A lot of brands are turning to content marketing strategy. Content marketing is like a slow-moving train, it won’t work wonders at once but it will get you where you want to go.
If you want to present your brand more holistically, showcase the transparency and realism of your company’s values, and keep your consumer base updated and educated, then content marketing is the way to go.
Don’t take our word for it: consumers have spoken. Recent studies show that younger generations place extreme importance on brand trust, 94% to be exact, compared to 86% of older shoppers (The Drum).
This data points to why content marketing works: consumers don’t want to be misled by advertisements and prefer to be fairly informed. Explaining and informing about the subject that you are an expert in is the best way to reach consumers that are still on the fence about you.
The role of Market Research in Content Marketing
Market Research has always played an important part in developing marketing strategies. Before making a big investment in the development of a product, fixing prices, and creating and launching a campaign for it, we should have previously asked our target market if they would be interested in buying it.
A lot of work goes into profiling and understanding consumers: capturing their habits, attitudes, and perceptions about a brand, product, or industry. Most of the time this research is carried out in one unique direction: the company studies user activity and behavior but doesn’t interact directly with the consumer. The cycle shouldn’t end there. We need to ask the questions that matter and get answers from the people that matter to us and our businesses.
Tips to Develop Content Marketing Strategy
When trying to develop your content marketing strategy, here are a few key points that will help you out:
- Ask your target consumer “why me and not them?”. The reasons behind a company’s decision to choose you over other brands will inform you about what they value the most when it comes to trust. Once you know that, you can stay on the right path and continue generating trust with your target consumers.
- Figure out what’s missing. Especially in terms of the information, you publish. You can clarify misconceptions about what you offer and your brand. Maybe they think your product would be too hard to use? Or that they don’t have the expertise to do so? Create and focus on content aimed at removing the doubt.
- Share what you learn with them! Let them know what insights made you change your strategy, offer a new service, or look for new markets, etc. Publishing your research into visual presentations, that educate and engage your consumer, is a great way to get started. Consumers are just as interested in hearing about what you find out as you are, if not more!
- Don’t think of your content as an ad. It’s understandable that you want the world to know what you are doing and just how well you are doing it but… watch out! Content must always provide value and freshness in a fun and insightful way. It should be valuable by itself and be precious to the reader.
- Create your communications strategy with the big picture in mind. A single blog post won’t attract much attention unless you direct and point your visitors towards it. Keep your social media marketing in full swing, and don’t forget to use traditional channels, SEO, promote your content, interlink as much as you can, and work on a website with great content throughout. There are non-digital channels to explore too!
- Don’t fret if results take time. It isn’t an exact science and it isn’t necessarily fast. Don’t waver if you don’t see results within the first month (or even 6 months), just keep at it. Focus on the big picture and don’t give up!
Applications
One of many key applications for the Zinklar platform has been to give our clients content marketing strategy and ideas on what content to create for their audience. For example, we helped Cinesa carry out a study on the habits and preferences of cinema-goers in Spain, and published it at a film festival they were hosting.
The public was engaged and interested in the data: everybody shared their preferences, which generated a sense of community and belonging around the festival.
Build your brand’s trust by creating content that’s earnest and of high quality. You won’t need to convince consumers to become your clients, they’ll be lining up in no time!
