.

An Intro to...

C ontent Marketing “Developing a customer experience to build

true loyalty with existing customers …creating marketing strategies that win new

clients and projects”

The creation and distribution of content to attract new customers and keep current customers interested in your business

Why look into this?• I know a bit about it, but I really need to expand my knowledge

• It’s important for creatives who want to expand their client base

Especially important for creatives without a physical product

How can content marketing be beneficial?• 70% of your potential audience would rather get to know a business

through custom content1

• Companies noted a rise in sales after posting on social media2

How can content marketing be beneficial?• 61% of customers are more likely to buy from companies with content

marketing3

• It can increase you SEO and make you easier to find

What wil l I be discussing• Generating content

• Distributing it

Deciding on what content to produce

• Who is your audience?

• What do they value?

• How can you add value to your community?

• What are some hot topics in your discipline?

• Is there any news you can comment on?

And what not to produce

• Don’t just talk about yourself and your sales

• Avoid clichés, Internet memes, and deep meaningless quotes

• Make sure your images and text are of a high quality

Types of content marketing

Book reviews

Product reviews

How to guides

infographics

eBooks

Case studies

Interviews

eBooks & downloads

• A short electronic book, that can be displayed on different devices

• Often given in exchange for an email address

• Should be bright and visual

• Made to inform and educate

A graphic designer shares downloadable calendars, and another offers wall papers for

phones and laptops• limetreefruits.com

• designlovefest.com

A health food blog offers a smoothie recipe book• juicemaster.com

A toy knitter shares a free

knitting pattern• fuzzymitten.com

Pros :

C ons :

• Easy to read, and portable• Can be created in Microsoft

Word

• Take a long time to research and put together

• You need an eye for design

V ideo content& live-streaming

• More and more people are able to view videos due to smart phones and higher Internet speeds.

• Over a billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube4

Lifestyle bloggers enrich their blogs with fashion tips• frillyandfancy.blogspot.co.uk

An Interior Designer creates a digital room make-over for a random subscriber each week• robesondesign.com

A blacksmith shows off his work in progress

• youtube.com/aweme

Case Study:How to Dance for Men

• Had small business teaching professional men how to dance in clubs

• Set up YouTube channel in 2012 to share small videos

• Within a few months, there was demand for a website

• Now earns $27,000 a year passive income from YouTube advertising, and premium guides on his site

reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/24q0ln/how_i_built_a_27000year_passive_income/

Pros :• It’s free

• Videos are easy to share

C ons :• Will need specialist equipment and

editing skills, or you hire someone to help you

• Not everyone has high enough Internet speeds

Blog Posts

• Can be many many things:Reviews Lists Opinions Guides

Work updates Inspirations Interviews

Product placements Case studies

• Blogging can make your brand more approachable and human

An App Developer shares crowdfunding advice• journal.darkskyapp.com

A designer/maker shares development diaries• through-the-round-window.blogspot.co.uk/

Craft site, Etsy, showcases top products and shops• etsy.com

Pros :

C ons :

• Low cost marketing tool• Can be used to start discussions within

your community• Is very easy to set up

• Takes some planning and scheduling• Content must be what your target

audience is interested in

Distributing the content

• Social Media:• Tweet a link to it

• Post it to your Facebook Wall

• Pin to an appropriate Pinterest board

• Post to your LinkedIn newsfeed

• Post to Google+ to raise the SEO of your site

• Create a community around your discipline using Reddit

• Send out to email list

And then afterwards...

• Keep up to date with comments and continue the commentary with your community

• Monitor the popularity of the posts with Google Analytics

• Find the posts that are most popular and generate more like them

So to sum up...

• Generate ideas based on what your customers what and what will bring value to your community

• Present the content in a way suitable for your audience

• Share and distribute it through appropriate channels

• Analyse the traffic you get from the content

• Improve on it and repeat!

Resources• Making an ebook:

• http://www.businessbanter.com/digital-talk/how-to-write-an-ebook-for-your-business-promotion/

• Making a video:• http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=1712&

• http://www.crafted.co.uk/latest/blog/what-makes-an-effective-promotional-video

• Making a business blog:• http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6240/How-to-Create-a-Successful-Business-Blog-in-

Minutes.aspx (has an eBook too)

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175236

Sources:

1. http://www.customcontentcouncil.com/news/roper-finds-majority-consumers-value-custom-media

2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2013/05/19/study-78-of-salespeople-using-social-media-outsell-their-peers/

3. http://www.customcontentcouncil.com/news/content-marketing-%E2%80%93-powerful-local-businesses

4. https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html