Was ist Content Marketing? Und warum ist es wichtig?
Meisterklasse für Content Marketing: Teil Eins
How do you make sure you’re marketing your business in the most effective way? In today’s world, traditional forms of marketing have become far less persuasive than they once were.
Hier kommt Content Marketing ins Spiel: eine Möglichkeit, Ihr Publikum mit ansprechenden Inhalten zu versorgen und gleichzeitig die Konversionsrate zu erhöhen, die Markenbekanntheit zu steigern, den Umsatz zu erhöhen und vieles mehr.
But what IS content marketing exactly? And where do you even start implementing? 🤔
If you’d like to learn how your business can benefit from content marketing, keep reading. You’ll find out everything you need to learn in this comprehensive, step-by-step guide.
This post is Part One in a brand spanking new Masterclass Series on Content Marketing. We believe it’s an incredibly important topic – and according to a little survey we did, you do too. Trouble is: there is so much content on content marketing out there (talk about meta) and a lot of the intel is conflicting.
We bring this Masterclass to you in partnership with Anouck Meier, Chief Storytelling Officer at Ampersand. Anouck is a conversion copywriter and a content marketing strategist who has worked with numerous brands, big and small, to help them achieve their business goals through strategic content. Let’s get the story on content straight once and for all in a comprehensive guide. Ready to dive in?
- Jeroen Corthout, Mitbegründer von Salesflare, einem einfach zu bedienenden Vertriebs-CRM für kleine B2B-Unternehmen
Was ist Content Marketing?
Obwohl es das Konzept des Content Marketing schon seit Jahrhunderten gibt (siehe dieses Beispiel aus dem Jahr 1672), scheint immer noch viel Verwirrung darüber zu herrschen, was es genau bedeutet.
I’m reminded of this fact pretty much every single holiday period, when random family members ask me for an update on the job front. My response is consistently received with a quizzical look. “So what is it exactly that you do”, my uncle asks after I’ve explained what I do for a living.
What usually does the trick is contrasting content marketing to the traditional marketing he knows all too well. 🙂
Traditional marketing revolves around bombarding your audience with a sales message over and over and over again. It’s Mad Men-style marketing: hitting prospects hard with a promotional message (“BUY. ME. NOW.”) on mass media, like print, radio or TV. Because it’s hard to target a specific audience or differentiate the message, it’s like marketing with a bazooka (which comes with a hefty price tag too).
And there are more problems on the horizon for the classic approach to marketing: audiences have become more wary and critical. 🧐
People are just not that into ads anymore. According to Nielsen’s Global Trust In Advertising report, people trust text ads less than any other content medium, especially on mobile.
Moreover, the noise has increased dramatically since Don Draper’s heydays, making it even more difficult to make your message heard. Let alone convert customers.
Enter content marketing. ✨
Definition von Content Marketing
According to the Content Marketing Institute (you’d figure they know what they’re talking about), the definition of content marketing is:
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
So instead of pitching your products or services, you’re providing relevant and useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve their issues. It’s is a long-term strategy that focuses on building a relationship with your audience.
When it eventually comes to making a purchase decision, the loyalty of your audience already lies with you. You’ve already shown them that a) you have the relevant expertise and b) you care enough to share that knowledge with them.
Qualitativ hochwertige Inhalte ermöglichen es Ihnen, Ihre Kunden auf den Weg des Kennenlernens und Vertrauens (und schließlich des Kaufs) zu bringen, ohne sie zum Kauf zu zwingen.
Think about it like dating: if traditional marketing is like popping the question on a first date (good luck with that!), content marketing is like pulling out all the stops to woo your object of desire customer bit by bit until they feel weak in the knees. 🥰
Wie ich bereits erwähnt habe, ist Content Marketing kein neues Konzept. Marken haben schon vor Jahrhunderten Inhalte in Zeitschriften und Zeitungen veröffentlicht. Damals wie heute ging es darum, die Kundenbindung, die Kundengewinnung und die Markenbekanntheit durch die Bereitstellung relevanter, ansprechender Informationen zu stärken.
Of course, in recent years, content marketing has exploded. The reason is obvious: the internet, and arguably even more, the smartphone. 📱 There are even now content generators that enable you to produce content at scale.
With the rise of digital and the possibility for brands to speak to prospects even when they’re spending time in the tiniest room of the house, brands are using content marketing as an advanced method to attract high-quality leads, nurture their engagement down the funnel, and convert them into paying customers.
Warum ist Content Marketing wichtig?
Das neue Marketing besteht darin, Ihre Kunden zu unterrichten und ihnen die Mittel an die Hand zu geben, damit sie Sie kennen, mögen und Ihnen vertrauen. Auf der Liste der vertrauenswürdigen Medien rangieren redaktionelle Inhalte vor Anzeigen in allen traditionellen Kanälen, einschließlich Fernsehen, Radio, Plakatwänden, Zeitungen und Zeitschriften.
All the leading brands are doing it. Your competitors are too. In fact, over 91% of B2B companies are using content marketing. And marketing guru’s with yellow glasses have been claiming for over a decade now that it’s really the only marketing left. 😎
But you shouldn’t even think about adopting a content marketing strategy because it’s what the cool kids do. You should because the benefits of content marketing will knock your socks off.
So what are some of these benefits of content marketing? Let’s take a closer look.
1. Content Marketing richtet sich nach den Bedürfnissen Ihrer Zielgruppe (und es zahlt sich aus, Ihre Zielgruppe an die erste Stelle zu setzen)
Content marketing addresses a shift in the needs of audiences across industries. When consumers change, marketers need to apply different strategies. At least: if they want their messages to stick. 😏
Or as Virgin Media’s Head of Digital Marketing, Gill Worby, said:
“Previously we always thought about what we wanted to talk about and now we talk about what our audience wants us to say. This is against a backdrop of people wanting to be educated, entertained, and stimulated every minute of every day, and it is harder than ever to grab people’s attention.” (Quelle: Wie Virgin Media die Zustimmung der Geschäftsleitung für Content Marketing erhielt)
Werfen Sie einfach einen Blick auf einige dieser wichtigen Statistiken:
- People want content from brands. According to Havas Group’s Meaningful Brands study, 84 Prozent der Menschen erwarten von Marken, dass sie Inhalte erstellen.
- 70 Prozent der Internetnutzer wollen mehr über Produkte durch Inhalte erfahren als durch traditionelle Werbung. (MDG Advertising)
- Consumers can smell a sales pitch a mile away – and they think it stinks. Sie könnten denken Ihre Werbung kommt bei Ihrem Publikum an, aber 71 Prozent der Leser geben an, dass sie von Inhalten, die sich wie ein reines Verkaufsgespräch anfühlen, abgeschreckt wurden. (Economist Group’s “Missing the Mark” report)
- 96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders. (Demand Gen Report, 2016)
- Nearly all of the most successful B2B content marketers (92%) prioritize the audience’s informational needs over their promotional message. (Content Marketing Institute, 2018)
2. Content Marketing unterstützt die Customer Journey
So just imagine that you’re in the market for noise-cancelling headphones (good call, by the way, it should help you focus on getting all that content out of the door).
Now what is the first thing you’re going to do? My guess is that you’ll head on over to Google and type in some sort of query: “best noise-cancelling headphones” or maybe “comparison noise-cancelling headphones” or even “what noise-cancelling headphones should I get to look like the office hipster?”.
Well, guess what, if that’s your strategy, you’re not alone. According to research by GroupMsatte 86 Prozent der Käufer ihre Kundenreise beginnen with non-branded search queries. 🖱️
What’s more: users put their trust in the (non-promotional) content they encounter along the way. When researching a buying decision, 85 percent of users ignore paid ads and focus on organic search results.
Aber die Verbraucher lesen nicht nur, bevor sie kaufen, sondern die Inhalte tragen auch zur Gestaltung des Kundenerlebnisses bei. Inhalte können ein kohärentes Erlebnis auf mehreren Kanälen schaffen, was die Verbraucher im digitalen Zeitalter einfach erwarten.
3. Inhalte schaffen Markenbewusstsein, Vertrauen und Loyalität
Research findings strongly support the importance of customer-first marketing: when brands create valuable content that educates and informs consumers, it’s a win-win situation for both consumers and brands.
Der Inhalt bestimmt, wie die Menschen über Ihre Marke denken. Content strength accounts for 71 percent of how a brand performs on “improving personal well-being,” which determines how meaningful people feel it is. And customers are willing to pay more for meaningful brands. According to Havas-Gruppe, “meaningfulness” in brand marketing can increase wallet share up to nine times. 💸
Schließlich steigert der Konsum von Inhalten die Affinität und das Vertrauen, und diese positiven Gefühle für die Marke nehmen im Laufe der Zeit sogar noch zu. (Quelle: Power of Content: How Content Marketing Impacts Purchase Decisions, Brand Affinity, and Trust)
4. Sie wollen mehr und bessere Leads? Inhalte können den Job erledigen!
Werbung, die den Verbrauchern angezeigt wird, ob sie sie sehen wollen oder nicht, wird von den Verbrauchern als aufdringlich, störend und aufdringlich empfunden.
Turns out, people today generally don’t respond to this type of product-pushing. 😩
Or are you one out of very few people who don’t hit the fast forward button when commercials come on and interrupt your favorite TV show?
There are other ways to find qualified leads – better ways: content marketing. And it’s not just us saying that. Here’s some of the research to back it up:
- 74% der Unternehmen geben an, dass Content Marketing die Qualität und Quantität der Leads erhöht. If it’s sales-ready leads you’re looking for, nothing beats high-quality content based on an informed strategy.
Quelle: (Curata)
- According to Hubspot, content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising (Source: http://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic)
- Furthermore, 82% of customers have a more positive outlook on a company after reading custom content, and 70% of customers feel closer to a business after engaging with their content. As a result, lead quality and quantity goes up after introducing a content marketing strategy. (Source: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic)
Finally, paid advertising on digital platforms often relies on good content as well. Or did you think your pushy “BUY NOW” ads would fare well on Facebook?
5. Inhalte sind der Motor für den Verkauf und für Kaufentscheidungen
Content marketing may require more time, patience, and effort over the long haul, but the rewards are far greater. Just consider the impact on purchase decisions and sales: 👇
- Content marketing drives higher conversions. In fact, according to research, it has six times the power of traditional marketing for converting people into leads and leads into customers.
- 47% of buyers viewed 3 to 5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. (Source: Demand Gen Report)
- Inhalte beeinflussen Kaufentscheidungen. Three-quarters of buyers said that the content of potential vendors had a “significant impact” on which one they chose. Additionally, 89 Prozent der Befragten stated that winning vendors “provided content that made it easier to show ROI and/or build a business case for the purchase.”
- Der Konsum von Bildungsinhalten erhöht die Kaufwahrscheinlichkeit dramatisch. Die Wirkung ist sofort am stärksten und lässt eine Woche später etwas nach. (Die Macht der Inhalte: Wie sich Content Marketing auf Kaufentscheidungen, Markenaffinität und Vertrauen auswirkt)
6. Content Marketing spart Geld
Traditional marketing methods like print, radio, and broadcast media are pretty expensive places to start your marketing campaign. And let’s face it: for some of us, prime ad space on mass media will never be a feasible option.
Content is much more cost effective. What’s more, it’s also easier to target the exact right audience. 🎯 (Source: DemandMetric)
Wenn Content Marketing und bezahlte Suche gegeneinander ausgespielt werden:
- Content marketing has both lower up-front costs and deeper long-term benefits (Source: a recent study by Kapost).
- Content Marketing kostet 62% weniger als traditionelle Kanäle und generiert 3x so viele Leads. (Demand Metric)
- A recent study took into account the cost of hiring a content marketing team vs. creating a paid search campaign. For medium- and large-sized businesses, content marketing cost up to 41% less per lead than paid search.
- Die effektivsten B2B-Vermarkter geben 42% ihres Budgets für Inhalte aus. Je mehr Sie für Inhalte ausgeben, desto besser ist der Ertrag. Quelle: (Institut für Inhaltsmarketing)
Don’t Even Consider Content Marketing if You Haven’t Got This
If you want to provide a better experience for your customers all while making a positive impact on your business – both in terms of how it’s perceived and its bottom line – content marketing is a great bet.
In fact, with so many tangible benefits, you may be left wondering why everyone isn’t on the content marketing wagon? 🤔
The reality is: content marketing is hard work. It takes consistent effort (hey, these masterclasses don’t exactly write themselves, if you see my point). Moreover, the fruits of your labor are often only enjoyed in the long run. No instant gratification or dopamine shots to be had right here, right now, I’m afraid. 😔
And finally: it’s only companies who have a solid strategy who are able to reap the benefits of their content marketing efforts. Don’t even dip your tiny toe in the content marketing waters without doing your homework and developing a clear content strategy first.
And guess what? Content strategy is exactly what we have lined up for you in the next installment of this series. Talk about putting your customer first with content… (see what we did there?). 😏
Nutzen Sie bereits Inhalte, um Ihr Unternehmen auszubauen? Lassen Sie es uns in den Kommentaren wissen!
And don’t forget to tune in next week for Part Two of our Content Marketing Masterclass: Building a Content Strategy!
Wir hoffen, dass Ihnen dieser Beitrag gefallen hat. Wenn ja, empfehlen Sie ihn weiter!
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- Measuring Content Marketing ROI: Show Me The Money - 10. Oktober 2019
- Wiederverwendung von Inhalten: 4 einfache Wege, um mehr aus Ihren Inhalten herauszuholen - 3. Oktober 2019
- Die zehn Gebote der effektiven Inhaltsverteilung - 26. September 2019