Traditional advertising has been changing for several years. One of the main reasons is due to the rise of social media.
Consumers began to share relevant information about the different products through them, and in many cases today consumers report on the launch of a new product, with its main benefits, (and its problems) before the official launch of the same. (case Apple products).
It is clear that consumers feel happy with the possibility of helping a brand that solves a need, or of "pointing it out" if, on the contrary, it does not satisfy it. This has led to a rethinking in the marketing strategies of brands, and although traditional advertising continues to play a fundamental role in the construction of their positioning, content marketing began to appear several years ago in the marketing universe..
The concept of content marketing is very simple, and part of the premise that content should be built with a NON- advertising aspect, and that it is relevant, entertaining and interesting. It is always emphasized that the content must be educational, since in this way it is possible to help the audience to solve a problem. This must be a premise if you want to achieve success with a content marketing strategy.
Now, how can you get from non-advertising content to hook a consumer with your brand?
The answer is simple. Brands always try to reach consumers through different media (TV, Radio, Press, Magazines, etc. etc.), since traditionally this has been the simplest and cheapest way to achieve it.
Now, what happens if the equation is reversed and it is defined that the premise will be to give relevant information to consumers (potential ones for your product) about what they are looking for in search engines or on social networks? In other words, consumers will be the ones looking for the information, and not the brands will provide it.
A clear example of the above was done by Western Union (a recognized financial institution), which defined that one of the points of contact with its customers was around food and developed a strategy called #WUHomeCooked. In it, customers and Western Union shared images of cuisine around the world.
Under the traditional marketing framework, thinking of a bank talking about recipes or food would be complete madness.
Under the concept of content marketing, this becomes a marketing technique that aims to attract the audiences of a brand to a particular topic, which is relevant to the consumer considered ¨stereotype¨, or well called ¨ buyer persona ¨.
Like the previous case, today you can see thousands of brands talking about topics that would be impossible in traditional marketing. Vehicle brands and banks giving prescriptions, Air Lines talking to parents about how to educate their children, etc. etc.
The fundamental premise of this technique is to create content that is investigated by brand consumers (mainly in search engines), and therefore if they do, they end up interacting with brands on their websites.
They should not forget that the greatest asset that a brand has is the website, therefore, within the website a blog must be created, and all the content that is created is placed within it.
But how to get people to know about your product or service, if they come to your website for topics that are not necessarily related?
It is very simple, around the content pieces you have spaces that you must use to promote your product.
Let's say an e-commerce store has all kinds of home appliances and created a section that is the blog.
After creating the blog, he decided to start feeding it and began creating a piece of content, called "10 things you should know if you are going to buy a 42-inch TV."
Users who entered a search engine typed "42-inch TV". They begin to see several stores that offer them, but they are in the first positions of the search engines that article and they enter to read it immediately. Clearly they did not enter the stores that offered the TV but they entered a blog where this piece was had.
They find that at the end of the article, after having read it, there is a button that says, " If you have already read this article, know the TV you are looking for.
What do you think happens to that consumer? The answer is clear, and it is proven according to the Mashable firm that a client for content costs 62% less than a client for traditional advertising.
What is the most important thing about this technique? Clearly if you develop a good content strategy, users will come to your website, instead of having to search for them.
According to the latest survey developed by the Content Marketing Institute, in 2017 in the American market, 29% of the budget will be invested in content. That shows that the content theme is here to stay and the one who will win the battle will be the one that manages to develop truly relevant content for the audiences.
It is time to start.
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Juan Carlos Samper P
CEO WeAreContent.
