How To Succeed at Content Marketing in 2014

Einstein knew nothing of content marketing. But he knew plenty about learning, educating, and testing—and even more about trial and error. Essentially, content marketing is a blend of all of these things. Digital marketers have content creation and optimization down to a science. And 2014 is set to be the year content takes center stage. Though you’ve probably heard it already, there’s still one problem: You might know content marketing is necessary, but that’s not enough.

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” -Albert Einstein

To succeed in content marketing this year and beyond, you must understand what it is, what it does and why it’s important. Here’s our list of what’s important for successful content marketing in 2014:

Understand Your Audience

No two content strategy plans are alike. The social channels needed to disburse content vary by industry and audience. The type of content, the voice behind it and level of expertise needed to make it relevant also vary depending on the conversion goal. In light of this, there are some basic numbers to consider:

60% of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading content about it.
B2B buyers say that 70% of the content they read and study before making a purchase decision is actually found on their own through research.
84% of B2C marketers are relying on social media to drive their content marketing.

Understand Visuals

It’s not just about making your content pretty. It’s about truly compelling visuals, infographics, videos and stimulating graphics. 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Furthermore, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.

Understand the Importance of Setting Deadlines

Content marketing isn’t exactly a new development. Plenty of marketers caught on last year and numerous brands hopped on board. Google implemented Hummingbird and quality content became king of SEO. But there was one glitch in the system. While businesses tried launching blogs and increasing social media engagement, most lost steam. Maybe content creation stopped for a week. But that week turned into two. And so on. What happened?

Incentive and accountability were absent. How? Most businesses failed to commit to strict deadlines and set concrete goals. It’s important to make website updates and social media engagement urgent. Take it seriously. Add content management to the week’s “must-do” list and track the progress of every update. Maybe passing digital strategy over to interns or volunteers who know little about your brand and services isn’t the best option. If you treat content marketing as an afterthought, that’s exactly what it will become.

Understand the Point

So what’s the point? Here’s the part most people have trouble wrapping their head around. Business owners know they need content marketing but they rarely understand why. Here’s the gist:

Content is permanent. It will exist on the web forever. When leads start researching your services, they’ll be delighted to discover the slew of information and solutions you’ve already addressed. You can reap the benefits of good content for months and even years to come.

Content serves both the consumer and the almighty search engine. SEO and content marketing are pretty much synonymous now. The effectiveness of your content-driven campaigns will increase dramatically with organic search traffic, which will ultimately drive more consumers to you.

It doesn’t take an Einstein to create a successful content marketing plan. But it doesn’t hurt to let some experts have your back. Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service advertising agency located in Orlando, Florida. Appleton works with local, national and international clients to provide marketing strategies through print, web, social media and video production – all in house. At Appleton, we want to learn about your business, empower your marketing team and be your creative resource. Your marketing goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com.