Content Marketing

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a long-term building of relations with recipients by sharing valuable content with them. The basic activities that fall within its scope are: creation, distribution and promotion of content. The purpose of content marketing is to build a special bond with the brand's audience, making it easier for them to make purchasing decisions regarding the products or services offered by the brand.

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At Performance Labs we treat content marketing as a combination of creative work, SEO, PR and brand image management. It is an opportunity thanks to which you can establish relations with the Client at various stages of the sales funnel. What is more, with the help of content marketing you can focus the Client's attention exactly when he needs your help.

As many as 95% of B2B customers find content credible when evaluating a company and its offers!

Not sure why you actually need content marketing? These figures will prove you DO!

• Before making a purchase decision, consumers consume on average over 11 different pieces of online content
• as many as 86% of consumers start their "buying journey" with a query unrelated to any brand
• 95% of B2B customers consider content to be reliable when evaluating a company and its offers
• More than half of Polish internet users use adblockers, i.e. they do not display ads

The scope of content marketing. Discover what's most important

Did you know that the effectiveness of content is influenced by many small elements such as: the length of paragraphs, the presence of specific phrases, and even where you publish your articles? Content marketing is a broad field consisting of many narrow issues. Here is the scope of content marketing:

• audit of content marketing activities of your brand and your competitors
• content gap analysis
• running a blog - planning and creating articles
• optimisation of articles in terms of SEO
• analysis in terms of media content purchase
• developing sponsored articles
• designing and editing of e-books and reports
• developing graphic design: banners, posts, animations
• production of animations, visuals and infographics
• protection of your brand's reputation
• cooperation with influencers and bloggers

Using different types of content in content marketing

A good content marketing plan is not limited to writing articles. Instead, it tries to incorporate different types of content. This allows the brand to communicate with customers spending time in different online marketing channels. Below you will find a brief description of 8 popular types of content marketing.

Infographics

Ever had a big industry report that you wanted to distribute in a short and punchy form? That's what infographics are for. Using interestingly presented diagrams and numbers, you can explain the most intricate data to your audience. It's a brilliant tool for those who get tired of reading whitepapers, studies, reports and simply don't have patience for blocks of text and numbers.

Product and service reviews

Nothing will convince a potential customer of your product or service more if not the experience of someone who has already bought it. Whether the customer service during the purchase was helpful, whether the product was delivered reliably, and finally, whether the functionality that the manufacturer or shop owner praises so much is really on such a high level - these things the customer wants to learn directly from your present customers. This is why acquiring this type of product/service review is worth its weight in gold in content marketing.

Industry research and reports

If you provide services for B2B, your customers may prefer slightly different content than individual shoppers. That's why your blog and social media profiles should include interesting industry data - research and reports that will be a good guide for your customers on how to develop their business. By the way, you can show them how to achieve specific business goals using your services or products.

FAQ ( Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQs are the type of content that you can publish in various forms on your media. One of the places where this element most often appears is on your website. A well-designed "Frequently Asked Questions" section should include actual queries that your customers type into a search engine. This is also the type of content that is welcomed by Google's algorithm. The search engine often highlights this element in the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

Case Studies

This is also the type of content that works well in the B2B industry. Many case studies which a company can boast about are proof that it is experienced and has learned its lesson in the subject it deals with. Presenting the company's problem and how it was solved with the help of a specific product or service can have a great image effect. efekt.

InstaStories and TikTocks

Where do people currently spend their free time? Probably on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. This is why you should also use these social media in your brand communication. InstaStories - short video reports (e.g. from your brand's life) - are a great Instagram feature that allows you to find out the real needs of your audience, as well as to test different styles of communicating with them. With TikTocks, on the other hand, you can talk about your product or service in a humorous yet impactful way.

Webinars and podcasts

Did you know that you can educate your customers and deliver real value to them without the need for expensive real-world training? Freewebinars and podcastscan be an effective way to deliver knowledge to your customers. During them you can use your application or product to discuss a particular issue.

Ebooks & Audiobooks

Ebooks & Audiobooks are an ideal form of content for fast-paced audiences or those who spend most of their time using computers and mobile devices.

List of 23 popular content types in content marketing

What good content means in content marketing

How to define the characteristics of good content is fluid and dependent on the changing ways of consuming the Internet, as well as search engine algorithms following these trends. The current determinant of good content is Google's E.A.T (abbreviation from the first letters of English words: expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness), which gives preference to:

• Expertise – content whose authors on the page are experts in a given industry or collaborate with them. One of the steps to optimise texts for this purpose is to add author’s bio boxes with data about their authors.
• Authoritativeness – content on pages which are an authority in their field. It may be determined by the level of discussion in the comments.
• Trustworthiness – content on pages that are trustworthy. The basis in this context is the implementation of an SSL security certificate confirming the reliability of the domain.

Content marketing and viral marketing

Content marketing has a lot in common with viral marketing. It aims to build a strong brand for a product, service or company. How does it do this? First of all, it encourages your audience to share material related to your service, product or brand. Precisely because viral marketing is based on natural recommendations and customer referrals, it is also so effective. Content marketing works on a similar basis. If valuable content starts appearing on your communication channels, customers will have no problem sharing it with others.

Content distribution in content marketing

The content marketing strategy that we prepare for our Clients - apart from creation - also includes content distribution. It is this element that decides how large a group your article, video or infographic will reach. Content distribution is carried out through:

• Owned media – your own channels (social media, website, blog, newsletter)
• Paid media – paid channels (sponsored articles)
• Earned media – through messages generated by the recipients

We act prospectively - the content marketing strategy is the foundation of our work!

All content marketing activities we have mentioned above! That is why, at the beginning of cooperation with a brand, we will conduct an audit of current marketing activities and an audit of competition's activities. On this basis, we will identify areas where our help is needed! We like to work for our Clients from a perspective, and the basis of our work is the content marketing strategy. We will determine where we are going, what kind of activities we will undertake, and how we will measure their effects. Apart from the strategy, we will create plans of content marketing activities, so that you always know where we are at the moment.

Good content marketing means greater online visibility

You need to know that only well-crafted content increases the visibility of your brand on the Internet. Google's algorithm gives preference to good quality texts, and hides unreliable ones deep in the depths of search results. It uses the aforementioned E.A.T. to assess this "quality" and also takes into account various other factors such as: keywords, optimised images, content of titles and sub-headings, headings, presence of CTAs, speed of the sub-page on which the content is placed, adaptation of the content to people with disabilities, font size and type, etc.

Well thought-out content marketing means more traffic and sales

Recipients at different stages of the sales funnel are looking for different types of content on the internet. Knowing this, we tailor the content we create precisely to their specific intentions. Imagine that you sell cameras. You will have to create a different text for people who are just getting to know the topic of SLR cameras, another for people who are looking for a specific model, and yet another for people who are looking for comparisons of the best camera models for vlogging. Thoughtful and tailored content means a better chance of sales!

How will we run a blog to overtake your competition?

Before we prepare a plan of articles for your blog, we will thoroughly analyse your competitors' actions. Thanks to the content gap analysis, we will show you what content your competitors do not have. We will also assess which articles of your competitors generate the most traffic and rank in the TOP10 for selected keywords. The next stage will be creating and implementing periodic plans, thanks to which your blog will be able to effectively compete with blogs of other brands.

A brand that talks to its customers is always better than a brand that only talks about itself

Your customers have long since stopped believing common platitudes such as: "we provide comprehensive services", or "our team is characterised by expertise and extensive experience". Instead of these types of messages, they are looking for answers to questions that are important to them, such as: "how much money will this product save me in the future?", "how often does it need to be serviced?", "are you sure it will be useful in my work?". To start a conversation with your customer, you need to try to step into their shoes and identify the doubts that are holding them back from deciding to buy a particular product. Our content marketing team will tailor the type of communication to your customers and implement it across all your brand communication channels.

How do we measure effectiveness of content marketing?

We measure the effects of content marketing according to KPI (Key Performance Indicators), which we define together with you. For this purpose, we connect your website to professional tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, ahrefs, etc. Examples of content marketing KPIs include: number of unique users (UU), number of inbound links, number of content shares, number of newsletter sign-ups, number of guide downloads, number of brand searches, number of page visits, user engagement - e.g. number of transactions, number of comments, average article ratings, number of new and returning viewers, percentage share of each traffic source, average session duration, number of pages per session.

What benefits will you gain from thoughtful content marketing?

The Internet is increasingly suffering from a lack of reliable and credible content. This is what your potential customers are looking for. By publishing valuable content, you enable your audience to find reliable information. This will obviously help you to increase traffic to your website, but not only. Conducting content marketing activities for our clients, we help them build an expert brand image, establish positive relationships with customers and, using the so-called synergy effect, reduce the cost of other digital marketing activities.

Here are the benefits you will gain thanks to content marketing:

• Increased audience engagement. The more time your prospects spend on your website, the less time they spend on your competitors' websites. That's why we make it a priority to create content that attracts as many visitors as possible for as long as possible. Thanks to longer exposure of the recipient to the published content, the brand has a chance to jump to the so-called short list in their subconscious. When the time comes for the recipient to make a purchase decision, they are more likely to become your customer.
• Greater reach. The content we create for you is created based on the principle of diversification of publication channels and types of content. We arrange it based on the specific stages of your sales funnel. A customer who is just gathering information on a given topic will look for different content, while a person who is already considering the choice of a particular product model will look for a different one.
• Increase sales and the number of loyal customers. An important force in marketing is the power of habit. Content for the blog, sponsored articles and your brand's social media channels are created by industry specialists with whom we work. This allows us to accustom your audience to reliable and professional content. Thanks to them, it will be easier for them to make the right choice, e.g. while shopping in an online shop. In this way, we will make them return to your website regularly in search of reliable information.
• More opportunities to interact with the brand. Let's face it - you're in business every day - from dawn to dusk. That's why you don't have time to create content for your blog + prepare creations for social media on your own. On the other hand, if you are not present in the social media in which your competitors operate, you voluntarily give them the playing field. And the stakes in this game are very high! Thanks to media such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok, your audience can regularly comment, ask you questions and participate in the life of your brand. Not infrequently, they make purchasing decisions under the influence of social media. That is why we prepare and execute the strategy of social media presence for our Clients. For this purpose, we create content whose main task is to interact between the brand and its recipients.

Content marketing - summary

Content marketing should always be planned for the long term and based on a specific strategy. It just so happens that we've been conducting such activities for our clients for years. If you have no idea how to present your brand or you notice that your competitors with cool content are taking away your customers - write to us or call us. We will conduct a content marketing audit of your brand and plan further actions.

Bibliography

• Growth Juice: How to Grow Your Sales - John A. Weber, 2013
• Authentic Content Marketing: Build An Engaged Audience For Your Personal Brand Through Integrity & Generosity - George Kao, 2017
• More Good Jobs: An Entrepreneur's Action Plan to Create Change in Your Community - Martin Babinec, 2020
• Raport Content Marketing - interkatywnie.com, 2020

Przemysław Trzepla

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Senior Project Manger