You can build consumer trust with a content marketing strategy. All content is aimed not so much at presenting a product or service in a favorable light, but at providing useful information. This is the constant generation of content that is relevant and interesting to users.
Unfortunately, business leaders do not always understand that the effect of publishing content is not immediately visible. As a result, it is often believed that this tool is completely useless. But, it turns out, the whole point is in the long-term effect, the gradual development of content and a growing focus on the audience.
The most native (natural) formats are usually video reviews, podcasts, and text content. The trick is that the product or service should fit into the context of the publication as harmoniously as possible and supplement the basic information about the service/product with benefits for the reader/viewer.
Content Marketing Goals:
• Increasing brand awareness;
• Attracting traffic;
• Increased loyalty;
• Lead generation;
• Nurturing leads;
• Increase in target audience;
• Increased customer engagement;
• Reactivation of passive clients.
Well, it seems to be useful in general … But why business?
Each person has their own information field and the data from which it consists influences the decision to purchase on a psychological level. Moreover, most buyers tend to trust familiar brands, and useful content helps to remind them of the brand. Demand Gen Report research found that 47% of shoppers view three to five posts before purchasing a product or service.
Brand establishment
Brand establishment is a long-term process, and content marketing is a faithful assistant on the way “through hardships to the stars”. It is possible to build a company brand solely through the publication of materials that are valuable to the user. The consequence of content marketing is the growth of sales and profit of the company.
Demonstration of external expertise
Even if your business has super-specialists, who have 2 higher degrees and are experts in their field, in modern realities the law operates this way: if the company does not share experience, then there is no confirmation of knowledge and reliability. To form that very “external expertise”, it is recommended to show the life inside the company, share ready-made solutions, opinions, recommendations, and practically deprive the company from production secrets.
More loyal audience
If a brand leads its content marketing in the right direction, then there is every chance of increasing its loyal audience. This is because the published materials (no matter what format) either help the user to understand the issue, or make it clear that the company can solve the problem for him. As practice shows, in this case, a person understands the validity of the services price/goods, he pays for solving his problem, and not for a useless product.
SEO benefits
By generating and publishing truly useful, relevant and interesting content, it is possible to increase the “significance” of the site for the search engines Google, Bing, etc. It works as followed: the search engine works primarily to satisfy the search interest of users, offering them the most relevant (useful, corresponding to the request) links. Accordingly, if your site contains tons of relevant content, for the search engine it will be more prioritized than the rest and will rise up in the search results to leading positions.
Loyalty of future employees
For example, a specialist looks for a job and
chooses between two companies … The first has developed content marketing, demonstrates external expertise and constantly flashes in the information field. The second one – occasionally publishes content, articles are completely borrowed, a person has never even heard of such a company, hardly found a website and social network. A rhetorical question is brewing: which company would he be more willing to work for?
What kind of content is there?
• Video;
• Blog posts;
• Articles;
• Books;
• Educational materials;
• Reviews;
• Letters;
• Illustrations and photos;
• Webinars;
• Manuals;
• Glossaries and dictionaries;
• Diagrams and graphs;
• User content;
• Research;
• Presentations.
It does not matter what type of content you choose for your company, it is important to take into account the current requirement for digital communications – the maximum involvement of a modern user in the process of information consumption. This means that you need to think carefully about all the actions with which you can interact with your publication. Interactivity will help you stand out and engage your audience in a quality manner.
Content Trends in 2021:
Video format
Many users find it more convenient to get acquainted with a product by watching a video This trend is growing with renewed power, year after year, and companies that have successfully implemented the format into their content strategy are winning the battle for attention.
Conversational style instead of business
The storytelling style plays a major role in informing the consumer and directly influencing the perception. We’ve noticed a trend: large companies are gradually replacing Tone of voice (brand tone) and changing content types from formal business to friendlier and simpler. This is justified by the fact that the society is tired of the appeal of “dear sir” and formal manner. But, the main thing is not to overdo it, in order not to get a bad reaction.
Voice technologies
The habit of typing is on decline, therefore voice assistants remain on the wave of popularity. In the West, the demand for voice search has been flourishing for several years, but in our country it is only gaining momentum. Voice search exists not only in search engines; large and progressive companies are already implementing it on their websites.
User Content
What can inspire confidence? Content made by users themselves. This is due to the fact that the experience of using a product or service demonstrated by an ordinary consumer raises the bar of trust on the part of others in a way that the manufacturing company itself cannot. The modern consumer is painfully accustomed to “ideal” content, which causes an obsessive feeling of “fake” and artificial exaggeration of the real properties of the product.
Augmented reality
This is where you can get creative with gamification fully. Everyone already knows the
masks that you can try on yourself. Of course, this is not all, you can already try on clothes in this way and project characters into the offline world using a special application and a camera. By the way, this way you can animate a corporate hero. Creating content with augmented reality elements will require additional investments, but the result will make the brand stand out from its competitors.
Social network
Popular venues have evolved into learning centers, hobby clubs, online shopping and gaming platforms. The main thing is to catch the trend and ride this wave until it is close to crashing against old rocks. Therefore, it is important to monitor not only new sites that are gaining popularity, but also those that have long been established on the market.
On this note, the forecasts have come to an end, but we are sure that this is not all that awaits us. Therefore, while we are mastering what is known, be savvy and ready for a sudden boom of new trends.
