Content that Connects: The Art of Engaging Your Audience
Katelyn Mueller
Western Washington University Alumni BA Business Marketing major & Analytics minor | Tax Intern at Moss Adams
Content marketing & inbound marketing are two effective marketing tactics that focus on attracting and engaging potential customers through the creation and distribution of one's valuable content. These two strategies share common principles and aim to provide information and solutions to target an audience. Engaging with content & inbound marketing offers several compelling reasons for firms to invest in these strategies, this includes increased online visibility, relationship building, an easier path to educating and engaging with their audience, and improved SEO. Although content marketing & inbound marketing have a lot in common, there are some differences, let's take a look into what makes these tactics unique & how to use them to your business advantage. ?
How are Content & Inbound Marketing Different ?
Content marketing particularly focuses on the creation and distribution of content across multiple channels. This focus is primarily on building relationships through content that is relevant, valuable, and consists of content that attracts & engages a specific target audience. ?
The fundamentals that go into the process of creating a website, choosing the content that you will share through it and touching it up to attract enough to compel action by the visitor – whether this is seen through a purchase, the completion of something offered on your webpage, or a connection through social media. ?
Bill Gates’ essay emphasizes the importance of content in the digital age, where nearly everyone can publish material easily. ‘Content is King,’ although published many years ago, still applies today as it relates to the business model of selling information and advertising at a low cost & utilizing the internet as a distribution channel to reach vast masses. As we are in the Information Age / Digital Age, ‘Content is King’ will remain valid as those who succeed with these concepts will ‘propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products – a marketplace of content” (Bill Gates).?
Content marketing today includes various forms, such as blogs, videos, guides, and magazines rather than the traditional methods like commercials, print advertising, or billboards. Content marketing typically involves the creation of content that a customer in the brand's target group or demographic will find helpful, relevant, and applicable to themselves. This broad concept can be distributed across various platforms and formats, which aids in adapting to the preferences of the audience. However, success in content marketing often requires monetization methods to track and measure your content performance across different channels and platforms through social media management tools and having a clear goal with a defined target audience & buyer persona. ?
On the other hand, inbound marketing is seen as a subset of content marketing, primarily focusing on drawing potential customers in, rather than pushing promotional messages outward – we all can understand why customers are not interested in being interrupted by marketing when they are doing something else. Inbound marketing focuses on providing the right content to the right customer at the right time. This tactic revolves around making the right kind of content available for anyone who decides they want or need it.
Inbound marketing can involve content creation, SEO, and social media - referring to the methods that are taken to convert a visitor into a customer once they have ended up on a webpage. This marketing strategy is centered around attracting customers who are actively seeking solutions or information related to a particular product or service, through emphasis on content that provides solutions, value, and educational services as this strategy is specifically designed for each stage in the sales funnel. Inbound marketing is subtler than the traditional outbound marketing, where the goal is to convince a specific group of individuals over time - a brief overview of how these strategies are different in traits:
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Involves audience engagement, customer-center as it focuses on solving problems and addressing the target audience's needs, 'pulls' potential customers by compelling content, showcasing a long-term relationship as it relies on customers willingly seeking out content they can trust and rely on.
- Outbound Marketing
This form of marketing involves reaching out to an audience proactively, thus generating interest in a product or service, focusing more on the product rather than the customer - this is shown through product promotion. Outbound marketing has a push strategy where messages are 'pushed' to a broad audience with the hopes of catching the attention of potential audiences with more of a short-term way of driving immediate conversions.
Three key elements for successfully implementing inbound marketing include:
?Why Content & Inbound Marketing Matters for Your Business
Both content & inbound marketing strategies are similar due to their holistic view on satisfying visitor / customer needs but tend to be successful as they are non-interruptive and rely on a slow and steady approach, an approach that aids in the relationship you can build between the brand and your customer, which can increase conversions in the long route. Overall, these marketing strategies aid in improving a firm's online presence through consistently publishing valuable content and optimizing it for search engines (SEO) which can lead to higher rankings. Alongside this, inbound marketing can capture leads and nurture them through the sales funnel resulting in higher quality and more engaged pool of potential customers for your business. These tactics help form trust and credibility as consumers engage with your content becoming more appealed as you can better educate them on trends, features, or solutions to something they find relevant. As these strategies can be tailored to suit any firm's specific goals & target audience, this path will lead you to more insight on your potential pool and can drive competitive advantage within your industry and during this Digital Age. Your high-quality content has the potential to remain relevant for some time, allowing it to become a valuable asset for your firm and done so in a cost-efficient way.