Get started with content marketing on Google Bing and Yahoo Search Engines

 

Get started with content marketing

Content marketing is a great way to build trust and increase site traffic. In this topic, you'll learn how to write for online audiences, organize production and promotion, choose the right format based on your content, and track your content marketing success.

Key learnings

With so many businesses and brands online, content marketing is a valuable tool in helping you to stand out. In this lesson, we'll explore:

• what content marketing is, and why it can add value to an online business
• best practices for creating your own content marketing strategy.

• When it comes to producing great content, it’s useful to try and define your values with regards to the content you're going to create. A simple way to do this is to generate a content mission statement. Complete the following: As a [insert business or brand description, e.g. ‘A local pet shop] we aim to provide [insert service, e.g. 'top quality dog training toys and equipment] with [insert what makes you special, e.g. 'with expert knowledge'] with a view to [insert the desired outcome for your customers, e.g. 'to foster confidence in new pet owners'] Following this, your content mission statement could be something like: "As a local pet shop, we aim to provide expert content and quality dog training gear so that you can be the best pet owner you can be."

  Additional Links

  • Content Marketing Institute
  • Content Marketing Ideas

  • Key learnings

    Making sure you are saying the right thing, to the right people, and are connecting with them at the right time is critical when it comes to content marketing. In this lesson, we'll explore:

    • what audience segmentation is and how it can benefit a business
    • how to use audience segmentation to boost your content marketing efforts
    • some of the tools and systems available to help you segment your audience correctly.

    • Use the tools mentioned in this lesson to start making profiles of your target audience. Give each one a name, and then note jobs and other characteristics, such as: Who do they follow on Twitter? Which newspaper do they read? What TV shows do they watch? This will help inform your content marketing strategy and allow you to make sure the content you create is aimed specifically at one of your audience profiles.

      Additional Links

      • Google Keyword Planner
      • Bing Keyword Research
      • YouGov Profiles
      • Answer the Public

      • Key learnings

        Content is much more than just text on a screen. From entertaining GIFs to blog posts, whitepapers, and full-length videos, understanding which content format can make the most impact on your audience is critical. In this lesson, we'll explore:

        • popular online content formats
        • the four main purposes for content marketing
        • how to match different formats to your content goals

        Spend 20 minutes online researching the different formats content marketing can appear in. What do you notice? Which content types generate the most engagement or likes on social media platforms? Try coming up with ways you could utilize these content types for your business or product.

        Additional Links

        • YouTube
        • Copy Blogger
        • The Content Strategist Blog
        • Answer the Public

        
        

        
        

      • If the aim is to engage with both existing customers and new customers, then a competition is a great way to grab people's attention and engage them with the brand.

      • Key learnings

        When it comes to writing for the web, there are key considerations to keep in mind which will help make online reading as enjoyable as possible. In this lesson, we'll explore:

        • how online audiences and offline audiences differ in their the way they read content
        • why it's important to adapt your writing style to an online audience
        • tools and systems to help support writing copy for the web.

        • Next steps

          When writing for an online reader, it's crucial to keep in mind who you are writing for and to tailor your writing style based on the audience's needs. Try this writing exercise to hone your skills: Come up with a concept for a blog article. Think about writing on a topic you know will resonate with your readers — for example, if you're selling baking supplies, perhaps you could write about different meringue techniques. Before you start writing, consider two distinct audience profiles. Come up with characteristics for both audience profiles and detail the following:

          1. Their age

          2. Their job roles

          3. What interests they have

          4. What matters to them

          5. How much they already know on the subject

          Now, draft two different versions of the same blog article for the different audience types. Do you alter your tone, depending on whether your audience is made up of professional patisserie chefs or amateur bakers? Does the language you use change, based on the audience's existing knowledge level of baking terminology?

          Additional Links

          • Copy Blogger
          • Grammarly

          • Key learnings

            Once you've created content, knowing how to distribute and promote it online is key to getting the reaction that you want. In this lesson, we'll explore:

            • the channels available to promote and distribute content effectively
            • how a content calendar can help you organize your content marketing activities
            • best practices that ensure your content gets the attention it deserves.

            • Next steps

              Next time you create a piece of content, try distributing the same piece via different channels. For example, create a blog on your website and promote it via different social media platforms at different times of the day. Record your findings to help inform your content marketing strategy moving forward. Different audiences use different platforms, at different times of the day. See what works for your audience.

              Additional Links

              • Consumer Barometer
              • CoSchedule

              Key learnings

              Knowing how well your content performs once it's published online will help you understand your audience, as well as provide you with insights as to how to improve campaigns in the future. In this lesson, we'll explore:

              • the tools available to help track the success of your published content
              • key metrics used to measure the success of content marketing campaigns
              • how to use data gathered to better meet goals in future campaigns

              
              

            
            

          Next steps

          Open the analytics feature within one of your social media platforms. Explore which posts were most successful by looking at metrics such as:

          1. Views

          2. Engagement (Likes or Comments)

          3. Shares

          Next, use this data to extract some top-level insights that will help improve the quality of what you are doing going forward. Which posts performed the best this month? Analyse these to work out why this might be the case.

          Additional Links

          • Google Analytics
          • Google Data Studio
          • 
            
          • Google Analytics Academy

          
          

        
        

       marketing

      Question 1

      Which of the following is an accurate definition of what a content marketing campaign involves?

      • ACreating and posting content ad-hoc when you have the time
      • BThe creation of time-sensitive content that can be published through various channels
      • CRegularly emailing customers with news about a business’s products or services
      • DThe creation and promotion of online materials with the goal of increasing interest in a product or service

      Question 2

      What does the following definition describe? 'The division of an audience into groups of who they are and what they like, with a goal of identifying a group most interested in your product/service.'

      • AMarketing channels
      • BDemographics
      • CAudience segmentation
      • DGroup dynamics

      Question 3

      Fill in the blank: When describing the purpose of content, what is missing? 'To entertain, to inspire, to _______ and to convince'.

      • AHumour
      • BPlease
      • CSurprise
      • DEducate

      Question 4

      Which of the following best describes why approaches to writing need to be adapted for online content?

      • AOnline readers have a reduced attention span, due to being flooded with information
      • BCertain blogging platforms have a limit on the word count you can publish
      • COnline readers only like to engage with long-form pieces of content
      • DOnline audiences are typically younger, so the language used needs to reflect this

      Question 5

      What are 'highlighting key dates' and 'considering multiple channels' best practices of?

      • ACreating a content calendar
      • BDesigning illustrations to support content
      • CSegmenting your audience
      • DIdentifying social media influencers

      Question 6

      Which of the following metrics could help you understand which blog post is resonating the most with your audience?

      • ASession duration
      • BPage views
      • CReferral traffic
      • DUnique page views

      
      
    • Question 1

      Which of the following is an accurate definition of what a content marketing campaign involves?

      That's correct. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach. By sharing valuable and relevant content on a regular basis, you are aiming to attract and retain your audience and drive profitable customer actions.

      A

      Creating and posting content ad-hoc when you have the time

      B

      The creation of time-sensitive content that can be published through various channels

      C

      Regularly emailing customers with news about a business’s products or services

      The creation and promotion of online materials with the goal of increasing interest in a product or service

      
      

      Question 2

      What does the following definition describe? 'The division of an audience into groups of who they are and what they like, with a goal of identifying a group most interested in your product/service.'

      That's correct. Businesses would struggle if targeting an entire mass market. Segmenting your audience gives you the opportunity to better match the customer's needs and only target those interested, resulting in better opportunities for growth.

      A

      Marketing channels

      B

      Demographics

      Audience segmentation

      D

      Group dynamics

      
      

      Question 3

      Fill in the blank: When describing the purpose of content, what is missing? 'To entertain, to inspire, to _______ and to convince'.

      That's right. When creating content you should aim to achieve specific business goals. The four main purposes of content are usually: to entertain your audience, inspire their actions, educate them further and convince them to complete an action.

      A

      Humour

      B

      Please

      C

      Surprise

      Educate

      
      

      Question 4

      Which of the following best describes why approaches to writing need to be adapted for online content?

      Well done, that's correct. There are so many websites and so much content out there, so it is crucial that yours stands out amongst the rest. One way to ensure it does is to adapt offline writing styles to online behaviour, whilst keeping in mind that users have varying attention spans.

      Online readers have a reduced attention span, due to being flooded with information

      B

      Certain blogging platforms have a limit on the word count you can publish

      C

      Online readers only like to engage with long-form pieces of content

      D

      Online audiences are typically younger, so the language used needs to reflect this

      
      

      Question 5

      What are 'highlighting key dates' and 'considering multiple channels' best practices of?

      That's right. A content calendar can be used to plan and organise the process of creating content for key dates: from brainstorming ideas through to writing and publishing across multiple platforms.

      Creating a content calendar

      B

      Designing illustrations to support content

      C

      Segmenting your audience

      D

      Identifying social media influencers

      
      

      Question 6

      Which of the following metrics could help you understand which blog post is resonating the most with your audience?

      That's right, nice work. Session duration will show you how long your audience spends on that specific blog page. This gives you a good indication of whether they've found the blog content relevant to them.

      Session duration

      B

      Page views

      C

      Referral traffic

      D

      Unique page views