What's All the Fuss About Content Marketing?

From social sharing to blog posts, viral videos to infographics, it seems like the online world is abuzz with marketing opportunities. But far from being complex and hard-to-understand marketing strategies, all of these pieces form the content marketing puzzle – and it’s one you can take part in too. So let’s find out what content marketing is all about, and how you can leverage it to push your business forward.

Content marketing in plain English

Whether you realise it or not, you’re probably already doing some form of content marketing. Examples include social media updates, blog posts, news updates on your website – even funny images you share on Twitter or Facebook count as a content marketing. In a nutshell, content marketing is the process of producing digestible media which in some way links back to, or directly promotes, your business. Also known as inbound marketing, content marketing relies on you putting out a steady stream of free content (which could be text-based, images or video) with which to engage either new or existing customers.

Why does content marketing work?

You might think that content marketing is just a flash in the pan, a passing trend that will be replaced with something else in a few short months. This is far from the truth. In some ways, content marketing has always been around, it’s simply that the internet makes it easier than ever to make it happen. The reason content marketing can work is that it gives customers a reason to engage with your company on an ongoing basis. So rather than a simple transaction-and-goodbye relationship, you instead represent an authority in your industry, and a source of more than just great service.

How to become a content authority

Being an authority within your area of expertise is the end-goal of any business engaged in content marketing. It’s a cheap, sustainable marketing strategy and it’s one that can build not just profits, but reputation too. So how can you become an authority? Well, the building blocks are simple:

1. Pick a channel or two for the production of your content. Examples include a company blog or a YouTube channel.
2. Develop a content strategy: a roadmap which details when and how you will deploy your content.
3. Follow your schedule and ensure you regularly produce content. This step is vital: consistency is very important.
4. Keep it up, monitor your progress, then adjust as necessary.

With these simple steps, you can start your business on a road to becoming a content authority. Naturally, it will take business resources in order to produce the content, so be aware that other costs may be involved – but it’s worth it.

As you roll out your all-new content strategy, managing customer relationships will become more and more important. So why not explore the AutoVu CRM platform and discover an all-new way to create a full roster of satisfied customers?