Things change quickly on the internet. Search engines like Lycos and Alta Vista ruled the roost before Google even existed.
Ugly, flashy banner ads were everywhere and companies were paying a ton of money to advertise that way.
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn weren’t around.
So how you market has to change, too. You have have heard the phrase, “content is king” and I believe this is still true today.
How you use that content to market and what type of content it is may have changed a bit but content is still a very viable way to market.
What is Content
So what exactly is content? It used to be just the written word on a web site.
But nowadays, besides well written articles, content is video, podcasting (audio), images and pictures, infographics, polls, contests and interacting on social network sites like Facebook.
If you want to market online effectively you must have content!
Marketing online is now a two way conversation, it’s not just about ads.
Content Marketing Today
Spending on content creation is estimated to increase by 15.1% to $118.4 billion in 2013. Yes, you read that correctly, $118.4 billion will be spend on content creation this year.
Delivering great content consistently is not easy, but it is essential nowadays. Your content drives your marketing, for better or worse.
You content is your brand nowadays, not some catchy slogan.
Content Marketing Statistics
Here are just a few numbers for you (source: http://www.the-cma.com/uploads/documents/cma-01.jpg), 82% of people like to read content from brands when it is relevant to them.
68% are likely to read marketing content if it is from a brand they are interested in and 60% are more likely to be on the lookout for products when they are looking at content marketing.
When given an agree or disagree choice on the statement, “content marketing has a positive impact upon my purchase decisions”, 45% agreed with this statement and only 20% disagreed.
Similarly, when given the same choice for “content marketing makes me more positive toward the brand itself,” 48% agreed while only 14% disagreed.
Content marketing is not only still viable but it’s crucial to the success of your business if you want to win over fickle consumers amongst ever growing competition for their limited time and attention span!
Marketing managers are catching on to this trend.
When it comes to what these managers feel are the most important marketing channels for engaging with consumers, 37% chose content-led web sites, 30% said branded mobile apps, and 22% said email newsletters, all ways of delivering content to the customer.
Content Marketing Through Videos
A lot does change and quickly, especially how content is delivered, but marketing with content is more critical than ever.
Video hasn’t existed online for very long and even less time for it to be widespread with fast enough internet connections.
But now over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube.
Content Through Social Media Sites
Besides the search engine google.com (where your content can be found), the other sites rounding out the top five most visited sites are Facebook.com, Youtube.com, LinkedIn.com and Twitter.com, all sites that deliver content in different ways.
If you want to run a successful business online, you need to engage in a well thought out content marketing campaign.
Go to our Content Marketing Category Page to get more helpful tips and ideas.