What is content? Content is the type of medium that consumers seek to drive their viewing, reading and purchasing decisions online. Content can come in many forms. For example, to create content for social media you could film either a video, take some photos or market using advertising. On the other hand, website content can be as common as blogs, news articles, podcasts or community forums. Whatever the case might be including text with your content is critical. Blog content can be short form (under 600 words) or long form (over 1000 words). Any of these content types can be B2C (Business 2 Customer) or B2B (Business 2 Business).
How to Create Content: Two of the Most Engaging Assets
As we explored, there are many types of content you can create. However, two of the best forms of engaging content you can share or create are photos and videos. Videos are by far the most sought after and preferred content. Video content is dominating all social media platforms. Customers prefer video content to influence their decision making. Photographic content provides clear and highly detailed images of products and services. This effectively compliments video content in telling the story of your business and your services.
With so many options to create content, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Employing the services of a professional team to assist in telling your business’s story can be the best strategy if you are short on time or lack the resources.
Why is Content Important For Your Business?
To be successful in marketing, you need valuable content. Content allows you to tell the story of your business, brand and services. Engaging content provides a means to grow your audience and reach. It needs to become a part of your marketing strategy. Consumers must see your brand and services as the first point of contact.
Look at Google as an example. People use a Google search function because they are a resource for knowledge. They are the first point of contact for information in many cases. The same is true about your content. If you create a level of brand awareness that keeps your customers coming back, you are bound to see success. Your brand will become a place of knowledge. The traffic to your website will build up over time because of the excellent content you publish.
What Do You Want to Communicate Through Your Content?
Handling content happens in many ways. For instance, you could choose to create your own or adopt user-generated content. If you create your own content, your business has greater control over the core messages and how you wish to present in the marketplace. User-generated content relies on others to deliver the message. It could be via customer testimonials or through social media influencers. This highly engaging content can build brand trust and loyalty.
How to best distribute your content is critical. You may choose to host the majority of your content on your own website. For blogging, it is best to seek a specialised blog hosting platform like WordPress.org. If you are posting videos, then think about the type of audience you want to reach. For instance, you can publish video on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram live. Alternatively, publishing content on sites where your products and services are listed is always another option.
The Importance of Research
When starting with content creation, the first step should be to research what consumers want to see from similar business and what they are seeing from industry leaders. What type of content is working best? What platforms gain the highest reach and engagement? Utilise the analytic functions that websites and social media channels provide to content creators to highlight effectiveness and conversion.
Creating content can be a multi-faceted approach as one content style may not be effective on its own. But when the right combination of content style and the right delivery platforms are employed, your customers see a message aligned with your strategy and your business will see growth.
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