Score! Content marketing is attracting more leads and investment than ever before - if you haven't yet delved into modern tactics, it's time to revolutionise your marketing strategy and spend...
There is an unprecedented amount of money and resources placed in content marketing, although it's a well-known fact that typically speaking these newer marketing forms are both easier to measure and inexpensive in comparison to traditional marketing.
For the first time we can actually see evidence of our marketing efforts and the rate at which they're being used / visited / read / implemented and their success vs. failure rates.
With traditional marketing the levels of spend and success were less stable and it was harder to accurately measure your ROI.
Despite this, content and the measurement and creation of, remains at the forefront of current discussions around marketing.
A recent Guardian Media Network survey revealed that "almost two-thirds of respondents planned to increase their investment in it during 2014 and beyond". Furthermore, there remains an uncertainty in the air around the challenges of content marketing and developing effective strategies.
This is why we suggest great care is taken when strategising and implementing modern content marketing - it's also why we help so many of our clients through this process via both strategy and actual content creation / planning / promoting.
For lots of companies the idea of content marketing / inbound marketing / sponsored content / native advertising / digital content creation is a completely baffling topic. So let's break it down...
Content marketing is the same as inbound marketing and our definition thrives on the belief that you need a user-optimised website that works on all devices, with a strong content strategy in place i.e. a relevant and regularly updated blog with social media connections.
A new beginning for marketing
We no longer clearly define marketers, advertisers and journalists / writers as separate entities, because in this online age we are merging into one.
It is this blurring of lines, services and expectations that leads to people wondering "how can content marketing and its impact be sufficiently measured?"
Simple, we say.
- Using social media tools and metrics programmes we can measure engagement, audience increases and decreases and pick out your strongest messages from the weaker ones.
- Blogs of all kinds come with simple analytics so you know who is visiting, reading and delving deeper into your content. How many people have subscribed?
We need to successfully measure the success rates of content with how much work you're having to do / money you're spending on outsourcing.
Traditional marketing measurements
We used to place ads in the newspaper, use flyers and focus on Google Ads - with the exception of my final point, it's key to understand that these formerly popular marketing methods cost huge £££s.
Today, you'll find national and international brands in the national papers, but who picks up the local newspaper and is that smaller audience the right people to target? There is no measurement for newspaper ad views - the local news industry is dying, in many aspects, across the UK.
Flyers are the same - you cannot possibly measure how many people view that flyer and unless they approach you to buy you'll never know just how many potential buys and actual buys you had.
Although we love designing and printing brochures for clients, they don't work just as a standalone marketing material (although we're biased when we say that the cost, to us, is worth it when it's for a stunning printed publication).
Produce shareable content marketing that thrives
Without a toolbox of marketing techniques - some outbound, mostly inbound - your strategy is key to success - and a well-thought strategical approach is your best chance of marketing success with content.
Start with an overarching strategy and then think about how many content marketing elements you want to take on. Have a digital / online strategy that fits in to your main strategy, but is a separate entity as well. Consider a blogging strategy, like we at Thrive have, to keep you in check and have a strong content creation schedule as part of your overarching strategy.
