Content marketing and the customer journey.
Today, customer experience is everything. 73 percent of customers say getting it right can help to influence their buying decision. Personalization and the customer journey are at the heart of customer experience, yet many businesses fail to produce personalized content dedicated to each stage of the buying cycle.
80 percent of people are more likely to buy a product or service when they are served content personalized to them. One way to achieve this is to understand what stage of the buying journey the customer is at, then serve them relevant content for that.
“Successful content marketers hit all stages of the buyer journey, from start to finish. Most brands are seriously over-weighted in the bottom of the funnel. And they miss huge opportunities to meet new customers at the point of need.”
– Michael Brenner, CEO, Marketing Insider Group
Comments
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Content marketing is necessary for newbie bloggers, as it benefits in link building, more traffic generation, developing a reputation among the other blogs and also it is very helpful from SEO point of view.
You know what? 87% of B2B marketers practice content marketing to produce more qualified leads. And 78% of marketers are preparing to spend more money on content marketing. But according to my experience, the consistently producing quality content brings more traffic to a website. It also improves engagement with targeted audiences. Not least but using images in post increase audience engagement up to 30% more than plain text.
Content marketing, in my opinion, is the next big thing for B2B business growth. It benefits in trust building with the audience, traffic generation and higher chances of those leads generating qualified business. I kinda relate to your thinking about how content marketing increases sales. Thanks for the instructive page.
Companies that consistently keep posting quality articles on their websites are likely to get three times more traffic and targeted audiences as compared to the other websites that publish fewer posts. It is always recommended to keep posting appealing and authentic content on the website to boost the traffic of page over time.
When you avail content marketing services, the writers will write precious write-ups for the website which will engage more visitors to check your websites and that will increase traffic to the website.
How to create a content marketing strategy
A content marketing strategy is an organized plan to design and publish content for your target audience. Content marketing strategies are increasingly important for all businesses, and a data-driven approach should help you make important decisions about what content should be created, for who, and when it should be published, as well as measure the results. Here are the steps to develop a successful content marketing strategy:
1. Set goals
2. Set key performance indicators (KPIs)
KPIs are quantifiable measurements that show how well a business is reaching its set goals, and how much progress they are making toward those goals. You can use industry-related KPIs, but it is best to set KPIs that relate to your specific business goals. KPIs are often confused with metrics, but the key difference is that KPIs are the most important measures that have the biggest impact on achieving your goals. All KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are KPIs.
3. Decide what kind of content to create
To determine what kind of content to create, start thinking about your target audience and what content would most interest new customers. Think about what challenges they may be looking to overcome and how your products and services can help them do so. Consider where they spend their time and which forms of content would be most appealing to them.
4. Determine the best content channels
After choosing what kind of content to create, it’s time to decide the best channels you’ll use to deliver the content. Deciding where to post largely depends on where your target audience is most likely to see your content and interact with it. For example, if your target audience is likely to use Instagram over Twitter, focus on posting engaging content that is optimized and formatted for an Instagram audience.
5. Content creation
Now it’s time to create content and distribute it for your audience to consume. Consider who you’re targeting your products or services to and what kind of content they will find interesting and engaging. Make sure to keep your goals in mind as well and determine what kind of content will help you achieve them. Using a social media calendar can also help ensure content is consistently being produced and shared.
6. Measure the results
Measure your results to make note of any changes that are necessary to enhance your content and reach more consumers. Compare your results to your goals and KPIs to determine whether or not your content marketing strategy was successful.
SEO and content marketing
A useful tool in content marketing is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the series of steps taken to make your website or a piece of content rank higher on search engine result pages (SERPs.) The goal is to optimize your content so search engines will show it toward the top of the search page when someone searches certain keywords. Search engines decide which websites rank highest based on a number of signals and SEO can be used to boost these signals to receive higher rankings in the organic search results. The higher you rank within search results, the more likely users are to visit your website and engage with the content.
Content marketing and SEO often go hand-in-hand and it is difficult to use one without the other. Content marketing uses SEO principles to create high-quality content and SEO depends on high-quality content to rank well on SERPs. SEO is what gets people to your page while content is what makes them stay. Combining the two strategies helps you provide better content for users and increase your chances of website engagement.
Research keywords
Researching keywords and phrases that consumers are searching for and including them in your content will help you achieve higher rankings. Find words that are relevant to your industry and relate to your services or products. Analyzing your competition can help you further determine keywords that are being searched and provide higher rankings. The intent of keywords and what people are attempting to get out of their searches also has an effect. Whether they’re looking for a product/service to buy, searching for a solution to a problem, or using your content for research purposes, it’s important to determine the intended use of your content and how keywords can find the appropriate audience.
Optimize your content
While it’s important to find the keywords your audience is searching for, you also need to know where and how to place them within your content. Search engines attempt to find exactly what people search for and that’s why it’s important to place keywords in a way that provides solutions or answers to whatever has brought a person to your page. If they can’t find what they’re looking for in your content, they’re likely to click away from the page, which tells search engines your content isn’t relevant. Relevant, high-quality content will improve your chances for higher SERPs rankings.
How to make B2B content more engaging—like B2C content
B2B audiences now expect more of a B2C experience in the content they consume. According to Forrester, 60% of B2B customers prefer not to use sales reps as their primary source of information. In fact, 68% of B2B customers would rather do their own research independently online.
Historically, B2B content marketing sought a more professional and business-like tone, while B2C marketers could be flashier and more emotive. Now the walls between B2B and B2C are crumbling. TV and radio advertisements are still not the best fit for B2B audiences, but marketers can learn a lot from mass media B2C advertising about how to intrigue and engage customers.
Sources:
https://uk.marketo.com/content-marketing/
https://optinmonster.com/content-marketing-examples/
https://www.sprinklr.com/cxm/content-marketing/
https://www.oracle.com/sg/cx/marketing/content-marketing/