The use of content marketing and branded content publishing will continue to grow, particularly as new research suggests it is more effective than other forms of digital marketing.
Research by the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), reveals 60% of regular web users surveyed trust brands’ content sites, 43% on portals and 39% on social networks. Just under a third (32%) feel more positive towards a brand on a content site, 17% on portals and 14% on social networks. The study also showed advertising around content to be more effective than on other types of website and social network.
Obviously an organisation whose members are publishers, broadcasters and online media agencies might like those figures – but it’s also important to remember that content sites don’t have to mean ‘just’ traditional publishers. Developing content for your business should encompass your own website or blog through to what is being written, or supplied to, other websites.
And marketing campaigns in the U.S are certainly supporting the use of content in marketing:
Traditional content creators obviously have an advantage here, and it’s an area bloggers have been utilising for the last ten years.
But how does your business start using content marketing?
There is a huge amount of potential in content marketing, and the best method for your business depends on your industry, company size, areas of expertise. The solution can range from training your existing staff to hiring external content experts from the journalism and blogging worlds, but in my opinion, the key element of content marketing is a focus on how it actually benefits your business. And that includes deciding the key metrics and analytics that make sense from day one, whether you’re looking to drive direct sales, leads, or brand awareness.
And if you’re stuck, obviously I’m always happy to help with a range of content creation and marketing services!
You are right that it is growing like mad as an industry but there is so much rubbish out there it’s not funny. Creating good content is harder than you think and it actually costs quite a lot of money to do it right. Done right though it can get far more cut through than traditional advertising because people know how to filter that sort of stuff out
Niall you’re right! There is tons of rubbish out there and it’s going to be harder and harder for people to sigher through the clutter. Of course creating good content is hard, if it wasn’t everyone would be doing it and there would be no value in sites like Mashable and Huffington Post. It’s going to be tough to create great content but as long as were fighting the good fight I think all of us will have an opportunity to reap the benefits down the road.
Cheers to both of you for the comments – much appreciated. I totally agree that there’s a lot of bad attempts already out there – and a lot more will come if it’s seen as the next bandwagon to jump on.
And creating quality content definitely takes skill, time and effort. It’s hopefully something I’m pretty familiar with after a decade as both staff and freelance journalist, and I’m also very familiar with the fact that the effort is often under-appreciated by those commissioning the work. Hopefully by highlighting great examples we can all do our bit to educate clients about the value in putting in the appropriate time and resource. It’s particularly important in driving long-term value.
I think there are some reasons to be optimistic – the recent moves by Google to remove spam and negative link benefits, and the growing concern over the explosion of content farms are making a difference. Not to cast all mass content creators in the same light, but there are a lot of examples of terrible articles aimed purely at niche search traffic.