Did you know that marketing with content is not the same as content marketing?
In this article, we’re going to give you the definition of content marketing, the reason why many leading companies use it to drive 6x more ROI (while spending 62% less), and why you should start using it right away.
Quick Takeaways
- Content marketing is an opportunity to reach and convert new customers.
- Content marketing drives measurable results and ROI over more traditional marketing tactics.
- Content marketing allows you to build relationships that enhances brand trust.
- Content marketing focuses an organization on telling brand stories that resonate with customers.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the process of consistently publishing relevant content that audiences want to consume in order to reach, engage, and convert new customers. It involves brands acting more like publishers and creating content on a destination you own (your website) that attracts visitors.
It’s not the same thing as marketing with content. It is customer-focused, answering important customer questions and meeting their needs and challenges.
Content marketing creates a financial asset. It allows businesses to reach, engage, and convert customers they would have never seen by using the keywords customers use and creating the content they consume on your own website to answer those questions.
Content marketing represents the gap between what we produce as brands and what our audience is looking for. It leads to quantifiable business value.
When you peel away all the layers of techniques, trends, and possibilities, it is a business opportunity – because it’s a tool they can use for growth. As businesses struggle to achieve growth in a challenging business environment, we’re seeing more interest and budget shifting to content marketing as the best choice for marketing budgets.
That makes it really different from advertising.
What makes content marketing different from other types of marketing is in the ROI and business value it delivers over time.
Content marketing allows any business to increase their presence in organic search because it focuses on sharing thought leadership. By using SEO and content insights as critical components, content marketing is increasingly more and more aligned with customer needs.
However, for content marketing to work, it must be well-executed. That includes developing a content strategy.
Developing a Content Strategy
As many brands have figured out, content marketing is critical to a brand’s survival in today’s economy. Content Marketing Institute’s 2022 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends announced that 43% of marketers report their organization’s content marketing budget has grown over the past few years.
74% percent of marketers say their campaigns were more successful compared to one year ago with 66% expecting their content marketing budgets to continue to increase. Respondents indicated that the more their content marketing matures, the more likely it is to succeed.
One thing is clear: content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Having a great strategy is crucial. Here’s 5 steps to creating one:
1. Set your goals
The first critical step to a content strategy that will deliver is to set well-defined goals that can guide your strategy and help you measure its ultimate success. I recommend using the SMART goal framework, which helps you set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Setting clear goals and knowing what you want to achieve better positions you to outline the rest of your content strategy.
2. Define buyer personas
Buyer personas are representations of your customers that help you determine needs, pain points, motivations, and behavior. Ultimately, they should help you understand what your customers are trying to accomplish and how your offerings can help them do it. That’s why you should always keep your personas focused on actionability rather than arbitrary traits.
When you’re developing personas, aim to define:
- Content your target customers use
- Topics they are interested in
- Types or formats of content they prefer
- Channels they use
- Stage of the buyer journey
- Keywords they use to search and
- Questions they ask
These insights can help inform the content pillars you should focus on (more on that next), what topics to cover, and what types of content will best engage your audience.
3. Determine content pillars and types
Content pillars are the main categories from which all your content ideas originate. Think of them as the “buckets” or “themes” under which all of your content can be organized. They’re central to your content strategy because they determine what matters to your audience and serve as a guide for your creators, keeping them focused on creating pieces that align with your larger goals.
To really use pillars to drive results, you should keep them somewhat broad, allowing you to come up with a range of topics and content ideas to fall under them. Tag every piece of content you create under the appropriate pillar(s) so that you have visibility into the volume and types of content being created for each. Finally, stick with your content pillars for an extended period of time to give your content a chance to drive SEO results.
4. Establish your brand voice
Your brand voice defines the overall personality you put forth when you communicate with customers. It’s an important component of how brands make connections with their audience and plays a central role in the customer experience. Your brand voice, like your pillars, also serves as a guide for content creators and ensures your content is an accurate reflection of your company.
To develop a strong brand voice, you’ll want to set parameters around language and tone. For example, should your blog posts be casual and conversational or formal and strictly informative? Which words or phrases should be used consistently to refer to specific products or buyers and which should always be avoided (like cliches or outdated terms)?
It’s a good idea to put together a documented guide with dos and don’ts around brand voice to help content creators stay consistent and on the mark.
5. Conduct keyword research and develop your SEO strategy
Did you know that 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine? If you don’t rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) for keywords and phrases that your customers are searching for, you’re essentially invisible to your audience.
One of the keys to ranking on SERPs is effective keyword research. You can conduct it using tools like the Keyword Magic Tool from Semrush. Once you have keyword ideas, you can develop your SEO strategy by aligning keywords with the buyer funnel and your content pillars. These steps ensure your content gets to the right customers at the right time.
Content Marketing in 2025 is Multi-Faceted
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. Without a strategy, you could get lost in the sea of content.
Start with the resources you have. Create your strategy and commit to a high level of quality and a focused brand message. Keep growing your content strategy as you learn more about your customers. Then, engage with them and build the bridge between your brand and the people your business exists for. Schedule a free consultation with Marketing Insider Group for help with your marketing goals today!
