‘Personalization’ a word most consumers seek nowadays to differentiate them from the rest. If it’s not a personalized service then it’s a product, they want it and they get it whether be online or in-store. Today’s customer will not be decided for, they’re the decision-makers and have shaped the way in which businesses operate, specifically online. Talk about personalization, it’s time for you to add that ‘special touch’ to your home. Yes, it’s time for decorations! Add your flooring, furniture, wall deco, that picture you’ve been saving for the ‘perfect home’, it is your home after all… have fun with it. Just make sure it’s written YOU all over.
Bringing it to SEO, decorating your home (Step 7) is content marketing. Content marketing brings differentiation and personalization to your website. Should your content be engaging, fun, entertaining and ‘action’ provoking then it will be shared, tweeted, pinned and liked. This not only means great reputation management for you website, but profitability for your business as well.
Let’s take a look at what content marketing can do for your business and what it is all about…
Step 7: Interior Decorating (Content Marketing).
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is based on your website distributing and creating valuable content to attract and engage with your customers, to an extent that your engagement with them through informative content converts to profit for your business. It’s just like an editorial, you plan your magazine’s content a month or even months before it is published. So to be effective in your content marketing, you have to create a Content Strategy that is in line with your business objectives and marketing/communications strategy and plan it within a time frame.
Why should your website engage in content marketing?
Your website should engage in content marketing as majority of consumers have access to different content at an instant, given the fast growth in smart phones and information availability. Your customers no longer rely on the media for content and information, if anything, they choose what they read and what they need. Consumers are no longer looking for a business that ‘dictates’ what they should buy, do and how they should think. There is so much information ‘over feed’ out there and what customers want is simple, honest, valuable content that will make them feel like they have made the right choice by choosing you over your competitor through engaging content.
Now let’s discuss with you the key elements of content marketing which are namely; Creation, Distribution and Trust.
Creation: The creation of content can be difficult and timely too, seeing as it has to be constantly updated to be relevant. The main thing here is getting an expert or someone within your company to be responsible for the updating of content. Content has to be original, engaging, fun and valuable so that it can create endless profitable opportunities.
Distribution: Distribution refers to ‘where’ your content will be distributed. This is important as it will determine whether your target audience will receive your content or not. Content is usually placed in social media platforms, emails, blogs, websites etc… The main thing here is researching which websites/ social media platforms your target audiences is using and getting your content to them.
Trust: Trust between yourself and your customers will only occur through honest, valuable, informative content that you share with them. Depending on how established your already is, you will to keep updating your content in order for your website to be viewed as authoritative and credible.
There are differences between Traditional marketing and Content marketing. We’ll take you through five main differences and let you see how content marketing has changed the way in which companies engage with customers.
Content Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing (Advertising).
• Content marketing seeks to inform customers through valuable content while advertising interrupts and bombards consumers with a whole lot of ideas and messages.
• With content marketing there is two-way communication where the consumer gets the opportunity to engage with your company through content. With advertising, there’s one-way communication and no dialogue.
• Advertising looks at delivering a message or communicating with a broad audience while content marketing is niched and caters for a specific group of people.
• With advertising when there is a campaign there is a set time or a deadline attached to it whereas with content marketing it’s an ongoing process.
• Content marketing is inexpensive compared to the millions companies spend on advertising.
That covers the differences between content marketing and traditional marketing. Now let’s take a look at how Google is ensuring valuable, substantial content is adhered to through Google Panda and Hummingbird.
What is Google Panda?
Google Panda is an algorithm set out by Google that ranks-down ‘low-quality’ content on websites. It was first introduced in February 24th in 2011, Google has since made twenty-three updates! Websites are ranked down for issues such as content that is too thin, duplication of pages, too many ads on the website, purchasing of inside links. These are some of the penalties Google seeks from websites with poor content.
What is Hummingbird?
Hummingbird is also an algorithm by Google that looks at Google returning search results in a ‘conversational’ manner. For example: previously if I were to type on the search bar ‘shoes stores in Cape Town ‘, Google would highlight shoes and Cape Town as the keywords. But once I type in ‘Which shoe stores are in Cape Town’, Google will answer me in as though we are conversing.
That wraps up content marketing!
Remember, content marketing is the current way in which businesses communicate with consumers. The content you have on your website should always promote engagement and interaction with your customers. It is important for you as a business owner to be aware of both algorithms that deal with content: Panda and Hummingbird, as should you have poor content Google will heavily penalize you. Make sure that your website produces valuable, informative content. Avoid using too many ads on your website, fix any broken pages on your website and lastly, do not buy any inside links for the sake of numbers, Google will catch you, that much is guaranteed!
Your house is almost complete, our next step is landscaping and gardening (Google Local). You’re a step away from moving in your beautiful new home!. 🙂
