A to Z of Content Marketing

ABC of Content Marketing- Forms of Content:

• A is for Articles: Articles are typically pages posted on a website with the intention of informing, education, or helping a visitor in some way. They may be created with the intention of ranking well in search engines, and linked to other articles or resources on the same website to encourage additional reading.

Unlike blog posts, articles are meant to be evergreen, always relevant pieces of content that serve a long term purpose to a website.

If they are well optimized for search, well written and contain the right amount of information and supporting resources, articles alone can be an enormously powerful component of a content marketing campaign. Many websites use articles to improve the likelihood that their company will show up in searches for specific queries or questions. For example, it might be advantageous for a business selling appliances to rank highly in search engines by creating articles to answer questions like “how do I install a television”

• B is for Blogs: The biggest difference between blog posts and articles as mentioned are typically their timeliness. However if one doesn’t have a dedicated section on one’s website for articles, or wants to consolidate all the content to one spot, blog posts can serve basically the same purpose as articles.

A company’s blog can be used for a number of purposes and the posts within it can help with different steps of the sales process. Blog posts about hot topics might serve as the initial introduction to a company, while more in depth how-tos or guides could further educate the visitor and push them to learn more about the business.

• C is for Cartoon/Comic: Social media is a noisy environment creating a challenge to get your content noticed. Hence cartoons and comics are the perfect solution to this. With instant visual appeal, cartoons and comics are effective at grabbing attention while educating, entertaining, and enlightening your audience. Cartoons and Comics have not been new to the world of marketing. Offline content marketing has been very successful because of the visual appeal and connection established by cartoons and comics. Content marketing is all about connecting with your audience and there is no better way than connecting with them through emotions.

Studies have shown that in order to engage with the audiences across digital and non digital channels is most effective with visuals.

• D is for Discussion Boards: A discussion board (discussion group, discussion forum, message board, and online forum) is a general term for any online “bulletin board” where you can leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left. This is the perfect platform to make the engagement more interactive.
• E is for eBooks: EBooks can take a variety of forms. They are useful for conveying research and other information. EBooks are unique marketing tools because they don’t seem like marketing tools- digital eBooks usually exist to provide expertise or entertainment. Not only can companies dictate the information captured in their eBooks, they can also steer the tone. People are bombarded with advertising these days and traditional lead generation sources are providing less ROI — people resist the hard sell when they feel it’s lurking behind every corner. EBooks provide subtle marketing that allows prospects to find you, rather than the other way around.

They’re also affordable to produce. For less than the cost of a full-page, four-color ad in a mid-tier print magazine, a business can hire a writer, design a cover, and publish a lead-generating eBook. These reads don’t have to last hundreds of pages — in fact, a book ranging from 25 to 50 pages is plenty; too long is actually less effective.

• F is for Facebook content: Facebook is a very essential aggregator and a very effective for content generation. The news feed, the search and share features, etc make great content marketing tool.
• G is for games: There is nothing more engaging and interactive than a game. That is one of the reasons why companies such as Disney come up with interactive games with their latest movie characters as participants on the game. For example, Frozen had been launched as a game in a format similar to the popular game The Candy Crush. Similarly the game series of Aladdin, etc were also launched at the time of the movie’s release.
• H is for Help Desk: Today’s consumers are all the time online and are much more informed than their previous generation. Earlier the consumers used to believe in what the sales executive used to tell them about a product or service and not much involvement was seen in the purchase decision. But now the tech savvy generation likes to be thorough in their research to make a purchase. Hence it is imperative for brands to have a FAQ section in order to make it easier to be found in the top searches as many a time’s consumers post questions/queries as a search.
• I is for Infographics: Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. Infographics are so effective in sharing information in a very visually appealing manner. Hence it has gained a lot of popularity in the marketing world. But these days Infographics is being replaced by Gifographics. While Infographics are static and are not so suitable in showing lengthy data, Gifographics saves time and make explanation fun. The only reason why Infographics still has the upper hand is for the simple fact that because of animation in Gifographics, SEO of a website gets affected badly while that doesn’t happen with Infographics.
• J is for Journals: Journals are a more personal form of content. It can be useful for showing the day by day activities or opinions. Alternatively it can be useful in showing a customer or employee’s personal journey. This form of content marketing is very much useful as a CRM tool in order to retain customers. By sharing personalized content with the customer, the engagement increases and the customer feels more connected with the brand and starts becoming loyal. However this technique doesn’t work all the time and with every industry as customers prefer not sharing the data and maintaining their privacy.
• K is for knowledge: The reason for the evolution and the importance of content marketing is because imparting knowledge to the customer has become necessary. If any customer finds any lack of information in the brand’s communication, and happens to find it somewhere else, he/she wouldn’t take time to switch. In order to impart knowledge and information, brands take the help of Infographics, comics, etc to share information.
• L is for LinkedIn content: LinkedIn is the most preferred platform by corporate as major hiring these days occur by initially checking up a candidate’s suitability for the profile from his credentials mentioned in his LinkedIn profile. Moreover for B2B communication as well, LinkedIn is considered crucial. Hence people seeking employment and people trying to link up to other B2B clients try to find as innovative content as possible in order to keep up with the competition.
• M is for Magazine/Micro blogging/Mobile Applications: If everyone thinks that gone are the days where people used to buy magazines for current affairs in business or politics or women buying fashion magazines in order to check the latest trends, then they are highly mistaken. Magazines are still relevant especially in the fashion industry. Brands have various PR activities organized with magazines in order to reach out to the customers on a personal basis. Even though magazines have been replaced by fashion blogs in this industry, the content majorly remains the same.

Micro Blogging refers to mainly Twitter content but even Tumblr has been gaining traction. The main challenge for the likes of Twitter and Tumblr is the restriction of 140 characters for expressing the content. It becomes necessary for content writers to come up with something so catchy but in just 140 characters; so their objective is to convey most of the message in this restricted space.

Mobile Applications are the latest toys in the tech world. Everyone now has a smart phone with an internet connection and wants to be connected to the world everywhere they go. They seek information on their palms and just a click away. Since it became cumbersome to access brands through their websites on the mobile, the brands came up with the concept of mobile applications. Mobile apps are downloaded mainly because of word of mouth publicity. Neilson research shows that around 44-49% people download an app because their friends suggested them that particular app. Hence content generation on this space is tricky and crucial.