Content Marketing Strategy Jumps Onboard in 2014 – GEC Business Review

by Kelvin Wong

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is defined as "a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience.” The end goal or objective is to drive the profitable customer to positive action. 

Content marketing is especially important today because traditional marketing methods have been tuned out by millions. Television advertisements are generally ignored; hence, why people love their DVRs and prefer watching their favourite shows via commercial free instant services like Netflix and Hulu. 

Magazine advertisements aren’t much better as readers are skilled at skimming to the content that interests them, while ignoring the “fluff.” Online advertising has grown even tougher as audiences become more adept at surfing their way to the information that applies to them; ignoring advertisement banners and buttons altogether.

The purpose of content marketing is not only to attract customers, but also to retain them through the consistent creation and acquisition of valuable and relevant content. Clearly, this is an ongoing process that you will likely integrate into your marketing plans or strategies.

Strategy #1

Build Relationships with Your Audience

Social media is huge, and it’s expected to grow larger and larger. It promotes personal relationships and intelligent conversations. One of the strongest success strategies for effective content marketing is building a strong relationship with your audience, making them feel involved and connected. Through social media platforms, SMEs can build relationships with their audience by offering them 2-cents worth opinions, in a way helps them feel a closer connection.

Strategy #2

Tapping Basic Emotions

People who love sports are instantly attracted to a sports-oriented word. Content is very similar, its appearance like headline can elicit an emotional response, and content that triggers an emotional reaction. The quickest way to tap into your audience’s emotions is to use the power of headlines. Headlines are the most crucial element on any page, what they say can make the audience think about reading the rest of content.

Strategy #3

Use Simple Language

The words we chose directly affect the ability of our audience to comprehend and process their meaning. The answer to this strategy is simplicity. A simple language is best, and is next to impossible to screw up. Your choice of content language should be strategic yet simplistic. Long words with complicated sentence structure should be avoided. Not everyone can read and understand college level material, so keeping a lower-literacy user in mind is important. Keep in mind that there is no shame in this.