A marketing initiative that can make a huge, positive impact on your brand awareness and credibility as part of your marketing mix is content marketing.

But what is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the act of using unique content as a way to boost your expertise with your target market through posting articles on a dynamic area of your website like a blog. This written form of content that you post on a regular basis helps your website rank in search engines as well as increases your authority…..if the content is valuable.

How do I get this content “out there?”
Social media is a great way to promote your content and create inbound links to your Blog as is having a facility that allows others to share it to their own platforms. Bath Marketing Consultancy often posts our content to our Facebook and Twitter pages so that our followers and friends can read our free marketing tips and integrate them into their own strategies. We may well post the article on Linkedin if it is aimed at the B2B market.

Any content you create can also take the form of a video, vlog or an infographic and all are perfect for sharing on social media platforms like Instagram, Vimeo and YouTube….which is now second inline as a search engine.

Which in turn, drives traffic to my website? 
Yes. Content marketing is a subtle approach with the idea that you inform visitors about your expert opinion, instead of pushing your products and services directly. Once trust is built, readers will want to buy your products and services.

Why Use It?
Content marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing methods available as it creates long-term returns for websites. The new pages you create are ranked well in search engines and tend to leave a footprint for long periods of time.

In addition, you can target different search terms with these posts thus throwing your SEO net wider than just the core terms you may well have targeted with your website. For example, if you search for a “marketing consultancy” in the UK, the BMC website ranks top locally and nationally. But, having an area where we post regular content has allowed us to target smaller, more niche terms like “marketing advice in Bath” where we hold the first 5 positions in Google with our posts.

At the moment the trend is slightly against paid content so dedicate time and resources to deliver your content via articles and blog posts that relate to your products and services & then “market” these posts.

However, don’t plug them directly; demonstrate you know what you are talking about and give readers the opportunity to “read more” or “subscribe.” Potential customers want to be informed as on average people will consume over 11 pieces of content before deciding to part with their money. If you can’t provide this content, speak to someone who can as you may well miss out on prospects.