Here at Vici, we excel at getting visitors to your website and engaging with your brand. But what happens after that initial engagement? For some, they remain interested in the brand and become a loyal customer. But for many, that one-time engagement is just that. So how do brands retain more of these new visitors from their advertising campaigns? The best way to do so is with content marketing.
So what is content marketing? A great article from the Content Marketing Institute says it best,
“Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.”
To break it down a bit more, content marketing is how brands communicate with their customers (potential customers included) when they are not trying to sell their product or service. It is a way for brands to connect with their customer base while enriching their lives with educational, informational, and interesting content. The main goal for content marketing is to retain current customers by going beyond traditional advertising campaigns and humanizing what can often be thought of as a faceless company. If brands can deliver information which is valuable to their consumers, then their consumers will deliver their loyalty and patronage.
So now that we understand what content marketing is and why it is important, we need to understand how to do it effectively. Content marketing only works when a brand is committed to providing information to their customers beyond basic product support and service. The best content marketers understand how their customers think and act, and what is important to them. These marketers will capitalize on relevant trends, and current events without being too intrusive or political. Brands that invest time into providing customers with valuable information, will be rewarded by customers who will invest their time (and money) into their brand.
Now let’s take a look at some examples of great content marketing to help get the creative juices flowing for your next marketing meeting. The first one that caught my eye was Lowe’s. Lowe’s has mastered the art of the “vine” which is a six second video format which they have used to show their consumers many household tips and tricks. They aren’t trying to sell any products, but the act of educating its customer base reinforces their position as one of the best home improvement stores.
The second example is content marketing guru, Staples. Staples loves to provoke engagement from their customer base while remaining true to their message of adding some fun to the workplace. Often the Staples content marketing team will post office project ideas, office humor, or cute videos which make use of their various office supplies. When it comes to engagement, they will occasionally peek into the lives of their customers by asking them to leave a comment in response to what was posted, providing a way for their customers a way to interact with the brand in a very tangible way.
My third pick for impressive content marketing would have to be Coca-Cola. Their strategy directly involves their customers by requesting image submissions which incorporate the brand and their tagline of “discovering moments of happiness.” They then take these user submitted images and create thoughtful, and engaging posts for their social media channels, giving credit to each photographer.
Most companies who are spending money on advertising often fail to retain those newly acquired visitors. Content marketing needs to go hand in hand with digital outreach marketing, or obtaining new customers. Here are a few things to remember:
- Having content that is fresh (posting as often as possible, preferably once a week) will show customers that you care about their time and want them to spend it with you.
- Having content which is relevant will show that your company marketing is not just being run by some algorithm, creating a digital “personality.”
- Posting content which your customers will value and take time to view/read will give them reasons to stick around, with hopes of more valuable content.
So start creating content for your customers and soon you both will experience the benefits.
