What is content marketing?

Doing internet marketing in 2019 is truly amazing. It’s so big that it has become impossible to be an expert on all platforms. In fact, being an expert on more than one platform requires an effort and a level of commitment that is quite intense. However, don’t lose hope, there is a common strategy that works across all platforms, and that’s content marketing! But just what is content marketing?

What is content marketing?

Content marketing involves creating a ton of content related to the needs of your clients – needs that your business can solve. For example, if my business offered cooking products, I would write articles on “ how to make the best pancakes in the world ”, I would make explanatory videos, I would create podcasts with top chefs from Quebec or around the world, etc.

The main objective of all this content would be to position myself as an expert in the culinary field. Over time, my audience would trust me more and more, and eventually, I would see sales stemming from my strategy.

The benefits of content marketing

Save time. In addition to helping you position yourself as an expert in your field, content marketing will save you a lot of time in the medium and long term. How? By educating your prospect about their needs and showing them the best possible solutions for them.

Thus, when you meet a prospect who has already engaged with your content marketing strategy through your emails, articles, and videos, the chances that they are already partially “ converted ” to your services are much higher. Your content will have educated them about the possible solutions, and they will understand your “ language ” better.

In our field (CRMs, automations, and lead generation), the vocabulary and working methods are very specific. Creating a lot of content has not only greatly helped us in our lead generation strategy but has also significantly reduced my sales cycle. In short, we are educating our prospects personally much less: we simply redirect them to our content for more general questions.

Pay less. Creating content costs much less than media placement. For example, reaching 1000 people with an ad costs an average of $9 on Facebook. A single click rarely costs less than $1.

In a content strategy, if your blog articles are relevant, the cost per click (CPC) can often be below $0.30. Your content then becomes “ the bait ” for your prospects to learn more about your products and services. Afterwards, an automated marketing or lead generation strategy will do the work of converting your visitors automatically.

How to create your content?

Now that you better understand what content marketing is and what it serves, let’s get concrete. How do you create a content marketing strategy that works effectively?

The three tips for creating content quickly

The first step is to think about your creation strategy and create your content. During our GrowthGames event, which takes place on the first Wednesday of every month, I explain in a few minutes how to create content quickly and I provide some hints for inspiration. The video is below.

Carl Durocher’s strategy for quickly creating content.

If you need inspiration or coaching for creating content, please feel free to contact us!

I also wrote an article that is available here. If you need inspiration or coaching for creating content, please do not hesitate to contact us!

How much content does it take to get started?

I wish I could give you THE answer, but unfortunately, there are many variables. For example, it can greatly vary depending on your services or niche. However, here’s a starter kit that may be sufficient to get started and test your strategy:

• 8 blog articles between 750 and 1500 words (the more, the better, especially for SEO)

• 1 ebook

• 24 posts for Facebook/Instagram

• 12 emails

Implementing your content marketing strategy

Once you have enough content, you will need to prepare your “ system ”. Using automated marketing tools synchronized with a CRM can make all the difference in your return on investment. However, you can also simply use a basic automated marketing tool. If you don’t know what it is, I invite you to read my article explaining the best automations to implement in your business in 2019 (Manychat, Ortto, etc!)

Important: Don’t forget to ensure that your Facebook Pixel (or any other relevant tag for you) is installed on your site before starting any content marketing strategy.

Step 1: Your lead magnet

Your lead magnet will be the entry point of your sales funnel in your content marketing strategy. Personally, I strongly recommend using an ebook as it is easy and quite quick to make. You can, for example, create an ebook combining four of your eight blog articles.

Returning to our cooking example from the beginning, the ebook could have the following title: “ Four tips to become an outstanding cook. ”

In addition to sharing your ebook on social media organically, you will also need to pay for advertising placement on Facebook to generate the maximum number of prospects. Once people have downloaded your ebook, they will then move on to step 2.

Step 2: Retargeting with relevant content

Part 2 is the most important. You need to retarget your prospects with even more content… and it must be relevant! No ads, just tips, advice, and testimonials from your clients. Everyone who has downloaded your ebook should be retargeted with your four other blog articles. Ideally, set a frequency of four to eight times a month for three months.

Additionally, your newsletter should be sent at least once a week for the first three months. You will thus retarget the people who downloaded your ebook with an email once a week for 12 weeks.

Finally, publish your Facebook posts (at a rate of two posts per week) for the next 12 weeks.

What to expect as results?

In principle, the more you create and publish content, the more results you will obtain. From June 12 to August 31, 2019, we wrote 35 blog articles, created two ebooks, filmed 18 hours of video, and sent 15 newsletters. We also invested $1800 in Facebook advertising. What is our return on investment so far? 175 prospects and $80,000 in new business. Our operations are currently limiting our growth.

Furthermore, you will quickly realize that the results are exponential. If you maintain the pace, your “ time and money ” versus “ new clients ” ratio will be increasingly higher.

Start by setting a goal in terms of the number of prospects. If you have a lead scoring strategy in place, aim for:

• 1 ebook

• 2 visits to your website

• 2 opened emails

These interactions with your content are sufficient to qualify someone as a prospect.

However, you do not have to use lead scoring in your content marketing strategy. A prospect can simply be someone who downloads your ebook or who contacts you by email or on social media.

Content marketing is super profitable and fun!

Keep in mind that creating content is highly profitable and also very fun to do. I will soon be writing much more detailed articles on content marketing to help those who wish to learn, step by step, how to create an effective content marketing strategy!