Content Marketing Institute redefines content marketing as “the strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and drive customer action.” So it’s not just about writing a bunch of articles because that’s just a waste of time.
Good content takes time
Here are three things you need to know now about content marketing:
1. Good content takes time.
You need a budget and dedication to invest in content marketing. It might take six months to a year before you see results. Because creating good content takes time. So does building an audience. And taking them through the sales funnel is not exactly a speedy process.
2. Your content has to be worth reading and sharing.
SEO is important. But writing just for the sake of it will not make your content worth reading and sharing. You need great writers who can clearly convey the subject matter to laymen. You need creative graphic designers who, without being told, have the ability to translate copy into images, infographics, and other visuals. A finely written blog post is better than 100 weak ones that do nothing to meet your audience’s needs, and by extension, do zilch for your business goals.
3. Content marketing is a process.
It’s not an “overnight affair.” It takes commitment and more than two or three channels. It involves blogs, email marketing, ebooks, case studies, social media, webinars, podcasts, and videos. It even spills out into the offline world, with in-person events and speaking engagements.
