Content marketing has been around in some form since the creation of blogs, but it’s only in recent years that content marketing has taken off and become one of the most effective ways to market products and services. If you’re wondering how to use content to drive traffic and sales, this guide will take you through the process step by step. From finding an audience through to writing engaging content and distributing it effectively, we’ll cover it all here. So, are you ready to learn how to use content marketing? Let’s get started!
No matter what industry you’re in, you can bet that content marketing will come in handy at some point or another – and if you want your business to succeed, there’s no better time than now to start utilizing it. Content marketing is an essential part of your marketing strategy if you want to stand out from the crowd; here’s how to use it to drive traffic and sales.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a term used for any marketing that contains articles, photos, videos, or other forms of content. It focuses on creating high-quality and engaging content that educates your audience while simultaneously promoting your brand. Advertising is the most common form of content marketing because it's what most people think of when they hear the term marketing. However, there are many different types of advertising campaigns.
The Importance of Content in Marketing
We live in a time where people are bombarded with advertising from all sides. Whether it's on TV, on the radio, or online, advertising is always there; so much so that we're used to it. But this advertising type doesn't work anymore because people are constantly switching devices and surfing the internet. So how do you reach them? You create content. Content marketing is one of the best ways to market your product or service because it's targeted at an audience that wants what you're selling - they just don't know it yet! And if you provide valuable content, you'll be able to build a brand around yourself (and your product) which will make more customers come back for more.
Why Should I Care About Content?
The first step in content marketing is developing a strategy. You need to decide what kinds of content you are going to create, how often you will produce it, who your target audience is, where you will publish it and which platforms you want to use. Next, develop an editorial calendar so that when the time comes for production, all of your content ideas are ready for execution.
Create a plan for content promotion by setting aside time each day or week just for this task. Finally, evaluate your successes at the end of every month by tracking metrics such as page views, social shares, and conversion rates. From there, adjust your strategy accordingly or decide that it needs to be tweaked or scrapped altogether so that you can focus on other areas of improvement.
Where Can I Learn More?
There are many ways that you can learn about content marketing. You can read blogs, articles, and books on the topic. You can also attend conferences like Inbound. We have a number of awesome resources here at HubSpot that cover content marketing in-depth, including our blog post on how to use content marketing to drive traffic and sales.
Creating Your Own Strategy
One of the most effective ways to market a product or service is through content marketing. The goal of content marketing is not to sell; it is to provide customers with quality information that educates them about your company, its products, and its services. Quality content will help you establish a credible voice as an expert in your field and can help you position yourself as an authority on topics related to your industry. The more valuable the content you create, the more likely it is that others will share it with their audience, which will lead to more traffic for your business.
What This Means for You
- HubSpot's Free Website Grader - a free tool that grades your website on how well it is optimized for search engines and social media marketing.
- Google Analytics - a free service from Google that helps you track your website's traffic, engagement, and conversions.
- Moz's Free Organic Keyword Tool - a free tool from Moz that will help you find keywords related to your content. You can also use their paid keyword tool if you want more features.
- BuzzSumo's Free Search Tool - a free tool from BuzzSumo that lets you see the most shared content by topic or company name.
Helpful Tools & Resources
Here are some helpful content marketing tools, resources, and templates:
- Google Alerts is a tool that notifies you when new articles related to your business or industry have been published online. You can set alerts for keywords, phrases, specific domains, or entire categories of interest.
- Canva is an online graphic design app with pre-made layouts for social media images. With a Canva account, you can create graphics for all of your social media accounts without needing any design skills.
- Buzzsumo is a tool that finds popular content by analyzing what has been shared on major social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, etc.
Whether you’re trying to stand out from your competitors or generate leads, content marketing can help get your message in front of the right people. In this guide to content marketing, you’ll learn how to develop and distribute content that your audience will find engaging, shareable, and relevant—all with the goal of increasing sales and traffic to your business website.