December 8, 2011 3:30 AM

The importance of great content cannot be overstated. Without content, there is no marketing. Period. So what is content marketing? To make things simple, let's start with what it's not:

Copy. 
Advertorial.
Spam (we had to say it!)

Think of content marketing as a method of
creating and distributing content of value to your customers and prospects. The guiding principle behind content marketing is the belief that by offering relevant, meaningful content, businesses can build their brand integrity, loyalty and eventually, their customer base. What channels can content marketing encompass? Your website, whitepapers, webinars, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter - the list goes on. 

Many companies recognize the importance of content marketing, but feel daunted or confused about where to begin. Creating content doesn't have to be a burden - it can be incredibly rewarding, and a great way to foster contribution amongst various departments in your organization. Setting yourself up for success in content marketing involves building the right infrastructure to support content creation.

Here are some tips and tricks to help get you started in your content marketing strategy:

1.   Find Your Editor 

You need to create a content marketing process that works for your organization, one that ensures timely, relevant content in support of your business objectives. When it comes to content creation, envision your company as a traditional print magazine: the best place to begin is to build an editorial calendar, one which lays out all the hot topics your audience would find value in reading and sharing. Be sure to also incorporate any special “ad hoc” events or promotions planning into the calendar.

Don't forget seasonality! Framing your content around milestone holidays can provide instant relevance to your customers.

2.   Get the Right People Involved - Look Inside

Before you think about outsourcing your content creation, look to those within your company. You may be surprised at the number of fantastic writers around you!  Or, at the very least, you will discover those with lots of great ideas who can contribute to your content plan. If you find at least one avid Tweeter, you will already be in a better place to start building your content marketing strategy. This is where your company's subject matter experts (i.e product developers) and customer-facing staff can really thrive. They are the ones with the deepest insight into what you are selling and who you are selling to, including their concerns, interests and priorities.

Find a way to reward these people for their involvement! It can be a prize, or even just bragging rights for the most-visited blog post. Either way, take a note from those gamification gurus and give your colleagues playful incentives to contribute. Also, getting a sense of where everyone's interests lie will help them find fun in the process - some people love Tweeting, others love taking photos - capitalize on people's interests and that passion will translate through into your final product.

3.   Look Outside

Leverage the voices of your customer into your content marketing plan - let them be your ambassadors! For example, if you have some really vocal customers or fans on any of your social media, invite them to help produce content for you. Case in point: MTV did this in 2010 with their search to find a Twitter "jockey".

4.   Use Variety

They call it the spice of life for a reason! Experiment with the types of content you produce. Enlist the help of your creative department to produce unique, highly-valued infographics, and link to relevant audio and videos (think interviews!) Not only will your audiences be instantly drawn in, it makes your content easy to distribute across platforms and channels, reaching more people.

5.    Don't Launch and Leave

Monitor your blog comments and social media sites and keep your responses timely - the more active you are in responding, the more willing your readers and followers will be to engage in dialogue with your business. Don't forget to make it share-able by implementing social sharing plug-ins to your blog.

Following these simple tips and tricks, your organization will be in a much better position to build a sound process, with opportunities to evolve your content marketing strategy over time.

To finish off, here are some useful quotes about content marketing. Hopefully you find them as inspiring as we do!

Blogger Profile: Marqui Web Marketing Blog
Marqui's Web Marketing Blog is brought to you by their marketing and consulting team to share ideas, best practices and trends from the world of web marketing. The blog aims to cover a broad array of topics relating to web marketing including content management, conversion optimization, SEO, email marketing and lead nurturing.

Posted by Sue Ansell at December 8, 2011 3:30 AM

Categories: Sales and marketing

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