Content marketing is the process and practice of creating, curating and cultivating text, video, images, graphics, e-books, white papers and other content assets that are distributed through paid, owned and earned media. These assets are used to tell stories that help brands build and nurture relationships with customers, prospects and other audiences to drive awareness, generate demand, influence preference and build loyalty. (Gartner Glossary, 2021)

Content marketing – now a necessity

Today Google performs 79 000 searches every second, with 15% of these being unique, novel requests. This means roughly one in every seven searches reflects a brand-new trend or development somewhere in the world. In order to find pockets of growth and opportunity. marketers need to be vigilant in identifying trends and positioning existing content assets in a way that will meet rapidly evolving customer needs. (Gartner CMO, 2021) 

In the current digital age content fuels every customer experience along the customer journey (progressing through each customer touchpoint). The largest portion of your target audience spends time online either on various platforms searching for the best product or service to address their needs, or is already engaging with your business via your website, social media presence, over email, WhatsApp, your chat bot or telephonically. 

Building a sustainable content supply chain aligned with your business goals should be a strategic business priority.

Consistent messaging across channels to build brands, nurture relationships with customers, prospects and other audiences to drive awareness, generate demand, influence preference and build loyalty is one of the most important ways to establish a strong and consistent brand – always remaining in front of your customers and prospects. 

Don’t delay, start today!

If your business has not yet taken a 360-degree approach to developing and implementing an effective, differentiated and adaptable content marketing strategy, you will definitely be left behind, losing market share as well as existing, even loyal customers. 

It is no longer about who has the best product or service and the best price. Competition is all about the amount of knowledge a customer can gain, brand reputation and the customers’ experience along the journey as they obtain more information about your product/service. The ease with which current and potential customers can acquire information about after-sales support and service is vital for future re-, up- and cross-selling.   

The purpose of marketing content is to:

• Inform: to create brand awareness of your products and services.
• Educate: educate your audience about various aspects of your services and products.
• Engagement: encourage engagement with your audience to entice them to read/download/listen to more information and get in touch. Make sure your content and/or your channel contains various easy-to-access calls to actions (CTAs).
• Brand building: build your brand and develop loyal brand ambassadors who will reshare your content to increase your reach and eventually generate leads.
• Brand positioning: regular high-quality content can help position your brand and key personnel as thought and as industry leaders, differentiating you from your competitors.
• Brand reputation: quality, frequent content builds trust and loyalty. Share customer success stories, articles, case studies and white papers to build and improve your brand reputation.
• Lead generation: create goodwill by offering free content to generate leads to add to your sales funnel for remarketing and conversion into first sales, or via up- and cross-selling.

Content can be shared in various formats that are most suitable for each platform and its audience to achieve the objectives above. Some examples include, but are not limited to, video, podcasts, e-books, infographics, images, thought/opinion leader articles or whitepapers, success stories, testimonials and case studies.

Establish an effective content marketing programme and strategy today.

Attracting, acquiring and retaining customers takes the right content marketing strategy. It all starts by identifying and understanding your target audience(s) for each product and/or service, determining the most relevant, trending content, content formats and channels/touchpoints to accelerate your business growth. 

The creation of effective content to achieve your objectives, shared regularly in various (and appropriate) formats along your customer journey, is crucial to the execution of a successful content strategy. 

How Big Idea can help you!

Big Idea is a highly experienced content, marketing and PR agency servicing a wide range of industries. Our collaborative network of creatives offers a wide range of content marketing services, from consulting, content marketing strategy, content writing and creation (including production) to execution, monitoring, management and adaptation of your content schedule and plan. 

Contact Big Idea today for a free, informal discussion about your content requirements.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +27 82 789 6583