Content Marketing: A Guide to What It Is and How To Succeed (2024)

Your customers spend more time than ever online. However, your marketing messages are competing for their attention among a growing number of digital channels and various types of content. And many of the old ways of reaching them are no longer as effective.

Today’s consumer isn’t sold on brand advertising. Nielsen research found more than half of US and European consumers don’t take action on mobile and banner ads. Instead, people turn to advice from their peers and others they trust to help them make their purchase decisions.

To gain trust, a brand must provide consumers with something valuable. This could be helpful information, useful knowledge, or simply something that makes them laugh. Creating and delivering this type of content is known as content marketing.

The most recent Content Marketing Institute (CMI) B2C Content Marketing research found that 70% of B2C marketers said content marketing has become more important to their organization over the past year. And it makes sense. Content marketing elevates your customer relationships beyond the transactional. As you publish content, and others promote your content, you become a trusted resource.

However, not all marketing content is content marketing. In this guide you’ll get an intro to content marketing and uncover what type of content will be the best fit for your marketing team.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is using content as a vehicle to build trust with your audience. Instead of trying to persuade them to buy from you with advertising tactics, content marketing puts your company’s expertise to work in service of your customer. By creating content with a unique perspective and expertise that they can’t get anywhere else, you build long-term customer relationships.

While the official CMI definition is a mouthful, essentially, content marketing isn’t about selling a product. It’s about educating or entertaining your audience through your content.

Content marketing allows you to connect with potential customers and current customers at every step of their journey. Here’s how it works:

To reach people where they are, a brand might:

• Share engaging brand content on social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook
• Distribute videos on platforms where people watch videos, like TikTok and YouTube
• Publish web content optimized to appear at the top of search results

To offer value throughout the buying cycle, a brand might:

• Produce high-quality content to educates people about something they want to learn
• Create content that simply delights people while reinforcing your brand values
• Use your owned data and resources to give people insight into themselves

So, what exactly is quality content? As Ann Handley wrote in Everybody Writes, “Quality content means content that is packed with clear utility and is brimming with inspiration, and it has relentless empathy for the audience.”

This differs from traditional marketing, which often focuses on a quick sale. Content marketing is about putting customer needs—not brand messaging—first. Using content marketing to create an exceptional customer experience increases trust and revenue over time.

Understanding content types

The good news and the bad news is there isn’t a strict template for success in content marketing. Every company can create a content plan that fits their audience and marketing strengths.

Let’s start by defining some comment content marketing elements:

Online content

In content marketing, online content refers to any information shared digitally through written, audio, or visual mediums. Online content includes content distributed through social platforms, your website, email, and other digital channels.

Blog content

Blogs are one of the most popular content marketing channels. Creating blog posts or articles that answer frequently answered questions (FAQs) can help attract customers to your website and build trust. Long and short article or blog post content creation are a key element of inbound marketing. The goal is to craft content that ranks for different search phrases your ideal customer would use.

B2B content marketing

B2B content marketing refers to creating content that appeals to a person going about the course of their work. It is produced by companies that sell products or services to other companies and is used to increase brand awareness, traffic, leads, and sales. Due to the longer buying cycles, and high purchase prices, B2B content often focuses on high-value assets and interactions. The perceived value of these assets allow you to gate them, or require people provide their contact details to access them.

One way to demonstrate organizational expertise is by publishing research reports, ebooks, or other long-form content. This is especially effective if you have proprietary research or employ industry experts. If your data is interesting, other media outlets or businesses might link to it, giving you free media coverage.

B2C content marketing

B2C content marketing refers to creating content for people that will help them live more fulfilling lives in some way. Unlike B2B content marketing, B2C content often skews toward short, easily consumable content. Short articles, videos, and social content are the most common types of content created for B2C content marketing.

B2C content rarely requires exchanging contact information for a one-time download. Instead, consumers exchange contact information for exclusive access to special perks, ongoing content streams, or communities.

Ecommerce content marketing

Ecommerce content marketing focuses on using digital channels to drive online sales. This content marketing is mostly digital. B2B and B2C marketing, on the other hand, can include in-person events and physical assets such as books.

For example, an online wine club might produce a taste profile assessment and recipes paired with specific wine types. A gluten-free baking mix ecommerce site might have a YouTube channel dedicated to entertaining and cooking.

Interactive content marketing

Content marketing isn’t limited to content that’s consumed passively by your audience. It can also include interactive content that’s co-created with them.

You can create interactive quizzes or downloadable materials consumers can fill out. In return, you provide them with content tailored to their responses. And as with other high value content, you may require an email address in exchange for access to this content.

For example, a digital marketing agency created an online assessment that measured marketers’ level of burnout. After tabulating the quiz taker’s responses, the marketer received a funny image and an assessment of their level of burnout as compared to their peers, plus ways to recuperate.

Infographics

Infographics are a visual medium for breaking down complex information. They’re meant to be enlightening and shareable. They can distill written (like a report) or video content (like an explainer video) to repackage that content for a new audience or channel.

For example, a research report for doctors on the top headache triggers could be turned into a visually striking infographic for consumers. This content type is often reshared by your audience across different media outlets, further cementing your brand’s expertise.

Podcast content marketing

Some brands make podcasts part of their content marketing strategy to reach people who prefer to listen to content, rather than reading or watching it. Podcasts are also a great way to showcase thought leaders who prefer talking over writing. This content format also provides an opportunity to spark conversations between company leaders and respected industry guests.

Video content marketing

Video content allows you to connect with customers on a more emotional level than other content types. This tool for dynamic storytelling allows you to demonstrate your brand’s expertise and understanding of your audience’s needs.

Video content performs well on the web and across most social channels. TikTok and Instagram cater to short-form videos. Historically, YouTube has primarily been a platform for longer videos, but they’re looking to compete with their new Shorts product. These platforms also sell advertising to brands who want to pay to circulate their video content.

Social media content marketing

While many companies see social media as a content marketing distribution channel, it is much more than that. Social media allows companies to tailor content to each platform’s audience and preferences. It also enables interactivity, you can ask your audience questions, and amplify your brand fans. Popular social media platforms for consumer content marketing include TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Viral content marketing

Viral content marketing is not a strategy. Rather, it’s the often wished for and seldom obtained outcome of creating content that shows you truly get your audience.

Viral content marketing is relatable and shareable content that is widely shared, emulated, and even parodied. By “going viral” the content reaches a far wider audience than it was expected to. A notable example of viral content is Blendtec’s Will It ZBlend? video content series.

Branded content

If you’ve ever picked up a copy of CSAAA’s Via magazine, or bought a Michelin restaurant guide, you’ve seen branded content in action. While this form of content marketing is useful and meets consumer needs, the content clearly reflects the brand and its values.

Thought leadership content marketing

Thought leadership is a type of content created by leaders within a certain field. It’s noted for expressing unique perspectives and contrarian ideas based on an individual’s experiences.

This type of content leverages your leaders’ expertise and knowledge as a “thought leader” within a particular field. It’s important to note the brand itself cannot become a thought leader. But by elevating your internal thought leaders, the brand gains credibility by association.

How does content marketing work?

Like in any relationship, building trust with consumers can take time. And content marketing plays a part throughout a customer’s buyer’s journey. Content created to support the customer journey has historically been divided into three stages.

Awareness stage (TOFU)

The beginning of the buyer’s journey starts at the awareness stage, also referred to as “top of funnel,” or TOFU. This is where prospective customers identify their pain points and concerns,

As a customer, you’re trying to figure out a solution to a problem but haven’t defined your problem or its likely solution. The kinds of content that work best at this stage are explainers and how-to content that addresses the problems consumers are trying to solve.

Consideration stage (MOFU)

In the consideration or middle of the funnel (MOFU) stage, a consumer considers ways to solve the issue. They’re interested in learning more and looking for remedies to solve an issue. Content in this stage should be informative and lightly touch on ways your products or services can be the ideal solution, without it being too in the face of your customer. This customer knows there is a solution for their problem, they’re just looking for the right one.

Decision stage (BOFU)

In the decision stage, the buyer is ready to decide what solution will help them with their problem. The consumer may be comparison shopping and looking for the best options. Content in this stage can convert leads to buyers and cover the unique value proposition. Share what makes your business stand out in a sea of competition.

The new buyer’s journey: everything everywhere all at once

The rapid digital transformation that took place over the past four years has had a significant impact on the customer journey. While the traditional funnel approach may still apply in some cases, it deviates entirely in others.

Analyst firm Gartner has a more radical proposal: that the new B2B buyer’s journey is centered on roles, not stages.It stated, “Today’s B2B buying journey follows a nonlinear purchasing path that more closely resembles a set of distinct buying jobs or sets of tasks that buyers must complete to finalize an actual purchase.”

A content marketer creating a content strategy around this model would formulate content that speaks to these four roles:

• Problem identification
• Solution exploration
• Requirements building
• Supplier selection

Regardless of which approach you take, it’s important to align the buyer’s goals to the content you create.

How to create a successful content marketing strategy

Creating content won’t automatically drive revenue. It’s aligning your content marketing efforts to a well-defined content marketing strategy that delivers business results. Here are the steps to get started with defining your own online content marketing strategy.

1. Set SMART goals

Before creating your first piece of content, it’s important to define why you are investing in content marketing. That’s why the first part of your content strategy is to set measurable and specific goals that support your business goals.

To make it clear how your content marketing will deliver on your goals, define your SMART goals. Each letter in the SMART acronym stands for an element that makes these goals achievable:

• S: Specific
• M: Measurable
• A: Attainable
• R: Relevant
• T: Time-bound

For a deep-dive into SMART goals, learn how to set SMART goals. Here’s an example of a SMART awareness goal you can use for a content marketing strategy: “Increase brand awareness as measured by increasing organic traffic to the website by 20% by the end of the year.”

2. Identify and understand your audience

Don’t fall into the trap of creating content using yourself as the stand-in for your customer. It’s rare that you are your company’s ideal custom profile. Creating content that differentiates your company and connects with its audience starts with knowing your audience:

• Who are your ideal customers? 
• What are they struggling with?
• How can you help them succeed through content only you can create?

You can answer these questions through a combination of customer conversations, social listening, and online research. This is a critical step many marketers overlook. 

But without having deep empathy for your customers, it’s difficult to create content that will make a difference in their lives. And if you are creating content that tries to appeal to everyone, you’re less likely to truly connect with someone.

3. Identify the right content channels

With limited time and resources, it’s impossible to create content for every channel your customers conceivably use. To prioritize where you invest your content marketing time, consider your content marketing goals, and your marketing team’s areas of content creation expertise. Then, evaluate the channels for fit.

Content marketing for brand awareness: Social media and blogs

To elevate brand awareness, it’s important to reach a large yet targeted audience. 

• Social media platforms excel for brand awareness. Each platform has distinctive audience and engagement metrics. 
• Each social platform requires a tailored approach—Instagram for visual content, LinkedIn for B2B engagement, etc. 
• Blogs provide an owned platform for storytelling to foster an authentic brand identity.

Content marketing for lead generation: Long-form assets and webinars

When you have a lead generation goal, look to high-value channels that incentivize people to provide their contact information. Webinars and long-form assets are the best performing channels for lead generation.

• Long-form assets promise a depth of information the customer can’t get anywhere else. 
• Webinars take information delivery one step further by providing an interactive platform.
• Both channels can be effective ways to showcase expertise, establish credibility, and encourage immediate action, including lead capture.

Content Marketing for customer engagement and retention: Social media and content hubs

In addition to building awareness, social media is also useful for community building, real-time engagement, and customer service. 

• Publish platform-specific content that encourages interaction, combined with authentic engagement. This builds a sense of belonging and community among the audience.
• Create content hubs focused on a customer need. These rich resource centers include blogs, case studies, playbooks, and tutorials to help them get more out of your products or services.

Content Marketing for thought leadership: Contributed content and linkedIn

While thought leadership content can take many forms, it’s primarily distributed through industry publications and LinkedIn. 

• Industry publications frequently accept contributed content that provides in-depth insights, research, and commentary. This let you “borrow” an audience for your thought leadership content.
• LinkedIn allows you to extend your reach by tapping into a thought leader’s professional network. Consider a mix of publishing thought leadership content natively on LinkedIn and using it to drive readers to your owned channels. 

4. Invest in the right content marketing tools

Tools like Google Analytics can help track the traffic your content is getting, where it’s coming from, and what kind of engagement it’s receiving. This information can be used to tweak your content strategy, ensure your content reaches your target audience, and resonates with them.

You can use other tools and resources to streamline and improve your content marketing activities, including:

• The Content Marketing Institute, for access to courses and resources on content marketing.
• Hootsuite, for planning, analyzing, and optimization content marketing strategies.
• CoSchedule, for blog post topic ideation, content calendar planning, and content marketing performance measurement.
• Buffer, for social media management and content distribution.
• HubSpot, for courses on content marketing and Inbound marketing.
• Google Trends, for research on what people are searching for online.
• Answer the Public, for research on questions people are asking about your content topic.
• Free content on sites like MarketingProfs, Copyblogger, and Contently. 
• AI tools like ChatGPT, Copy.ai, and Writer to assist with content ideation and repurposing

5. Consistently create content tailored to your audience

A content strategy is only as good as its execution. Ensure you meet your goals by creating content that reflects your strategy, on a consistent schedule. Build your audience by investing in good writing, beautiful branded imagery, and great production if you’re doing multimedia content.

Plan to invest as much time and budget in distributing your content as you did to create it. Refer to your audience identification in step two for distribution insights. But also take a look at research, to see how your audience spends their time online. Then, design a distribution strategy for your specific audience.

6. Review and adjust

Remember your content strategy is not set in stone. To live up to its potential—and meet your business goals—you should revisit and adjust it regularly.

Track your progress against the goals you set. If something isn’t working, try to figure out why, then adjust your marketing strategies in the future. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, and platform-provided analytics to track important analytics and metrics.

SMB content marketing examples

Content marketing doesn’t require a big budget or a huge marketing team to make an impact. Get inspired by these small business owners who have used content marketing to grow their businesses.

The Outrage

The Outrage doesn’t just use content marketing to drive revenue—content actually drove its inception. Today, content remains at the center of its ecommerce experience. For example, their feminist gift guide clearly outlines the various components of the intersectional feminist unit, educating the reader while allowing them to buy products that support their point of view. They also use their platform to elevate other voices, providing links to additional education and advocacy resources, and providing concrete actions people can take to show their support. 

This approach is ideal for mission-driven companies to support their community’s interests and become an advocate.

Goodfair

Do your customers trust you enough to buy a mystery package of your products? Goodfair’s customers do. The brand has cultivated a customer base that cares about the environment through publishing educational content. Their blog regularly puts a fun twist on eco-friendly fashion, with posts on how to be a conscious consumer, why you should thrift flannel shirts, and how to recycle your clothes. 

Can you take an otherwise dreary aspect of your company values or a product benefit and put an unconventional twist on it?

Terrebleu

The popular Terrebleu Shopify store features lavender-infused beauty, food, and household products. But the website uses content to deliver tranquility for the visitor, too. Their extensive content library provides a digital reproduction of the physical lavender farm’s relaxing environment. From wellness-focused blog posts to aerial tours of the farm, the brand creates a serene customer experience.

Content like this is a great way to show your customers the ideal result of buying your products. 

Fly by Jing

There really was a time before chili crisp became the “it” condiment on TikTok, Instagram, and everywhere else people show off what they eat. But thanks in part to Fly by Jing’s recipes and other content, more people have gained the confidence to let things get a little spicy. The website showcases recipes that put spice front and center, and make culinary adventures—like learning how to make homemade dumplings—feel within reach.

When you have a new product that doesn’t have an existing competitor, content shows your customer how to make the most of their purchase.

Content marketing can help your shop stand out

Today’s consumer has a taste for engaging content that speaks to who they are and what they’re interested in. While they may be always on the lookout for new channels, and content types, it’s safe to say content marketing is here to stay.

With a solid content strategy, you can ensure you cut through the noise to effectively reach your ideal customers. Wherever they are in the process of making their purchase decision, you can create content to keep your ecommerce brand top of mind.