Content Marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, consistent content to attract attention of a defined target audience. The primary channel where the content is shared is the digital media and the distinctive feature of the contents is the culture.
It should not be overlooked that creating the content is beyond creating any virtual promotion advertisement. The fact that the companies start creating content for promotion of their products or services is a result of the change in the notion of marketing. Of course, only creating the content is not enough and it is necessary for this content to position the company in the best way in order to arouse the interest of the target audience. The content creation process should be perceived as a kind of dialogue that enables a company to express itself.
Specifying the target audience is the first step for the content that will be created. Then, the advertisement message should be created based on the that content. It is always important to emphasize the content quality in order to motivate the customer for obtaining information about the product or the service.
Well then, what is this content? Let’s take a look at how content that is the crux of the content marketing should be and which features the content should have:
– Relevant; the content should be related to the product or the service which is desired to be advertised. When the content is related to the product or the service, it is perceived by a consumer as the usefulness of information. When the content is related with the product or the service, this does not mean that the content established a connection directly with that product or service but it means that it evoked an association and somewhat caught the told product or the service. The content created in this way helps to establish a communication between the company and the customer.
– Informative; while the advertisement content of the companies which cannot be understood or interpreted by the consumer have a negative effect on their demands; an informative content can be seen as an opportunity that can be used by the companies to convince the consumers to buy. An informative content informs the potential customers about the information, skills and the processes used by the company to create the products and the services. Moreover, an understandable language used in the content creation has a positive influence on the consumer decision-making process.
– Reliable; the informative content should be accurate in order to be perceived as reliable by the consumer. Otherwise, an unreliable content will be started to be criticized intensely by the consumer on interactive online platforms. In this case, the advertising campaign could turn into a smearing campaign by undertaking an exact opposite function.
– Valuable; the content should be created along with functional and emotional values. The content quality should show how an offered product or service will solve the problems of the customers by considering their needs as well as providing information about the product or the service. The value-generating content should be consistent with the consumer’s wishes, goals, interests and ethical values. Therefore, the content should add value to the customer related to the product or the service other than the information provided.
– Authentic; an authentic content not only attracts the interest of the consumers but also tells the story of the product or the service unique to it. The authenticity of the content is about the value it creates and the relevance of its containing information as well as that being a product of a creative idea.
–Emotion-oriented; the content marketing should include emotional and entertaining items which excite the customers. It is important that the positive content addresses positive feelings for the content marketing to have a viral effect.
– Humor; is one of the most important items that allows your content to spread faster. A sense of humor well balanced by the advertising message is one of the most effective ways to achieve the purpose of content marketing.
– Smart; Smart content is the content that is accessible and usable both by humans and the technology. The effect of the content on the consumer should be measurable while the created content should be understandable and accessible for the consumer.
As a result, the content should be prepared through the eye of the target audience and by considering the features above for being effective.