, you need to set and determine your KPIs — Key Performance Indicators. KPIs are measures that help you track your actual or operational performance against your goal.

The KPI you set will help you know when you have achieved your business goals. 

For example, you might want to:

• Get a certain number of new email subscribers
• See an increase in site traffic and engagement with your website
• Hit a certain revenue target within a month
• Get a certain number of new prospective customers

3. Know your audience

While creating a content marketing strategy, you must be clear about who your audience is. Describe your ideal customers and understand who you are trying to sell your products and services.

When you know who your target audience is, it helps you create content that is tailored to them.

To know your audience, you can:

• Collect demographic data
• Get customer feedback
• Create buyer personas

4. Decide on the content to create

The next thing to do after thinking about your target audience and buyer persona is to decide on the type of content to create. For example, is it a blog, video, podcast, infographics, email, website, and others?

Take a look at the various types of content and decide the one you will create that will suit your target audience.

Read also: How to Hook Your Readers With Great Content.

5. Figure out the best content channels

Once you have decided on the type of content you will share, it is time to choose your content channels.

You must consider the type of content you choose to create. The channel you need to work with will be obvious for some content types. For others, you need to figure out the specific channel that will work best with them.

Figure out where your target audience spends quality time and expand from there.

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6. Set your budget

Now that you know the type of content to create, the channel to share it, and who it is for, you must ensure you have everything you need to deliver on your strategy.

You need to provide answers to the following questions.

• Do you need to hire content marketers?
• Do you need physical or figure tools to create content?
• Do you need to pay for ad space?

Take note of your responses to set and determine your budget estimation.

Read also: 10 High-Income freelancing Skills for Beginners.

7. Analyze and measure the result

Finally, you need to assess the success of your content marketing strategy. Look at your goals and KPIs and see what’s changed and whether you are hitting your targets.

You will know what is working and what is not by monitoring your progress.

How to Be a Good Content Marketer

Content Marketing is a strategy every business needs to incorporate to remain competitive. But unfortunately, while many people do it, only a few know how to do it well.

This has provided opportunities for content marketers to help businesses delve into content marketing.

Content Marketers must have excellent writing skills and a keen understanding of consumers, analytics, and different types of content or channels used in the industry.

If you want to become a good Content marketer, there are things to take note of:

1. Understand how content marketing works
2. Build your writing skills
3. Learn how to do keyword research
4. Build your research skill
5. Learn how to create popular content types 

You can reach your target audience and increase conversions with effective content marketing.

As a beginner, we have written what you need to know about content marketing. While this is not all, you can keep learning.

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Thanks for your time!

About Author

Alimot Akinsanya

Alimot Akinsanya is an experienced content writer. She creates high-quality, compelling, engaging, relatable, and research-backed long-form content for individuals and businesses. She believes in the power of words to communicate effectively with audiences.

She is a devoted lover of personal development, mental health, self-awareness, and social inclusion. 

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