Content marketing is essential for any company’s success, but do you know how to do it? Many new businesses find that content creation is like speaking another language so they need content explained. If you’re used to creative writing, you might struggle to follow the many rules and practices involved in producing useful content.
There are so many things to learn, but we’re here to guide you through the process. Content writing is an exciting career, and there are many benefits to it. Here’s the beginner’s guide to content explained.
What is Content Marketing?
We use content marketing as an umbrella term to describe various writing and marketing practices. Content isn’t just writing a blog or article; there are many forms of content including:
Social media posts
Videos
Audio
Memes
Product descriptions
E-courses
Case studies
Surveys and Polls.
The main difference between content marketing and creative writing is the purpose they have. Writers like to tell a story and talk about important events. It often involves sharing opinions, and there’s less emphasis on appealing to readers. Lots of authors write because they have something to say and enjoy putting their words into pieces of art. Content marketing has a specific purpose, which is advertising a product, service or website. Ultimately, content marketing is about making money and attracting consumers.
Why Do Companies Use Content Marketing?
Traditional marketing techniques are about making sales and directly influencing customers to purchase a product or service. Content marketing has a more indirect approach, and it relies on offering consumers useful information. Consider clicking on a website and seeing lots of calls-to-action asking you to buy products. You’d feel pressured and wonder if you were getting value for money, wouldn’t you? Instead of pushing customers, content marketing is about gentle persuasion.
Companies that use content marketing correctly, place satisfaction over sales. When a consumer trusts a brand, they’re more likely to buy products or services from the company. When content is explained to a customer, it has more value than advertising a product. Statistics from the Content Marketing Institute show that content marketing is cheaper than other techniques and gets three times more leads. Therefore so many companies are investing their time and money to improve their content strategies.
It’s a fantastic time to start a career in content marketing and there are plenty of opportunities. If you’re a beginner to the content world, then it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. However, once you’ve had content explained, you’ll see why it’s a great career path.
Content Explained
There are many types of content you can produce, but three key factors define if a piece of content will be successful. Content explained in its purest form must be relevant, have value and stay consistent.
Valuable Content… What is it?
As experienced content marketers, we know how vital producing valuable content is, but how can you define whether content meets the requirements? Valuable content will provide information that readers want to know and promote a brand positively. Here are things you should consider when deciding if your content is valuable.
Relevant to your target audience
Written for individuals instead of generic
Gives people what they want
Is worth sharing on social media
Meets your goals
Create for people and not profit.
How Can My Content Remain Relevant?
When creating relevant content, there are many things to consider. However, the most important thing to remember is your reader comes first. Many new marketers focus on filling their content with keywords but don’t consider how their readers will receive the content. It doesn’t matter how many keywords you have in your content if it doesn’t read well.
Readers like information that remains relevant to current trends and gives them the information they want. Every company should aim to ensure their content is evergreen, so it will continue to rank on search engine results.
Evergreen Content
Many people don’t understand what we mean when we talk about evergreen content. So here’s evergreen content explained.
Content that remains relevant over time and has continuous use to readers is evergreen. Professionals advise that all websites should aim to have a lot of evergreen content, but sometimes content has to be time sensitive. Forms of evergreen content include:
How-to blogs
Product reviews
Tips
Listicles
Instructional videos
A great example of evergreen content is a guide to buying gifts for people. It will include some great ideas such as jewelry and flowers, but it doesn’t have to go into detail about which websites to visit. If an article is about Valentine’s Day, then unless it’s optimized and written to last, it will only be relevant until Valentine’s Day is over.
Creating evergreen content is easy as long as you ensure it will have long-term use and relevance for users. There are plenty of evergreen content explained guides around, including this one from the Digital Marketing Institute.
How Do I Keep My Content Consistent?
When people start content marketing, they believe that variety is the key to a brands success. However, the biggest hurdle any brand has is achieving an authoritative voice within their market. Your content should be written well, have a suitable tone for your target audience and be updated regularly. Consistent content will:
Establish you as a leader within your niche
Build an audience
Rank you higher in search engine results
Increase your traffic
Capture more leads for email lists and product sales.
Now we’ve covered the basics of content marketing, it’s time to think about the various aspects it involves. Here’s the world of content explained in depth, with answers to the most asked questions.
Do I Need to Use Grammar Tools?
You were top of your English class, and your friends always ask you to check their resumes for errors, right? That means you can write, format and publish your work using no tools. Most word processing software has a built-in spell check, but we recommend using specialist tools such as Grammarly.
Grammarly doesn’t just check for spelling errors, it performs a comprehensive analysis of your writing style and suggests improvements. If you use a common word, Grammarly will suggest alternatives to make your writing stand out. You can also set it to evaluate your content based on the tone you’re trying to achieve.
You may think your writing is perfectly polished, but Grammarly or other specialist tools will show you how to improve on it. Using these tools is essential for your success, but many new writers underestimate their importance.
How Do I Research?
Writing for another brand or company means you need to ensure you perform research. Part of this is deciding on the audience you’re writing for and ensuring you achieve the right tone. Here’s conducting research for perfect content explained.
Gain an Understanding
Look at the company you’re writing for and evaluate their services. You can do this by speaking to the company, but make sure you also find reputable external sources. Do the company have positive reviews? What is their USP? Look at similar companies websites and see how you can make the brand stand out.
Find The Purpose
Not all content makes sales. Common goals include driving traffic to the website, building up a mailing list, selling a service or something else. Define your purpose, or speak to the company you’re marketing for to find theirs.
The Audience
Writing for the correct audience is vital for success. There’s no point using a relaxed tone if your audience comprises middle-aged politicians! Use tools like Google Analytics to see your key demographic and how they’re engaging with your content. It should be informative and various audiences will have preferences on how their content is explained.
When Should I Publish?
Your largest audience could be in a different country to you, so there’s no point publishing content when they won’t be online. Social Media is one of the best ways to connect with your audience, so use analytics tools to decide when the best time to post is.
You should also use content calendars to help you organize your strategy. They can help you stay on track and ensure you connect with your audience at the right time. Click here for your content calendar template.
Keywords…
Keyword research is a mystifying process for new content marketers. You’re probably wondering if they’re that important and how we decide on the right keywords. Fear not, because finding keywords isn’t as complex as it might seem.
Keywords For Content Explained
Using a keyword can increase how accessible your content is for new customers. Performing correct research will increase your visibility in search engine results and saves money on other advertising methods. They also mean social media users will find your website and you’ll achieve more engagement.
You know why keywords are important now, but how do you find them?
Keyword Search Volume
Statistics from WordStream suggest that about 70% of website traffic is driven by organic searches. Using the right keywords is so important, and search volumes analytics show you which ones to include in your content. One of the best tools to use is SEM Rush. It gives you a comprehensive look at the best keywords to use and how popular they are.
One thing you should remember is that including only high ranking keywords in your content means you’ll be competing with other brands. It’s important to add a mixture of high-ranking keywords and niche words that will make your content stand out. New websites should use low-volume keywords to build their brand. Once you’ve gained an audience, you’ll be in a better position to use high-ranking keywords.
Many marketers benefit from using long tail keywords when marketing a specific service or product. An example of this would be a local plumbing service trying to increase their customer base.
Local plumbers available 24/7 – Non-specific, which will cause your content to rank lower than companies using the same keyword.
24/7 Plumbers in Kissimmee Florida – Gives you more, and will find the customers you want to attract.
Using Visuals
Visual content explained in its purest form is content that engages users and lets them digest information in an easier way than reading text. Statistics from HubSpot suggest that content with images gets 94% more views. If you don’t add images to your content, it will come across as cluttered or for an academic audience.
There are some fantastic websites that let you use free photos. You can also design your own images at Canva. Check out Pexels for a range of downloadable free images.
Should I Edit My Content?
Yes, always! Editing your content is so important, but often overlooked. Just because Grammarly says it’s perfect, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t assess it yourself. Sometimes we forget to add vital statistics or overload our content with useless information. Never publish your work straight after you’ve finished, wait until the next day. You’ll notice tiny mistakes and have new ideas about how to improve your content.
Two pairs of eyes are always better than one, so get a colleague or friend to look at your work. It’s also helpful to read it out to see if it makes sense. Poorly edited content will impact your image a great deal, and companies won’t hire you again.
How Much Can I Earn?
Content marketing can be very lucrative, and some people make a lot of money. Success in content marketing depends on your ability to build a positive brand image and provide a comprehensive service. If you’re a talented content marketer, then it’s a great time to be in the industry. Plenty of hiring managers are looking for talented individuals, and there’s a lot of competition among companies. This means building your skills, offering a unique service and ensuring you meet customer requirements at all times. New companies benefit from having the advantages and practices of producing content explained to them, so make sure you provide them with the correct information.
Figures published on Marketing Land show content marketer salaries average at $60,000 to $72,000. A few content strategists make over $100,000 per year, so there’s a lot of earning potential. If you offer the right service, you can build your own business and benefit from a regular stream of clients.
Is There a Future For Content Marketing?
With so much technology, including the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, many content marketers question if they have a prosperous future ahead of them. As we’ve established, content marketing isn’t just about writing. There are many ways to market content and adapting to these techniques will ensure you grow with the changing trends.
Video Content Explained
We all love videos and, we’ll see a lot more in the future. Platforms such as YouTube have millions of users around the world, so it’s clear to see why companies use the platform to advertise. In recent years, there has been an influx of explanation videos from content marketers because of YouTube introducing adverts to their service.
How Do I Create Video Content?
Creating compelling video content is difficult, but as long as you consider your audience and appeal to their wants you can use it correctly.
Consider Your Viewers
When you create video content, it’s essential to consider your viewers. Speaking to your audience and not at them will engage them with your content and leave them wanting more. You don’t have to pretend to know your audience and it’s fine to ask them questions. What would they like to know about? Making videos based on their suggestions means viewers will watch and digest your content.
Take People Backstage
Let your viewers see what you do and how you do it! If you want to be an authority within your field, it’s important to show people what makes your company different.
Don’t Bombard Your Viewers
Nobody wants to watch a video that goes into too much depth. People enjoy content that leaves them wanting more, so don’t be afraid to do that. A series of videos will ensure you maintain your viewer numbers and hold people’s interest.
What Traits Do I Need to Be Successful?
So, content explained in the simplest forms has to be; digestible, engaging and useful. You might be a good writer, but there are several traits you should have to be a successful content marketer.
Desire
Do you want to be successful? Struggling authors often try their luck at content writing to make more money. However, if you don’t want to create incredible content, you won’t be able to. Think about the research and planning each piece of content involves. Do you want to build a brands image enough?
Imagination
Creativity is one of the key ingredients for content marketing. Interesting headlines, sub-headings and compelling content all grab a readers attention.
Persistence
Seeing a blog with thousands of visitors will make you believe anything is possible. Remember, it takes time! The biggest brands have been building up their image for years and all companies start with no customers.
Organizational Skills
Planning when to publish your content, performing keyword research and tailoring content to audiences all require organizational skills. Being a good problem solver and prioritizing tasks will enable you to manage multiple content strategies.
Have I Got What it Takes?
Many new content marketers ask the same question, and there’s no definitive answer. Sometimes success within the content world is about finding the right client rather than having the talent. Some clients work with content marketers and support them to grow their skills. The most important thing is to offer a comprehensive service to companies and ensure you provide them with the best advice. Many new brands don’t know how to promote themselves, and will rely on a content marketer to help them navigate the difficult process.
This content explained guide sets the basics of content marketing, but there are many other aspects to consider. With a prosperous future and many interesting aspects of content marketing, there’s never been a time to embark on a career.