Building your brand is a big topic, so instead of trying to cover it all in one bite, today we’ll dive into the topic with 5 pillars of what’s called “Content Marketing.” Most companies today are participating in some form of content marketing. Studies show that companies that can produce a majority of their leads through online channels will grow more quickly and are more profitable than companies that rely more heavily on traditional marketing campaigns for generating leads.

So to start off this series, let’s hit 5 content marketing channels that you can incorporate into your overall marketing strategy to increase growth and profits.

 

#1 – Your Website

Although laser-targeted lead generation campaigns are the way to go for quick revenue and business-building when it comes to content marketing your company’s website is one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal. With a little attention, it can become a powerful tool for generating leads. Your site can be used to leverage both blogging and search engine optimization (SEO) to increase traffic to your site.

To gain the highest return on investment, your company website should include:

• static web page content,
• stock educational content, and
• engaging, flow educational content

 

#2 – Social Media

A natural extension of content marketing are the numerous social media platforms that have become popular. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram… They all work as content marketing tools in a couple of ways. First, your content can be posted directly to the platforms in the form of tweets, status updates, and dialog with other users so you stay top-of-mind and build a relationship with your market. Secondly, you can use them to introduce different pieces of content that link back to blog posts, whitepapers, and other content on your site to bring them to your “home field” as it were.

 

#3 – Email Marketing

Email marketing is a technique that involves acquiring/cultivating a targeted list of contacts and sending them emails periodically that contain educational content and offers. You are offering your prospective customers information that will help them, making them more eager to do business with you down the road.

 

#4 – Web Analytics

Web analytics is not necessarily content per se, but it’s imperative that it be part of your strategy as it comprises the unseen data behind your content marketing efforts. Analytics allows you to monitor the activity on your website and landing pages such as how many visitors you have, downloads, and where the traffic originated from. You should use these tools to measure the success of your content marketing campaigns.

 

#5 – Stock Content

Stock content refers to the educational resources that you make available on your website for potential and current customers to download. Stock content includes whitepapers, guides, ebooks, research studies, and other media. They help to enhance your reputation as a thought leader in your industry and will lead prospects back to you when the time is right for them to purchase.

 

When you begin to implement your content marketing campaign, it’s important that you don’t rely on any single tool, but leverage multiple content marketing tools to get the most effect from it. By leveraging these five methods or channels, you can start turning your online presence into a lead generating machine, helping you grow into a high-profit business.

Want more about content marketing? Check out our related posts to get more tips and strategies on how to leverage content to your business-building advantage!