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What is content in marketing? As the new age of marketing changes with the internet, so do traditional practices that need to be reassessed, we'll tell you how.

Content and Copy

A copy is a copy but the content can be copy as well.

A copy is writing sales promotion, normally short, sharp and to the point with a call to action.

Content is a discussion about a subject or product that takes you on the road to a conclusion.

In today's market, you will find that more people want information before they invest in products that interest them.

Think about magazines and what they write about. I sat in the doctor's surgery yesterday and browsed the magazines. The wheels one got me interested because they had a great section comparing cars in all aspects and coming down to the best choice product.

Now I don't believe for one moment that there was any bias in the opinion because they rated the cars on a range of criteria. So it must be true.
In a housing magazine, they rated blinds for the kid's room and one got a big tick.

Women's magazine went on about how one superstar discovered a new skin treatment that had saved her from embarrassment. We were very happy for her and thought the cream might work for us as well.

These are general articles that virtually lead you to a natural buying conclusion.

In the magazines advertising (copy) took you to a place to buy and an impelling reason to do so.

White papers and marketing

Many companies produce what are called white papers that explain a product in full. These are long content-based articles aimed at an eventual sale based on facts.

Wikipedia tells you more.

I often see a product from high-value items that provide an in-depth report on what you are buying. It might be a car, truck, motor home or even a new hair conditioner.

As consumers, we want to know more and we demand to be informed.

Is Blogging content marketing

It certainly can be because most blogs come with a financial return in some way.

You may write about saving the whales from Japanese fishing boats and helping continue the species. This is all done with hand on heart and no financial considerations in mind.

Then you allow advertising on the site to get a return.

I am not knocking anything here so don't go off on a tangent we are all in this together

I write a lot of blogs on business. Probably 25 a month that serves to help online and fixed business people to achieve better results and make more money.

I chose this as my niche because I understand business and deal with them every day.
I see so many examples of bad practices that damage the Brand and sales.

However, I want some return for my hours at the Keyboard two fingers typing.

Somewhere on my site will be an affiliate link that could earn me money. No apologies because every recommendation is something that I have tried and used myself.

Products that will help any business person advance in their business.

Can blogging be copywriting

I was asked this question recently and it got my adrenalin going. You will understand that a good blog post will be about 1500 words, give or take a couple of hundred. With research and proper SEO, it has a certain time commitment. Mine is generally slower because of the fact that I am a two-finger typist and too old to change.

However, I then wrote a 300-word blog blatantly promoting a new tool that I wanted for the market
It was fun and therapy to bring out the selling skills and blast away.
Therefore as a content writer, I changed sides to the Dark area of copywriting.

The change was easy, I was full of enthusiasm with a change of style and I was determined to do it more often. Probably one in 10 or so.

Now ask a copywriter to go for a 1500 word description of a product they sell. This will be a real trek to find enough to write about in the longer form of the game.

So what do you do about Content marketing?

Enter content marketing. 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.

Content marketing Institute

You are all about marketing with results in mind so where do you start?

Perhaps writing newsletters would be a great place to start. Every business should have a newsletter that goes out on a regular time. Any two weeks or a month minimum.

Newsletters are not wham-bam selling products.

They form an integral part of the know, like and trust formula for your sales strategy.

You will build on the Like and trust variable by supplying content that is informative and encourages the reader to do future business with you. However, there is always one exception.

Inserting a call to action is necessary for those ready to take a leap of faith.
Somewhere in the page tell the readers you are standing by, ready to help them.

If you don't ask, you don't get so always remember the CTA in your product.

Can you make money writing newsletters

This is really a great way to start a home business. Many don't have the time or inclination and half a dozen clients could build an income for you. It can be cut and pasted in many cases because you are supplying a lot of information from other people that you will share in your newsletter.

What are the other forms of Content marketing

• Videos and how to do things pictorially
• E. Books are always good
• Interviews
• Case studies
• Blogging
• White Papers
• Editorials
• Social Media
  

Social media role in content marketing

This forms a very important part of building your content building in several ways.

You can write great content for LinkedIn and others in the long format content writing

Social media is a delivery device for your content that needs to be read if it is going to be any good.
Writing on Facebook or others will induce them to read your blog post thus helping both entities to get clicks and links and encourage new readers.

Content marketing and SEO

Your SEO knowledge is critical to ensure that your content is read and shared.

It takes time to build a market position as a blogger and that position is obtained by using basic SEO principals.

You want a viral impact for any article published and to achieve that you need to use every skill available. The use of Keywords and entries in a niche that you can compete in is necessary.

If you were to write about cars and use that Keyword “cars” you would be on about page one thousand with over 12 billion searches on that term. When you realise that over 80% of readers never get past the first four lines of a search you will understand the difficulty associated with this.

Ford cars are easier, and Ford cars and exotic parts in texas might get a look in as you make a longtail keyword work for you.

If you want to be read so do the work

There are many ways to read and the most important is free SEO followed by paid SEO.

If you are writing for a webpage that helps and linking with Social media is also important. Furthermore, you can advertise on Social media as well to get readers. Obtain links from other sites and forums within your area of writing.

Make sure to use a spell checker and edit your work to ensure compliance with the English language.
I did a review on a couple of sites this week and they were so badly written I could not make a good suggestion. I understand English was not their first language but it is mine and I want to read properly composed material.
Use a commercial spell checker like Grammarly and edit regularly.

Video as content

This has come a long way over the past few years. So far in fact that YouTube is searched nearly as often as Google and more than Bing and Yahoo combined.

Can you do a video?
Yes, you can because the world has changed and it is really easy with current tools.

I have made videos on my mobile phone and using a commercial service like Noble samurai to meet the market demands. They supply a free book on this and that can be obtained by clicking the link above. This is well worth a read and is free for you.

Keywords and marketing

I have touched on this above but it is imperative to have a good working knowledge of the subject to have any chance of success.

A keyword is what you type in for a search on the internet, Google, Bing, YouTube are all the same. They rely on someone searching for a term.
Yes, you can have local searches and pay for searches and descriptive searches to be found.
Google is a funny place that has its own rules. They own the sandpit and they work it as they want and often change the rules without telling you this affecting what you do.

I have written a lot more on this and also included a free keyword tool so you can explore the subject a lot further.

In conclusion,

Content marketing is a massive industry that has grown with the internet. It forms part of our daily lives as we read the great articles that are emailed to us daily.

Blogging, newsletters, articles, videos are all part of our daily existence so to be a part of this you need to follow some rules of engagement and spend some time building your profile in a very busy market. It is not an overnight sensation, it is a labour-intensive plod for acceptance.

Take off the Rose glasses and learn the realities so you can really appreciate the journey

What is content writing by Peter Hanley?

About the author.
Over 30 years in small to medium business and 10 years on the internet marketing>
I discovered how important the Internet was to business so I went through the pain of learning to compete with the new generation. I love sharing my knowledge.

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