Things change over time, including the best ways to market your business. Billboards, commercials, and radio spots still reach customers.
However, for the past few decades, more companies are spending more time and money on content marketing efforts to reach potential customers.
If you’re getting started with content marketing, it’s understandable to have no idea where to begin. That’s what I’m here to help you with.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- What content marketing is
- The benefits of content marketing
- Tips to help you launch a successful content marketing strategy
Table of Contents
What is content marketing?
My favorite way to define content marketing is the creation and sharing of online and offline material to market a business or service to an audience.
I know that definition might sound complicated—I’m going to make getting started with content marketing easier to understand as we continue.
Types of content
For a true understanding of content marketing, it’s beneficial to know how many types of content exist.
- Short-form content: Short-form content can include social media posts, descriptions, and shorter articles. According to Content Marketing Institute, short-form content is on the rise in 2023.
- Long-form content: With content being a great way to reach people, it also creates a situation where businesses put more and more effort into creating content. Long-form content can range anywhere from 1,000 words or more.
- AI-generated content: Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) is popping up everywhere. Some companies and writers use AI to help them during the content creation process.
- Video content: In 2020, there were over 244 million people watching online videos (a total that only looks to increase in upcoming years). YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch are some of the most popular platforms for video-based content.
- Audio content: Audio-based content most often includes podcasts. Companies can also use programs that make audio versions of their text-based content available to visually impaired individuals.
- Visuals: A crucial aspect of getting started with content marketing involves visuals, including things such as images and infographics.
- Interactive content: Go beyond standard content with something interactive. Interactive content can include quizzes, polls, and surveys.
Where to post content
After you create content, you should also post it where others will see it. Here are four platforms you’ll use to share your content.
- Website: These days, almost no content marketing campaigns are complete with websites. Your website is where people come to see your content. It can also be where you direct readers to do something like give you their email or buy a product.
- Emails: Another must-use platform when getting started with content marketing involves emailing. Before you can do that, you’ll need a list of people who opt-in to receive emails from your business.
- Social media: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others remain popular ways to get eyes and ears on your content.
- Content distribution websites: Websites such as Medium, and GrowthHackers are great platforms to share content with interested audiences.
Why content marketing is beneficial
Now that you know the basics of getting started with content marketing, it’s important to know why it’s so beneficial. Here are the benefits of content marketing that make this strategy worth your time.
Building credibility
Content marketing helps a company show up in many places online. As people continue seeing your business appear alongside other (sometimes much larger) companies, it builds credibility in the minds of potential customers.
Increasing traffic
As platforms share content from your company, your business should start gaining more traffic. This traffic can come in the form of people using search engines or finding your business on social media.
Making more revenue
Perhaps the most important benefit of getting started with content marketing is that it can make your business serious money. Relevant content lets readers know more about products and services. In time, your content can generate leads and that turns into revenue.
Generating leads around the clock
Speaking of leads, another great advantage of content marketing is that it helps your business generate leads 24 hours a day.
Let’s say that your business buys television or radio commercials. Will these advertising methods help your target audience learn about your business? Most definitely.
However, traditional marketing strategies will only be seen by certain people at certain times. Did you buy a radio ad to play during rush hour? That’s great, but people will only hear about your business for the length of its commercial.
A blog post or another form of content marketing doesn’t go anywhere. Any person interested in your company’s content can find it whenever they want.
Gaining a large following
A large online following usually also results in people and companies creating user-generated content. User-generated content is images, videos, and other forms of content customers create about your business.
Getting started with content marketing is more beneficial than you might think. Check out my recent list of the top 14 benefits of content marketing.
5 helpful tips while getting started with content marketing
Whether you’re launching a solo content marketing strategy or hiring content marketers, it’s always good to brush up on content marketing tips for beginners.
1. Done is better than perfect
Something I see many new content marketers struggle with is when to hit that “Post” button. In the early stages, it’s easy to be unsure about when something is ready.
I’ll let you in on a secret: most of your target audience will not see these posts. So, don’t worry too much about your content being perfect.
Of course, it’s always good to create high-quality content as you get started with content marketing. Here are several things to keep in mind during the content creation process:
- Link out to other pages on your website. These are internal links and they keep people on your website for as long as possible.
- Also, link out to high-quality sources in your content.
- Include images to break up a lot of text.
2. Be consistent
Consistency is one of the most important things to do when getting started with content marketing. If you look around the internet, you’ll see many websites and blogs.
Sure, almost any business can create or pay another business to create a website. Posting engaging content regularly? That’s not as easy for the average business.
The more quality content your website posts, the more chances your business has to expand its audience.
I can almost promise you that it will take time to build an audience with valuable content. I can also promise there’s almost no better way to build and retain an audience over time.
3. Find your most popular platforms
Another pillar of getting started with content marketing comes from knowing where your most popular platforms are. These are the platforms where posts get likes, shares, and (nice) comments.
Of course, companies launching new content marketing strategies might not have followings yet. That’s where the importance of consistency mentioned earlier comes into play.
In time, you’ll notice that your targeted marketing efforts are reaching people in a few places over others.
4. Create a keyword list
Another thing that will be a major help to new content writers or marketers is a keyword list. This list contains keywords relevant to your business. Does your business sell marketing software? Then, you need a keyword list about marketing software.
Some people or companies might use this time to mention competitiveness. In time, competition is a good metric to use. For now, don’t worry about keyword competition. If your company is just now getting started with content marketing, all keywords will be competitive (for now).
5. Make use of analytics
As you continue posting content, there are almost no content marketing tools more important than those providing analytical information. This subject might seem complicated, but it’s not.
Analytic-related information lets you know how many times your content shows up, how many people read it, and other essential information. Social media platforms, content distribution websites, and email marketing tools all provide analytical information.
Thanks for checking out this guide to getting started with content marketing. If you’d like to learn more about this topic, you’re at the right place. Content Marketing Life is an inside look at content marketing from someone who’s spent 10 years working in this industry.
Alex Eagleton is a copywriter and digital marketer passionate about helping companies connect with customers. Throughout the past decade, he’s worked with companies including Referral Rock, Connecteam, and Ramsey Solutions. He’s a versatile writer who understands how to align with companies, truly matching their voices and tones.
When he’s not writing, he enjoys spending time with his dogs, reading, and playing guitar.
You can reach him by emailing alex@contentmarketinglife.com.