Content marketing involves the process of creating quality and relevant content by the organizations to build awareness and engagement for their brand. Is content important for creating brand awareness? The answer is a BIG YES. The reason behind it is the rise in the popularity of social media platforms and other online media channels among consumers which have contributed to the increased importance of content marketing. So, just making quality content is not enough. What is important is to find appropriate ways to market that content through different available channels. Blog, Instagram, Pinterest Boards, Facebook Posts, LinkedIn Posts, and Tweets on Twitter are some of the most popular channels used for content marketing.
Content Marketing
Unique Features of Content Marketing with Examples
Advertising Vs. Content Marketing
Do not confuse content marketing with advertising. In fact, content marketing is the exact opposite of advertising. In content marketing the needs of the consumer are kept into consideration and based on that information quality content is created by the organizations. Companies are making use of social media tools like Facebook posts and Tweets on Twitter, in order to catch the attention of their prospective consumers. Whether you see a company blog or a company’s Facebook page, you will find some relevant user-friendly latest information you are looking for as a consumer.
One such example is American Express which has around 5 million likes on their Facebook page. American Express understands that images get more attention than text, and this effort can be seen very well in their image rich Facebook posts which turn out to be visually appealing for most of their consumers. They use the concept of visual content marketing, which involves posting images from the year 1890, when American Express actually came into existence.
Providing the most sought-after experience to the Consumer
Advertising mostly looks at providing an experience that is driven by market competition. On the other hand, Content marketing looks at providing an experience that focuses on what a consumer wants from a brand. So, the main job of content marketing is to provide information about what a consumer wants, rather than distracting him or her with some other irrelevant information.
IBM uses the Big data and Analytics Hub to provide data related information to its consumers. This information is optimized for sharing on various platforms. The company does not focus only on providing products related information, instead it uses a whole mix of images, videos, blogs, podcasts, reports, infographics and animation to create informational content for the users. This content is conversational in nature and this makes the experience relevant for the user.
Content Marketing involves Human Touch
Human Touch is an Essential Part of Content Marketing
Technology has provided all the organizations with the comfort of collecting and analyzing complex data with the help of various AI and data analysis tools available in the market. But is it enough to create engaging content for users? The answer is No, as Technology and humans need to work together to create thoughtful and relevant content for the users.
Coca Cola uses Pinterest Boards to communicate the message to the users. It works on delivering its promise of “discovering moments of happiness, one picture at a time”. Coco Cola uses the images generated through its Flickr Page to engage the audiences on the Pinterest boards. They also consistently make use of their popular brand colors: Red and Black to increase their brand recall in the minds of the consumer.
Content Marketing is not a Push Strategy. It is a Pull Strategy
Push Strategy is involved where the consumer is made aware of certain products which might not be his or her need in that particular moment in time. Content marketing on the other hand involves creating such informational content that pulls the consumer towards the brand. The consumer should visit the blog or the social media page of the company for the relevant information that he or she is looking for.
IBM’s Resource Center is a perfect example of Pull Strategy. The resource center developed by IBM is a library of resources in the form of case studies, education or training material for their consumers. This helps them to establish their authority in the technical field.
Disney also provides information to its consumers through its blog. They provide regular updated information about the brand, their latest services and the environment conservation practices of the brand.
So, content marketing is a very helpful tool for creating brand awareness in the market. Companies use a mix of all the available social media tools and content publishing tools to create the best content marketing strategy to achieve their respective goals.
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