Introduction
Content marketing is a mammoth task for any business
If you’re reading this, you’re probably familiar with the usual headaches:
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- Content strategy
- Writing and design
- Testing and optimising
- Monitoring ROI
It doesn’t help that each step requires unique skill sets and experience, on top of being familiar with your industry.
As a result, marketing teams tend to get overloaded wearing so many hats — leading to burn out and oftentimes, ineffective content marketing.
If this is the case, why is content marketing so important?
The answer is multifaceted, but the bottom line is, it’s a marketing strategy with longevity that when done correctly, hits many KPIs.
In a nutshell, content marketing:
- Engages your audience by delivering value and building loyalty
- Improves brand visibility and awareness
- Acts as a passive lead generation tool
- Provides customer education, improving general knowledge about brands
- Offers long term value, attracting new customers and become more cost-effective over time
It is because these benefits are so irresistible, that businesses cannot help but be drawn to the fruits of content marketing when done correctly.
So the question is — how can businesses put the right systems in place for effective content marketing that delivers results?
At EpicNgage, we specialise in content marketing for businesses of all segments
So we’ve narrowed down 3 key pillars all businesses must become experts in for content marketing success.
If you’re interested to go beyond this article and learn more, get in touch with us here!
1. Knowing how to use the right content marketing tools
In the information/AI era, getting your grounding right with content marketing is a matter of understanding and picking the right tools in:
- Copywriting
- Graphic design
- Marketing funnels
- Content management
- Research tools
- Analytics tools
- Calendars and timelines
Even with the sheer number of tools there are to cover in a single article, let’s focus on how we can, for example, leverage generative AI models such as ChatGPT to write content.
While ChatGPT is all the rage in churning out content — the long form content it generates isn’t very exciting, readable, or user friendly.
What it’s great at is delivering specific responses to specific questions.
This makes it amazing at:
- Information gathering
- Simplifying complex topics
- Writing short form content like promos on social media
Googling information can only take you so far — while Google tries to detect intent with its search engine, ChatGPT effectively uses the parameters you provide to deliver laser-accurate info.
Of course, ChatGPT is not infallible, it has been found to provide inaccurate information requiring a failsafe or second layer in your content marketing protocol.
Not sure of the industry terms to use or don’t understand topics?
Simplify with ChatGPT first, ask queries to probe further, then fact-check.
In this instance, we see that while ChatGPT is just one tool in a whole toolbox, the method in which you use it, impacts the product greatly.
So what does this look like for other tools?
Another example we can look at is Mailchimp, usually used to broadcast emails to a database.
In this instance, what if you could go beyond segmenting your customer list, and instead use Mailchimp to drive social media traffic which existing customers may not be engaging you on?
Whether it’s a graphic design tool, or Google Analytics, being able to find different uses for your tools is key to a strong content marketing strategy.
2. Building the right content marketing funnel
Next, as your content is being delivered and provides value, you must ensure that your customers are able to take consistent action.
So let’s bring back our Mailchimp example.
Some customers which are undecided or “fence sitters” towards your product, can you deliver a Buy Now, Pay Later promo specially for them?
Or can you create an e-commerce site specially dedicated to your international audience while you drive store traffic from your local audience?
In this instance, we see that we’ve taken a step beyond the content marketing tools and started buying into processes that actually enable purchases.
We can visualise this into a flow chart where we see how each step impacts the customer buying decision:
At the end of the day, content marketing is only as valuable as the actions they drive.
If you were to put out an article talking about product alternatives, don’t leave the value only at that point.
Give customers an incentive to make the first purchase, be it through free delivery when they order online, or a discount by paying through instalments.
3. Growing a strong content marketing network
Among the media types, shared and earned media are the ones that typically catch the most eyeballs simply because they leverage other business audiences.
One way EpicNgage consistently delivers results for our clients is via a content marketing network.
Together with e-commerce and influencer marketing solutions providers, any content created for businesses is easily amplified through these channels.
On top of that, the content is value-added with additional propositions businesses can choose to undertake — should they fall in line with the original content marketing strategy.
This is part of a broader strategy beginning with a hyper localised community.
Businesses big and small can learn about the wider ecosystem of businesses surrounding them, and exchange content ideas through relevant masterclasses and marketing solution workshops.
For instance, all businesses are used to using Facebook, LinkedIn, and possibly even TikTok to advertise their business.
But are they being used in the right way?
These tools can be learned easily, but how to effectively leverage your content as mentioned in point #1 is often something businesses struggle with.
Understanding how surrounding businesses amplify their content through these avenues can give you more ideas to build upon your existing content marketing strategy.
Another avenue for businesses to push their content marketing further is through influencer and owned media communities.
From Telegram channels to paid collaborations, these efforts must be on-going for effective outreach and engagement within relevant communities.
As a part of EpicNgage’s on-going efforts to encourage such initiatives, they launched Digital Business Society — which held their very first meeting on 4 June.
