If you haven’t noticed, the media has changed a little over the past decade. If you’re a business owner or marketer, you’ve likely found that it’s much more difficult than ever to reach people with traditional marketing messages, as consumers literally take in hundreds of these messages per day, both consciously and subconsciously. For example, billboards, print ads and radio spots—while still effective in some ways—just don’t pack the same punch as they did 10-15 years ago.
Due to this media saturation, consumers have really changed the ways in which they take in information. Rather than reaching people through traditional ads or sales-driven marketing messages, many of the world’s top brands are taking a different approach in the form of content marketing. This involves the use of engaging, useful content to actually educate readers and position a brand as a resource for valuable information.
Obviously, this is a long-term strategy that only starts to pay dividends once you’ve developed a significant amount of content, but it creates some tremendous opportunities for even the smallest of businesses. Gone are the days when a huge marketing budget was needed to reach new customers—you can now do so simply by leveraging the expertise you have.
Trends point toward branded content
According to Brafton, “90 percent of marketers say they will use branded content to support marketing initiatives in the next 12 months.” Marketers support using branded content because they know their potential customers want to receive custom content that provides unique and quality information on certain products. Additionally, this content leverages social interactions and effectively adapts for any changes Google might make to its website ranking processes.
How does content marketing provide custom content that is both unique and informative for consumers? To create an ongoing dialogue with consumers, businesses can provide frequently updated blog content, articles, social media updates and press releases, often working with a trained marketing copywriter. Customers are on the web looking for goods and services—so why not keep them regularly updated as to how your business can provide useful products or problem-solving services? Furthermore, well-written content ensures potential customers of your brand’s quality and interest in speaking directly with them, thereby establishing a relationship that can have a ripple effect later on.
Forming this dialogue with readers through online interactions starts as a snowball of quality and unique information, but can quickly become an avalanche of positive content attention. Content marketing through blog content, social media and other avenues allows people to offer feedback, which benefits your brand if they start conversations on their own Facebook or Twitter news feeds.
Content marketing is still only as successful as the number of people it reaches, and marketers who don’t adapt to a changing online landscape can quickly get lost in the fold. By tailoring content to capitalize on personalized searches and the increasing relevance of social shares and networks, your organization can trust that its informative content will reach its intended audience.
Ben N. is a copywriter with ProPRcopy, an agency that assists hundreds of businesses and organizations with their copywriting and content marketing needs.