As SEO evolved over the past year, the focus shifted to content creation rather than simply advertising directly to consumers. But just what is content marketing? In short, it’s the creation of content — images, articles, videos and infographics, among other content types — for consumer information and entertainment. This provides a reason for consumers to visit your site even if they’re not necessarily ready to buy right now.
The aim to creative engaging content isn’t just about getting views, however. Successful content marketing encourages others to share your content. This typically takes place on social networks such as Facebook or Google+. Not only does this help a company’s search engine optimization efforts, but it also gets people talking about your company. It may even help people who were previously unfamiliar with your brand, products or service discover you through word of mouth from their contacts.
Furthermore, content marketing helps shoppers make a decision. The content that you’re creating for your eCommerce website’s blog might include reviews or buying guides, for example. Infographics are a type of content that have become especially popular over the last year or two. They’re visually appealing to visitors and easy to share on social networks. Similarly, submitted infographics to other websites allows people to post them to blogs on their own domains or reblog them on Tumblr. A variety of companies have decided to enter the content creation game with infographics.
Successful Examples of Content Marketing:
If you’ve ever seen the “Will It Blend?” series on YouTube, you’re already familiar with the concept. BlendTec puts all sorts of items, ranging from electronics to human skulls, into their blenders to answer the question “Will it blend?” Seeing the powerful blenders in action certainly helps the company, but content marketing involves much more than that.
Home Depot is another company that knows how to do content marketing correctly. The company’s YouTube channel includes content that’s filtered by region. So if you’re in an area where winter hits hard, you might find tips to winterize your home while people whose homes have to withstand hurricane season will find information to make sure windows and roofs can withstand the torrential rain and wind.
These two examples use different methods. “Will It Blend?” is intended as mainly an entertainment venue, while Home Depot’s YouTube videos take on content marketing from an educational standpoint. Google is especially fond of content that provides answers to questions that searchers may have, so the home improvement store was right on the money when it started the video channel.
Content Marketing for Every Industry
One thing that’s true with infographics and content marketing in general is that your industry really doesn’t matter. Even if you don’t work directly with consumers, you can still educate or entertain them through videos, blog posts and podcasts that your company creates or sponsors. Retailers, products or consumer goods, restaurants and even airlines have all benefited from content marketing, which has only gotten easier with the rise of social media.
