If you are creating content for blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos etc., you are already into content marketing anyway. However, the strategy involves much more than just writing a few words. So, what is content marketing? And how does it help businesses scale?

In simple terms, the approach enables businesses to establish their expertise in their field of interest. This, in turn, increases the company’s brand awareness among the target audiences. And there are plenty of perks of being in the good books of your customers, isn’t it?

However, to reap the benefit of content marketing, you must understand the basics of this strategy. From getting to know your customers to preparing content that talks about the solution to their pain, the approach takes a lot of effort. 

In this article, I have covered almost everything you require to get started with content marketing. So, without any further ado, let’s get going.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing entails the creation and release of relevant as well as useful content using various writing styles. That said whether, in the form of blogs, white papers, newsletters, or emails, content must connect with your audience. 

When done precisely, this approach could instil you as the thoughtful leader within your niche that values customers. And as you expect, customers usually prefer companies that think about their problems.  

In other words, consistently distributing meaningful content helps nurture your relationship with prospective as well as existing customers. 

Is Content Marketing Worth a Try?

If you are still sceptical about investing time and money in content marketing, here are some data to help you make the right decision.

• According to Semrush, about 79% of marketers prefer content marketing for generating quality leads.
• 60% of marketers write a minimum of one content piece every day
• As per the 2014 review by the Altimeter, almost 57% of marketers carried custom content as the top marketing approach

By now, you must have made up your mind to try content marketing. The question is: ‘HOW’? Well, the answer is in the content marketing funnel that you must be using to attract customers and clients. 

What is a Content Marketing Funnel?

The ideology behind creating content is to motivate readers to take some action. Almost all the content that we consume online is written with a purpose. Either it asks users to buy something or sign up for a newsletter or service or learn more about offerings. 

The task of the content marketing funnel is to analyze the route taken by the users when making a purchase. This essentially is the most crucial part of the entire content marketing strategy.

Therefore, it is imperative to understand the content marketing funnel. A funnel will take you through the various stages of this marketing strategy. Finally, you will be able to fabricate content for different stages of the funnel, from discovery to purchase of products and services. 

Awareness 

This is where you target the major concerns of your target audience. Hence, you must look for your customers’ challenges, and probable questions to start engaging them with your brand. 

In short, your content must be educational and full of valuable advice. The various content types used in this stage are blogs, e-books, infographics, podcasts and social media posts. You can use a mix of a few choices to see which one works best for your business model. 

Utilize various metrics to find out the successful engagement your content is generating. Do not forget to sync up your content with Google Analytics to get a detailed overview. 

Evaluation

Once the customers know that you understand their problems, they would like to consider your business based on your expertise. 

Simply put, customers will try to dig deeper to find out reasons to trust your business. Hence, you must create content to demonstrate your expertise and why you are the best choice. 

For this stage, you can fabricate case studies, emails, webinars, and whitepapers. If your content is apt, your prospects will move to the next stage. Depending on how many responses you create here will determine the success of your Evaluation stage. 

Closure

Before purchasing, the prospects would once again like to know the reason for selecting you over others. You have already built trust and proved your expertise. Now it is time to help them finalize their buying decision.

Frankly speaking, here you must talk about the service your customers would receive by becoming a part of your organization. Hence, you can attract them by writing buyer’s guide, creating products’ videos and how-to articles. 

Delight

Natively, this stage isn’t a part of the basic funnel. However, companies have been able to increase their sales by including this stage to delight customers. 

The idea is to build an audience and keep them with your brand for as long as possible. Hence, the efforts do not end after the closure stage.  

You can use content to keep your existing customers always connected. Such as emails notifications about offers and new products or asking them for feedback.

The Takeaway

Did I get you the answer for: What is content marketing? Well, the strategy is more about experiencing it yourself. Whatever knowledge you gather about the topic, you can never master the approach unless you try using it. Hence, if you have got a gist of what content marketing can uncover for you, it’s time to frame yours.