Content marketing should be the focal point of your marketing efforts. Digital marketing is centered around content, whether it’s creating and publishing articles or sharing material designed to attract new customers.
Marketing experts offer their services to businesses that want to use the power of content marketing to generate sales. As a business owner, you’re well aware of the importance of digital marketing, but you might be struggling to find a content marketing firm that will cater to your needs.
It can be difficult to choose between different providers, especially when there are a lot of options available. That’s why this small guide can help! You’ll learn what to look for in a marketing agency and what content marketing strategies are currently most effective.
Choosing a Content Marketing Firm
While traditional marketing is trying to sell a product, content marketing aims to bring value to customers. Offering products and services isn’t the main focus, but instead, content marketing seeks to provide potential customers valuable information that can lead to a long-term business partnership as a consequence of building rapport and trust. Creating and sharing relevant content can come in many forms, from blogs and videos to interesting case studies.
Relevant content will attract attention from the audience. Consequently, attracting attention will generate leads. Foremost, you need to find a marketing agency that knows this and can help you develop your engagement funnel. Carefully research every option before you trust a company with your time (and money). Think about what you need from content marketing service providers. Then, ask the right questions and choose the one that can meet those needs.
At the beginning of your search for the perfect agency, make a list of possible options. Then, narrow your choices down with quick background checks. Make sure the marketing agency has a quality website and a strong presence on social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. If agencies can’t provide the necessary information and engaging posts for their own business, they probably won’t be able to do so for you.
Likewise, look for testimonials, reviews, and other comments from clients. Once you narrow your choices, schedule a short meeting with each agency. This will help you determine which one you like the most.
Take time to understand the essence of content marketing, so you have clear expectations of what an agency can do for you. In essence, you need someone who will deliver results but also meet your business needs. When you know more about the latest content strategies, you’ll define your needs more clearly, and you’ll have a much easier time choosing the perfect content marketing firm.
Tailoring Your Content Marketing To The Latest Technology
Top tier content marketers know the importance of new technology. The goal is not to keep up with the latest trends but to utilize new tools to create a better content strategy and get better results. Therefore, do your research, talk to your IT team, and see what options you can explore with the new marketing agency.
Analytics tools and email marketing software are the most popular tools available to digital marketers. Almost everyone uses email marketing to grow their audience. Make sure to find out how your marketing agency utilizes these tools.
Further, ask the potential collaborators about email marketing campaigns. Are they creating personalized emails? Is their content interactive? For example, people like the option to use surveys and give feedback. You need interaction with your subscribers, so interactive buttons and customized call-to-action pitches in emails are also crucial.
Email marketing isn’t about using automatization and the newest software to spam your users. You need to create quality content for each mail, so that you get the best feedback in return. The same thing rings true for utilizing analytics tools. It’s not enough to just have access to the technology. You need to use it properly to get results.
Another tip is to look for new trends but not to blindly follow them. If an increasing number of people are responding to videos rather than written text, it’s wise to ask your marketers to focus more time on video content creation. However, if you notice that your target audience doesn’t respond to videos, you shouldn’t force video content on it just because it’s the hottest marketing trend.
Maybe your target audience likes podcasts more? If so, then use podcasts in your marketing strategy. It’s quite simple: find out what your audience needs and deliver value to solve that need. Naturally, marketing specialists should help you with this process.
Don’t base your choice of technology on what other people use. The perfect option for someone else might not work for you. After all, there’s so much quality software available, so feel free to explore (with your business goals in mind) and find out what works for you.
Taking Into Account User Intent
Understanding user intent is crucial in creating the right content strategy for your business. Clients might have a problem or want something, so they search for answers online. Your goal is to provide these answers. Sounds simple in theory, but it’s so much harder in practice. The best marketers, however, will know how to determine user intent and create content around it.
Google recognizes user intent from the keywords used, so it displays the most relevant results.
There are usually four types of search queries online:
- Informational. In these searches, users want to find more information about a particular topic. When someone searches for “birthday party ideas,” she is not looking to buy anything, but rather, is seeking to find creative ideas. You need to deliver informational content if you want to catch the attention of these users.
- Navigational. When individuals type a brand name into a search engine, they are just trying to find a particular website. These users shouldn’t interest you, because they already have one site in mind, and they most likely won’t click on yours.
- Transactional. Commercial intent is the goldmine for businesses! Here, users are looking to buy something, so the keywords are typically “buy something in x city”. Most marketing strategies are focused on this type of a query.
- Investigative. These searches are also very important for businesses. Users want to make a purchase, but they’re still looking for additional information. Around 90% of people research a product before buying it! They read customer reviews, check the specifications, and compare brands. While potential customers won’t buy your product right away, they might come around after some time if you provide them with enough valuable information that makes you unique. So in the long-term, targeting these users is very much worth it.
Think about these types of searches as a long path the user is taking, from creating awareness about something (informational intent) to the purchase itself (transactional intent). Your content should guide the users from one point to another. As you can see, the basic concept of a sales funnel is very important in content marketing.
Matching your content to user intent isn’t always easy, but it’s truly important! There’s too much information available, so if your content doesn’t provide what users want, they’ll just move on to the next option. It doesn’t matter if your link comes up on the first page of the users’ searches. Users won’t click on it, or they might visit your website but only stay for a couple of seconds.
Make sure that your articles, videos, and other content material correspond to the intent of your target audience. Overall, if you provide quality content, you won’t have problems keeping users on your website!
Creating Personalised Content
Personalization is more than targeted marketing. It’s not just about recommending products based on previous purchases or using the first name in email campaigns. Personalization aims at creating relevant content for which users are searching.
Relevant content stimulates users to learn, give feedback, and engage in discussions. It’s targeted at them without being explicitly salesy. Providing value is a great way to grow your audience and increase your brand awareness. This will translate into sales in due time.
Since personalization is essential, try to find an agency that is familiar with your audience niche and that can provide targeted campaigns on a specific topic. You need to build strong relationships with your customers. Share your story but also ask for theirs. Relation to others as an individual with an authentic voice can gather more support for your brand than you can imagine!
Note that personalization means catering to your clients’ needs. For example, a lot of users are searching for things online with their phones. Therefore, make sure to optimize your content marketing for mobile phones as well! Use push notifications for campaigns and prioritize visual content.
Mobile consumers prefer visual content because text-heavy content feels overwhelming on the small-sized phone screens. Infographics, charts, and banners could be more engaging for these types of users.
As already mentioned, some people prefer to watch a video, while others like to scroll through an eBook. There are a lot of ways to find out what your target audience prefers, so feel free to explore. Just remember, if you give customers what they want initially, they’ll come back and give more in return.
Final Thoughts
As more businesses move online to seek customers locally or globally, they need to stay up-to-date with competition and provide valuable content to their prospective clients. Undoubtedly, always looking for new ways to engage with customers isn’t easy, so let us do the heavy lifting! Get in touch with us today, and we will work with you every step of the way to implement the latest content marketing trends that meet your unique business needs.
