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What is Content Marketing?
When I first started as an intern at TargetClick, I did a little bit of everything. I dabbled in Reputation Management by responding to dealership reviews. I planned posts and did reporting for social media accounts. I wrote a lot of miscellaneous things like webpage content, blog posts, whitepapers and more. Out of everything I was doing, writing was my strong suit and it was the component that I enjoyed the most. Based on both of these things, it was determined that “Content” would be my division and “Content Marketing Manager” would be my title.
What exactly does that mean? What is content marketing anyway? The Content Marketing Institute definition reads: “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”
Let me break that down for you.
Traditional marketing efforts have become less effective with time, as consumers realize when they are being sold something. This is exactly why we channel surf when our program is interrupted for a commercial break, or pay for a Spotify subscription to escape the endless droning of ads. We want to enjoy what we’re doing without being sold something.
Content marketing is a way to communicate with your customer base and potential buyers without a hard sell. Rather than simply supplying your customers with a pitch for your product, content marketing provides them with relevant and valuable information.
There are a number of ways we implement digital content strategies here at TargetClick. One of them is blogging for our clients. Part of our content strategy is to plan blog posts around keywords that potential customers may be searching for, and then write blog topics based on these search queries that will provide them with the information they seek.
An example of this would be an “AWD vs 4WD” blog post we recently published for a Honda client. It is incredibly likely that a person searching for the difference between these two drivetrains may be somewhere in the funnel of purchasing a new vehicle and trying to narrow down their decision. This blog post is optimized for search terms like “AWD vs 4WD” and is written to educate and inform consumers about the difference between the two. Two Honda models are used to explain each drivetrain, and links to the dealer’s inventory are included in the blog post.
It’s not intrusive, as this type of marketing doesn’t interfere with a customer’s browsing experience. Instead, content marketing simply connects an audience with the answers they are already searching for. At the same time, it builds your brand and trust with your customers by providing them with consistent and valuable information.
If you are interested in new ways to communicate with your customers, contact lenna.curry@mudd.com about content marketing strategies for your business.
