{"id":1654,"date":"2021-02-02T19:03:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T19:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/?p=1654"},"modified":"2021-02-02T19:03:24","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T19:03:24","slug":"content-marketing-a-comprehensive-guide-for-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/?p=1654","title":{"rendered":"Content Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide For 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Content marketing helps you&nbsp;attract, engage, convert, and retain customers you may not reach otherwise. And it\u2019s never been more popular\u2014if you\u2019re not doing it, chances are your competitors already are<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/1-google-trends-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This guide helps you understand what content marketing is, how to explain its benefits to your marketing peers, and how to get started. We also included ideas and advice from 15&nbsp;content marketing experts to give you the best head start for 2021 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#what-is-content-marketing\">What is content marketing?&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#why-is-content-marketing-important\">Why is content marketing important?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#content-marketing-objections\">3 common objections to content marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#types-of-content-marketing\">30+ types of content marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#content-marketing-examples\">5 effective content marketing examples<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#content-marketing-tips\">15&nbsp;expert content marketing tips you can use this&nbsp;year<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What is content marketing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing content to attract and retain customers, so you can increase revenue and ultimately grow your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Ahrefs, our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing-strategy\/\">content marketing strategy<\/a>&nbsp;is simple and effective: we create in-depth blog articles and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCWquNQV8Y0_defMKnGKrFOQ\">YouTube videos<\/a>&nbsp;that teach potential and existing customers how to solve problems and grow website traffic using our tools. We rely primarily on search engine optimization (SEO) to drive qualified traffic to the site, which is currently getting ~400,000 organic visits per&nbsp;month:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/2-ahrefs-blog-traffic.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Blogging and YouTube work for Ahrefs, but there are many more content marketing formats you can use depending on your audience, resources, and objectives (more on this&nbsp;below).<a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Why is content marketing important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Content marketing is an opportunity to attract, engage, convert, and retain customers. We know at least five compelling reasons to invest in&nbsp;it:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#create-awareness-and-attract-customers\">Create awareness and attract potential customers&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#engage-audience-and-build-credibility\">Engage your audience and build credibility<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#convert-customers\">Convert customers<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#build-loyalty-and-retention\">Build loyalty and retention<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#compounding-returns\">Content marketing has compounding returns (and it\u2019s cheap in the long-term)<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll go through each of these with an example of how Ahrefs does content marketing; you\u2019ll find more from different industries&nbsp;in the examples section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"create-awareness-and-attract-customers\">1. Content marketing helps you create awareness and attract potential customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When people have a problem they want to solve or a desire they wish to fulfill, they won\u2019t consider your brand and products if they don\u2019t know you exist. Content marketing is a way to make sure they discover you.<br><br>For example, at Ahrefs, we help people get more traffic to their websites. But they are unlikely to search directly for \u201cAhrefs\u201d in Google because they probably don\u2019t know our tool yet; they usually start their journey by googling something closer to their goal, like \u201cdrive website traffic.\u201d Using content marketing, we can show up for this search and form an initial mental connection between Ahrefs and the problem they want to&nbsp;solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/3-drive-website-traffic-serp.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"engage-audience-and-build-credibility\">2. Content marketing helps you engage your audience and build credibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Just because someone is aware of your existence doesn\u2019t mean they will choose your brand or product. But showing up with engaging and trustworthy content the second, third, and fourth time they look for ideas or solutions will increase your chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continuing from the previous example, let\u2019s say someone has learned about&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;and is now searching for something more specific, like \u201chow to do keyword research.\u201d Because we wrote a post about this topic and rank near the top of Google, they end up finding us\u2014again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/4-how-to-do-keyword-research-serp.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s the same story on YouTube. We have a video about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">keyword research<\/a>, so searchers can\u2019t help but run into our brand when searching for this&nbsp;topic.<img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/5-how-to-do-keyword-research-youtube.png\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>our 10-minute tutorial for keyword research<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If this person follows internal links or keeps searching, they will likely find our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keyword-generator\">Keyword Generator Tool<\/a>, which helps find thousand of keyword ideas for free while getting a taste of what Ahrefs can do (and yes: free tools are also good examples of content marketing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/6-keyword-generator-tool.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"convert-customers\">3. Content marketing helps you convert customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when your potential customers know who you are and what you offer, they may still have a few objections before choosing you. This is where content marketing can give the final nudge to help people decide to become customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, Ahrefs is not the only&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;tool on the market, and our potential customers might want to know how we stack up against the competition before subscribing. We created content that addresses this need head-on, and people can find it by Googling our name versus a competitor (for example, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/vs\">Ahrefs vs. Moz<\/a>\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/7-ahrefs-vs.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If we covered all questions and objections convincingly, and based on everything else they already know about us, the&nbsp;CTA&nbsp;towards our $7 trial should be the final nudge they&nbsp;need:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/8-ahrefs-cta.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"build-loyalty-and-retention\">4. Content marketing helps you build loyalty and retention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The ultimate goal of content marketing is to increase sales and grow a business, so it\u2019s about more than just winning a sale: it also helps you keep your existing customers engaged and informed, which helps with retention and brand loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Ahrefs, we don\u2019t create unique blog content for this step. Because we\u2019re always focusing on solving specific problems and upskilling our audience, our content works for potential and existing customers alike. But we have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/help.ahrefs.com\/en\/\">a dedicated help section<\/a>&nbsp;that is more specific to our customers where we help them understand the data they\u2019re seeing in our tool and how it can benefit them. This is important for retention because if they don\u2019t understand the value we\u2019re providing, they\u2019re unlikely to keep paying us month after&nbsp;month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/9-ahrefs-help-center.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"compounding-returns\">5. Content marketing has compounding returns (and it\u2019s cheap in the long-term)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike channels like paid advertising that stop working as soon as you stop investing in them, content marketing hascompounding returnson the initial investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oversimplifying things a bit, if you\u2019re spending $1000 on ads today to bring 100 clicks to your blog, you\u2019ll need to spend another $1000 tomorrow to get the same result. But if you spend $1000 on creating an optimized piece of content, that same piece can continue to drive traffic to your site months and even years after it was first published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our case, this blog ranks for 170,000 organic keywords and brings an estimated 385,000 monthly visitors. If we were trying to get that same amount of traffic via paid ads, we\u2019d be spending an estimated $992k per month\u2014which is nowhere near the amount we spend on creating content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/10-ahrefs-blog-traffic.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:&nbsp;<\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing-strategy\/\">How to build a winning content marketing strategy in 9&nbsp;steps<\/a><\/em><a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>3 common objections to content marketing, and how to&nbsp;reply<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By now, you may be sold on the idea of content marketing\u2014but it doesn\u2019t mean that your marketing leadership and\/or stakeholders will be,&nbsp;too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few common objections tend to pop up in discussions about content marketing, and you\u2019ll have to navigate them to get buy-in for your projects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#paid-advertising-is-faster\">Paid advertising attracts more traffic and customers, faster<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#it-takes-too-long\">It takes too long to see results&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#roi-is-difficult-to-measure\">The&nbsp;ROI&nbsp;is difficult to measure&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"paid-advertising-is-faster\">1. Paid advertising attracts more traffic and customers, faster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Paid advertising is indeed a quick (if costly) way to generate traffic: as soon as you\u2019ve paid to place an ad in front of people\u2019s eyes, and provided you\u2019ve done your targeting correctly, traffic will start flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in most cases, paid ads send people to pages that sit at the bottom of your marketing funnel and are designed for immediate conversion, such as landing or product pages. By sending traffic there, you might generate a sale, but only from people who are ready to buy\u2014and you\u2019re missing out on everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/11-how-marketing-funnels-work.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if someone searches for \u201chow to drive website traffic,\u201d they\u2019re likely in learning mode (and not in buying mode). While we could run paid ads for this keyword and send searchers to a dedicated landing page, we would probably be wasting money on people who are unlikely to convert because they\u2019re not ready to buy.<br><br>In contrast, content marketing helps us attract, engage, and convert customers throughout the entire funnel. And a&nbsp;happy byproduct of this process is that it builds brand awareness and trust, so when those people are ready to buy, our paid ads will probably be more effective.<img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/12-competitive-analysis-fb-ad.jpg\" width=\"600px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a promoted Facebook post for Ahrefs\u2019&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/competitor-analysis\/\">competitor analysis guide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of getting drawn into a battle of paid ads vs. content marketing, the smarter discussion is about how to use them both together to maximize both short- and long-term results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"it-takes-too-long\">2. It takes too long to see results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you define \u2018results\u2019 only as sales or leads, then yes: content marketing can take longer to see results than more immediate channels like paid advertising (see objection 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But just because something takes longer than something else doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s pointless. For example, it\u2019s quicker to drive around a mountain than to build a tunnel. But once you\u2019ve built the tunnel, you can drive through in a fraction of the time, every&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Content marketing is similar: it takes time to build but eventually becomes a source of consistent sales and leads. And once you have an established audience, content marketing can drive results comparatively faster than if you\u2019re starting from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"roi-is-difficult-to-measure\">3. The&nbsp;ROI&nbsp;is difficult to measure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact&nbsp;ROI&nbsp;of content marketing can indeed be difficult to measure; you\u2019d have to build a very sophisticated attribution model to track the influence and impact of content across your entire funnel while also isolating each variable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are specific metrics you can track for each stage of your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/marketing-funnels\/\">marketing funnel<\/a>, and you can use them for a partial&nbsp;ROI&nbsp;calculation:<img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/13-marketing-funnel-roi.png\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/CMI_EntprEbook_Final.pdf\">CMI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, estimating&nbsp;the&nbsp;ROI&nbsp;of SEO-led content marketing is not difficult. You can look at the traffic potential and value of the top-ranking results and calculate how much it will cost you to write, ship, and promote an article compared to how much qualified traffic it can drive over&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/14-best-travel-tripod-serp-traffic.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended viewing:<\/strong>&nbsp;Our&nbsp;CMO&nbsp;Tim Soulo&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/cR_2jCJLfCQ?t=254\">explains the value of content marketing<\/a><a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Types of content marketing&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are&nbsp;<em>a lot<\/em>&nbsp;of available&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/types-of-content-marketing\/\">content marketing types<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Blog posts<\/li><li>Podcasts<\/li><li>Video<\/li><li>Infographics<\/li><li>Free tools<\/li><li>Templates<\/li><li>Ebooks<\/li><li>Checklists<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026the list goes on.&nbsp;And you might be tempted to try to do a bit of everything in the hopes of reaching more people. But we recommend that you take a more strategic approach: focus on two to three formats that are likely to have the most significant impact on&nbsp;<em>your<\/em>&nbsp;business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For us, the blog is our longest-standing content format. We know that our audience of SEOs, marketers, and bloggers searches for the information they need on Google, so we make sure to create&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/evergreen-content\/\">evergreen content<\/a>&nbsp;that ranks and drives targeted traffic back to us. And because sometimes it\u2019s easier to explain something in a video, especially if you\u2019re trying to demonstrate how a tool works, we also create videos that we embed into our written pieces and publish on YouTube.&nbsp;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4XrtVkhOBfQ?autohide=1&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;wmode=transparent&amp;autoplay=0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you know that your audience primarily uses Google to solve problems or find ideas, you could replicate our blogging success by using&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;to drive traffic to your content in 3&nbsp;steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#find-relevant-topics\">Find topics that are relevant to your business<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#create-content\">Create content<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#promote-content\">Promote it<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"find-relevant-topics\">1. Find topics that are relevant to your business<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about what people could type into Google to find you: this is your<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/#brainstorm-seed-keywords\">&nbsp;seed keyword<\/a>. For example, if your business sells analog photography equipment, the starting point could simply be \u201c35mm&nbsp;film\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enter this keyword into&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Ahrefs\u2019 Keyword Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;and look at the&nbsp;<strong>Questions<\/strong>&nbsp;report, which gives you content ideas phrased as questions. Note down any questions you can answer in a blog&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/15-questions-report-keywords-explorer.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">How To Do Keyword Research for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"create-content\">2. Create the right type of content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you choose a keyword, make sure that the content you create matches your searchers\u2019&nbsp;expectations. This is known as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">search intent<\/a>, and you can determine it by looking at the top-ranking results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16-how-to-develop-film-intent.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In this example, you\u2019ll notice that the results are step-by-step guides that include a specific \u2018at home\u2019 angle\u2014which tells us that most searchers are likely amateur photographers, not professionals, so your content should take a similar angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where relevant, you should showcase your product(s) naturally within the article. For example, in their article on developing film at home, B&amp;H Photo Video takes you through a step-by-step process and links to relevant product pages throughout.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/17-step-by-step-guide.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across almost all of our content, including this guide, we add screenshots taken from the Ahrefs dashboard, so you can see how to use our tools to achieve your&nbsp;goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/me.jpg\" alt=\"Joshua Hardwick\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Joshua HardwickHead of Content<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:&nbsp;<\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-writing\/\">What is&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;writing?&nbsp;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"promote-content\">3. Promote your content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once your content is live, you can send it to your audience, such as your email list and\/or people who follow you on social media. In our case, we may also spend a few hundred dollars promoting the post using Facebook or Twitter Ads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/18-keyword-research-ad.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But these aren\u2019t the only ways to promote your content: go through this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PoVYweKH4ck\">content promotion checklist<\/a>&nbsp;to get more people to see&nbsp;it.<a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>5 content marketing examples you can learn&nbsp;from&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Blogging is a great way to create content that appeals to and attracts your target audience, but other formats can be equally successful\u2014it all depends on your audience and how&nbsp;<em>they<\/em>&nbsp;look for and consume information. Here are five effective content marketing examples that are not about blogging:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#fix-youtube\">Fix.com\u2019s YouTube videos<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#naturalicious-facebook\">Naturalicious\u2019 Facebook community<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#15five-podcast\">15Five\u2019s podcast<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#mattel-virtual-playroom\">Mattel\u2019s virtual playroom and activity sheets<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#balsamiq-academy\">Balsamiq\u2019s academy courses<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"fix-youtube\">1. Fix.com\u2019s YouTube videos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/19-fix-youtube-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick stats \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>30k YouTube subscribers, 16 million video&nbsp;views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they do \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Fix.com is an appliance parts ecommerce site that uses&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/FixDotCom\">how-to YouTube videos<\/a>&nbsp;to educate potential and current customers. By providing helpful step-by-step videos, Fix.com establishes expertise, builds trust, and makes it easy for customers to find what they&nbsp;need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it works \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Many Google SERPs for how-to searches have videos as the top result, and Fix.com maximizes their chances of exposure by maintaining a YouTube presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20-fix-featured-snippet-3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The videos and posts Fix.com creates are evergreen, so they keep driving traffic for years (which in turn makes this a very cost-effective content marketing strategy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can do the same \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Fix.com\u2019s approach works well if your product or service solves a specific problem (in this example, faulty appliances). Use keyword research to determine what your audience needs help with and create content in the format that best helps them achieve what they&nbsp;need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"naturalicious-facebook\">2. Naturalicious\u2019 Facebook community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/21-naturalicious-facebook-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick stats \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>11k Facebook group members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they do \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Naturalicious, a natural and organic hair care company, runs a private&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturalicious\">Facebook community<\/a>&nbsp;called \u2018The Nation,\u2019 led by founder and&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;Gwen Jimmere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it works \u2192<\/strong>&nbsp;With practical walkthroughs and live sessions, The Nation supports and empowers its customers to get the most out of Naturalicious\u2019 products. In addition, the group creates a sense of shared community as its members actively support and help each other by sharing beauty tips, advice, and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/22-naturalicious-live-3.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can do the same \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Naturalicious\u2019 approach is ideal for companies with a specific target demographic (in this example, Black women and\/or women with textured hair). By creating a community, you can have a two-way conversation with existing and potential customers, getting to hear about what matters most to them while associating your product or service with the community itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"15five-podcast\">3. 15Five\u2019s podcast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/23-15five-podcast-3.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick stats \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>220 backlinks, 165 organic keywords to the podcast landing page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they do \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>15Five is an employee performance management platform that helps managers keep their teams happy and motivated. In their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.15five.com\/podcast\/\">Best-Self Management podcast<\/a>, 15Five co-founders interview top business and&nbsp;HR&nbsp;leaders to get insight and inspiration into building excellent company culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it works \u2192<\/strong>&nbsp;The podcast focuses entirely on the job-to-be-done that the software solves: supporting employees and teams at work so they can give their best. Using an interview format, it outsources expertise and inspiration and creates brand associations between 15Five and the task of creating better, higher-performing teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, the podcast landing page ranks on page 1 for \u201cmanagement podcast,\u201d making it easy for the company\u2019s target audience to&nbsp;find:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/24-management-podcast-serp-2.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can do the same \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>15Five\u2019s approach can work well if your target audience listens to podcasts&nbsp;<em>and<\/em>&nbsp;your business is connected to a specific lifestyle, hobby, ambition, or job-to-be-done. By inviting experts, you can position yourself and your brand as a curator of knowledge while also leveraging your guests\u2019 networks to amplify your&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"mattel-virtual-playroom\">4. Mattel\u2019s virtual playroom and activity sheets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/25-mattel-virtual-playroom-3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick stats \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>21k backlinks, 4.8k Facebook shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they do \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>In March 2020, toy manufacturer Mattel (known for its Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price brands) responded to&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;by creating a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mattel.com\/en-us\/playroom\">virtual playroom<\/a>&nbsp;with free games and downloadable&nbsp;PDF&nbsp;activity sheets for kids and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it works \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>With its free entertainment resource, Mattel attracted huge press coverage and backlinks that bring referral traffic. The activity sheets reinforce Mattel\u2019s brand as leaders in children\u2019s entertainment and help make their customers\u2019 (in this case, parents and carers) lives easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can do the same\u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Create content that lets people experience some of your product for free. Our own&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">webmaster tools<\/a>&nbsp;is a similar example: it gives website owners free (but limited) access to two of our most popular tools:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>. It\u2019s not about giving everything away, but being there to help out\u2014which can make a brand top-of-mind when potential customers want to make a purchase in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"balsamiq-academy\">5. Balsamiq\u2019s academy courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/26-balsamiq-academy-3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick stats \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>8k organic keywords, 12k organic monthly traffic, $24.9k monthly traffic value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they do \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Wireframing tool Balsamiq created an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/balsamiq.com\/learn\/\">academy<\/a>&nbsp;and learning center to educate and upskill potential and existing customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it works \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>The Balsamiq Wireframing Academy increases brand awareness through optimized learning resources that appear in the SERPs for searches such as \u201cwhat is a wireframe?\u201d and \u201ccontent-first approach.\u201d These are typical searches from someone in a research phase, and Balsamiq is there to be a first point of contact for potential customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/27-content-first-approach-serp-balsamiq-2.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can do the same \u2192&nbsp;<\/strong>Balsamiq\u2019s approach works great if your product is designed for experts or skilled users. By providing complete training programs, you help coach beginners learn the specific skills they need to get value from your product while also building expertise in the industry.We use a similar approach with the free courses in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\">Ahrefs Academy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading<\/strong>:&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing-examples\/\">7 Inspiring Content Marketing Examples (And How to Replicate Them)<\/a><\/em><a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>15 expert content marketing tips you can use this&nbsp;year&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no single way to do content marketing, so we thought it\u2019d be good to close this guide with a cross-section of people who put content marketing theory into practice daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We asked experts from different markets to answer this question: \u201c<em>Based on your experience, what\u2019s the&nbsp;ONE&nbsp;thing you recommend companies and marketers should do to deliver outstanding content marketing next year?<\/em>\u201d You\u2019ll find some of the tips naturally contradict each other\u2014and that\u2019s what great about content marketing: you can follow completely opposite paths and still have success because it\u2019s all about what works for&nbsp;<em>your<\/em>&nbsp;audience.<br><br>Here are the practitioners who shared their advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#research-and-talk-to-your-customers\">Al Chen<\/a>, Solutions Architect, Coda<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#repurpose-your-content\">Lauren Hall<\/a>, Brand Marketing Associate, Privy&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#focus-your-efforts-on-people-who-need-you\">Tom Cox<\/a>, Content Marketer, Preply<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#test-and-iterate-the-formats\">Joei Chan<\/a>, Content Director, 360Learning<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#appeal-to-your-audiences-core-values\">Olivia Blazevic<\/a>, Content Marketing Manager, Candlefox<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#lean-into-micro-form\">Aazar Ali Shad<\/a>, Head of Growth, Userpilot<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#dont-jump-straight-into-tactics\">Fio Dossetto<\/a>, who also wrote the article you\u2019re reading&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#optimize-existing-content\">Alina Benny<\/a>, Content Lead, Nextiva<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#take-a-holistic-approach\">Tracey Wallace<\/a>, Director of Marketing, MarketerHire<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#create-product-focused-content\">Hiba Amin<\/a>, Marketing Manager, Soapbox<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#act-like-a-journalist\">Tim Soulo<\/a>,&nbsp;CMO, Ahrefs<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#tell-your-story-consistently\">Stephanie Bregman<\/a>,&nbsp;CMO, Manly&nbsp;Bands<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#build-empathy-for-your-audience\">Fadeke Adegbuyi<\/a>, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Doist<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#create-radically-different-content\">Louis Grenier<\/a>, Founder, EveryoneHatesMarketers<\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/?fbclid=IwAR24s-lMw4mN5iQsTIgd2hwVzxSFtxiAtJsBnR0vu5Dz0fUeGFmP1Rs9xy0#take-risks\">Len Markidan<\/a>, Chief Marketing Officer, Podia<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"research-and-talk-to-your-customers\">Research and talk to your customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before working on any content, do user research with your existing customers\/users or with potential customers. You\u2019ll get first-person knowledge about what your ideal customer profile (ICP) looks like and what problem your target audience believes your product or service solves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you start creating content, you can use the actual words and phrases your&nbsp;ICP&nbsp;used during the customer research. You can of course tweak them by doing some basic research on Ahrefs\u2019 Keywords Explorer and making sure the keywords have good volume or find if there are others you should include. Nothing beats talking to your customers to see what content would resonate with them the&nbsp;most!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/al-chen-coda.jpeg\" alt=\"Al Chen\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Al Chen,<\/strong>&nbsp;Solutions Architect&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/coda.io\/welcome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Coda<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"repurpose-your-content\">Repurpose your content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Always be looking for creative ways to repurpose the content you already have. Remember: people are lazy. So the easier you can make it for them to consume your content, the better. Which means the way you package things matters. Do you have an opportunity to take the information from your best blog posts and turn them into a book? If you have a podcast, do you have a guide of the best episodes for new listeners? Don\u2019t leave it up to your audience to sort through your content. You\u2019re the expert \u2013 you should do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lauren-hall-privy.jpeg\" alt=\"Lauren Hall\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lauren Hall,<\/strong>&nbsp;Brand Marketing Associate&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.privy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Privy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"focus-your-efforts-on-people-who-need-you\">Focus your efforts on people who need you, but don\u2019t know it&nbsp;yet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Oftentimes, we content creators focus on producing content pieces with high search volume and neglect the keywords people are using to find products like&nbsp;ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find keywords from your&nbsp;PPC&nbsp;team and by brainstorming all of the needs your product directly solves. At Preply, we offer private lessons with online tutors: so we have content about \u2018online English courses\u2019 that even mentions some of our competitors, because we\u2019re obviously not the only language learning platform out there. But Users want to feel confident that they\u2019re researching all of the options and making their own choices, and we\u2019re finding that this transparency brings more potential students onto our money&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Work smart rather than hard. Then you\u2019ll see the result of what \u2018outstanding\u2019 content should be measured by: new customers and direct business impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Tom-Cox.png\" alt=\"Tom Cox\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tom Cox,<\/strong>&nbsp;Content Marketer&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/preply.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preply<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"test-and-iterate-the-formats\">Test and iterate the formats that work best for your&nbsp;goals&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The marketing world changes quickly and content needs to adapt accordingly. You don\u2019t grow the same way when you\u2019re going from 0 to 1 vs. when you\u2019re growing from a scale-up to a unicorn. Content needs to adapt to your business needs at the time and your strategy should be reviewed every few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the beginning of this year, I was focusing on building traffic, working on&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;and top-of-funnel content. I achieved those targets, but I created a new problem: conversion. So now I\u2019m bringing on a full-time editor to work on bottom-of-funnel content and improving our sales follow-up emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another example: we thought we found our silver bullet, webinars, as they worked really well for lead generation. So we thought if we 2x them we\u2019d get 2x the results. We did not. We got diminishing returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s just a very long way to say: every time you hit your content milestone, you create new challenges and you\u2019ll need new content or strategies to solve&nbsp;them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joei-chan-learning360.jpeg\" alt=\"Joei Chan\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joei Chan,<\/strong>&nbsp;Content Director&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/360learning.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">360Learning<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"appeal-to-your-audiences-core-values\">Appeal to your audience\u2019s core values&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Building a trustworthy brand that connects with consumers will be more important than ever in 2021. \u2018Exposure\u2019 to your brand isn\u2019t enough \u2014 users want more than the solution to their problem. They want to engage with businesses that share common values with them. Brands that have built their trust. Brand affinity captures this new idea of building a brand by focusing on building \u2018advocates\u2019, rather than a passive audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To build brand affinity, we are exploring the idea of long-form, \u2018binge-worthy\u2019 content that will appeal to our niche audience\u2019s core values and establish those meaningful relationships. It\u2019s about building those \u2018super fans\u2019 that will then go on to become advocates and build out your community for&nbsp;you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/olivia-blazevic-candlefox.jpeg\" alt=\"Olivia Blazevic\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Olivia Blazevic,<\/strong>&nbsp;Content Marketing Manager&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.candlefox.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Candlefox<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"lean-into-micro-form\">Lean into micro-form<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Right now, we are getting primed to have short, to-the-point content in our lives. And content marketing is all about inspiring people and giving them value: so if our goal is to provide value to users when they need it and as quickly as possible, then we need to start thinking about micro-content. Less sometimes can be&nbsp;more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about how that can apply to videos: YouTube is becoming a search engine now, and more people are used to searching for information there. So I\u2019m thinking that every blog post should also be turned into bite-sized videos.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/aazar-ali-shad-userpilot.jpeg\" alt=\"Aazar Ali Shad\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aazar Ali Shad,<\/strong>&nbsp;Head of Growth&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Userpilot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"dont-jump-straight-into-tactics\">Don\u2019t jump straight into tactics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Content marketing tactics and format will vary, channels may come and go, but some things never change\u2014and these are the ones you need to stay laser-focused on. Follow these 3&nbsp;steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Start from a diagnosis phase, where you understand who you\u2019re talking to, what problems you\u2019re trying to solve for this audience through your content, and define the challenge or opportunity you&nbsp;face<\/li><li>Continue with a strategy phase, where you define the overall approach you will take with your audience<\/li><li>End with the specific tactics you will use to carry out your strategy. These are the ones that may look different in 2021 compared to 2015, like \u201cwe should focus on&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;and long-form pieces\u201d or \u201cwe should do Instagram Stories\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Diagnosis precedes strategy precedes tactics. But too often we content marketers jump straight into the tactics (\u2026because it\u2019s fun) at the expense of the previous two steps\u2014and we may get lucky and hit temporary success, but this is not a reliable, repeatable way to build long-lasting impact with our content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/fio-dossetto.jpeg\" alt=\"Fio Dossetto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fio Dossetto,<\/strong>&nbsp;who also wrote the article you\u2019re reading<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"optimize-existing-content\">Optimize the content you already have<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\u2019t need no net new content<em>.&nbsp;<\/em>If the forces that may be declare they need more blogs, more landing pages, and a steady \u201cpublishing cadence\u201d so you can one-up your competition,&nbsp;RUN!<br><br>Two reasons why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>You don\u2019t respond immediately with a yes or a no confirming or shooting down this seemingly innocuous ask. Most leaders who speak from this angle are either under duress from other executives in the company that want to wage the traffic war, or they haven\u2019t yet uncovered the power of the long game that&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;is.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Data. You need data about your underperforming content or opportunities at striking distance. Lay out your game plan for lower-quality content that\u2019s raked in few page views, backlinks or engagement of any&nbsp;kind.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019ve empathized with the former and are armed with the latter, it\u2019s easier to make a case for more optimization and not net new content. It\u2019s just as key to consistently prune and optimize your existing content as it is to chase shiny, new topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/alina-benny.jpeg\" alt=\"Alina Benny\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alina Benny,<\/strong>&nbsp;Content Lead&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextiva.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nextiva<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"take-a-holistic-approach\">Take a holistic approach&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Content briefs are a great resource to build high-ranking content and give your writers a place to start (no one likes a blank page). But in 2021, your owned audience is going to become even more important \u2013 which means you need to think beyond briefs. Think site-wide&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;including a strategic site-map, content that supports that site-map, and clear, non-intrusive ways to build a list and collect first-party data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The end of the third-party cookie is coming, and those that invest now into strong&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;and content programs and practices (including list building) will be the best prepared for the reign of 1st party data that will fully take hold in 2022 when Google Chrome stops sending through third-party cookies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/tracey-wallace-marketerhire.jpeg\" alt=\"Tracey Wallace\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tracey Wallace,<\/strong>&nbsp;Director of Marketing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/marketerhire.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MarketerHire<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"create-product-focused-content\">Create product-focused content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Find a way to turn your product into actionable content. Not only do these pieces have the opportunity to open up a wide range of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/long-tail-keywords\/\">long-tail keywords<\/a>, but they\u2019re also great conversion engines too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, at Soapbox, a big value-add within our product is our massive agenda templates library. Luckily for us, those who are actively searching for agenda templates tend to be more likely to convert into free and paid users. So we created a search-focused agenda templates library, which allowed us to rank for a wide range of long-tail keywords while driving high-quality traffic to our website. We\u2019ve since replicated that experience with another library.<br><br>In a nutshell, my advice is to identify the most valuable pieces of your product or service and deliver that experience through content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/hiba-amin-soapbox.jpeg\" alt=\"Hiba Amin\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hiba Amin,<\/strong>&nbsp;Marketing Manager&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/soapboxhq.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Soapbox<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"act-like-a-journalist\">Advice for content writers: act like a journalist&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My advice is: act like a journalist. Because journalists try to source information from people who know a little more about the subject than they do, and often do experiments. Some would eat for a month in McDonald\u2019s just to write an article, and others would infiltrate criminal groups and live their lives. You don\u2019t need that level, but the point is that award-winning journalists who want to create work that helps and impresses don\u2019t just sit in their basement and read articles by other journalists and write the same ideas with different words. Don\u2019t act just like a person writing articles: be like a journalist who has to work to produce the story outside of just typing it on the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/tim-soulo-ahrefs.jpeg\" alt=\"Tim Soulo\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim Soulo,<\/strong>&nbsp;CMO&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ahrefs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"tell-your-story-consistently\">Tell your story consistently<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies must put money towards creative and have a strong omnichannel focus towards marketing. Manly Bands has an entire creative team behind the brand that help to tell our brand story seamlessly to each customer\u2019s journey, whether they see us on television, Facebook, Google or through email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/stephanie-bregman-manly-bands.jpeg\" alt=\"Stephanie Bregman\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stephanie Bregman,<\/strong>&nbsp;CMO&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/manlybands.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Manly Bands<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"build-empathy-for-your-audience\">Build empathy for your audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing with search intent in mind while naturally positioning your product or service as a solution is a balancing act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you start writing an article, build empathy for your reader \u2013\u2013 think through and research what they already know, what they need to know, and ultimately, the information you need to provide to help them solve their problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Use Google (or advanced&nbsp;SEO&nbsp;tools like Ahrefs!)<\/strong>&nbsp;to see what is currently ranking for your desired keyword and how it addresses the reader\u2019s question.<\/li><li><strong>Use Twitter search<\/strong>&nbsp;to find discussions related to your search term and note the questions and concerns people have and the resources they&nbsp;share.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Use Reddit&nbsp;<\/strong>to uncover conversations related to your topic to gain an understanding of what a potential searcher really needs to&nbsp;know.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These strategies help content marketers go beyond skimming the surface when it comes to writing useful content that converts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/fadeke-adegbuyi-doist.jpeg\" alt=\"Fadeke Adegbuyi\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fadeke Adegbuyi,<\/strong>&nbsp;Senior Content Marketing Manager&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/doist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Doist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"create-radically-different-content\">Create radically different content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s more and more clutter online, you know that. Everyone is \u201ccreating content\u201d nowadays. So, how do you make your content stand&nbsp;out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>Obsess over your minimum viable market.<\/strong>&nbsp;No, you\u2019re not marketing to everyone. Talk to your best customers; the ones you enjoy working with the most and who bring the highest profits.<\/li><li><strong>Figure out their specific pains and challenges.<\/strong>&nbsp;Those should come up during your conversations. Go very specific. It\u2019s much easier to create the best content on the planet for a very specific question.<\/li><li><strong>Engineer your uniqueness.<\/strong>&nbsp;Figure out what content is already there, make a list of all the things they\u2019re covering but also the typical format used, their tone-of-voice\u2026 That\u2019s your status quo.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Remove anything that goes against your company beliefs and purpose<\/strong>, anything that your customers don\u2019t like, anything that doesn\u2019t contribute to solving the very specific challenge you\u2019ve picked.<\/li><li><strong>Carefully add anything that goes against the status quo you\u2019ve identified.&nbsp;<\/strong>Add anything that helps your minimum viable market reach their goals in a faster, simpler, easier way.<\/li><li><strong>Take some risks.<\/strong>&nbsp;You can\u2019t make your content stand out without it. Zig when others are zagging. Not taking any risks is the riskiest option. If you don\u2019t, no one is going to notice your content.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/louis-grenier-everyonehatesm.jpeg\" alt=\"Louis Grenier\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Louis Grenier,<\/strong>&nbsp;Founder&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.everyonehatesmarketers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EveryoneHatesMarketers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"take-risks\">Take risks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Take big risks. As trite as that sounds, there has&nbsp;NEVER&nbsp;been a better time to try something new. While in more normal years, it\u2019s easy enough to adapt the leading content playbooks to your business, there isn\u2019t a content marketer on the planet who can write \u201cLaunched a successful content initiative as the market emerged from a pandemic\u201d on their resume.\u2026yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&nbsp;IS&nbsp;no playbook, so use that as permission to write one from scratch. Get creative about how you can inform, help, and delight your market as it cautiously approaches a return to normal. Your pitch that didn\u2019t have a chance (\u201cit\u2019s too risky\u201d) a year ago today? Now\u2019s the&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/len-markidan-podia.jpeg\" alt=\"Len Markidan\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Len Markidan,<\/strong>&nbsp;Chief Marketing Officer&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.podia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Podia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Keep learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to keep learning about content marketing? We got you covered. Here are some of our favourite resources you can read&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;watch to keep the learning going:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-marketing-strategy\/\">How to build a winning content marketing strategy in 9&nbsp;steps<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/why-content-marketing-is-important\/\">5 reasons why content marketing is important<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/b2b-content-marketing\/\">7 successful examples of B2B content marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/types-of-content-marketing\/\">5 types of content marketing to grow your business<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9fglNtHmc8I\">Content marketing strategy that gets leads and sales<\/a>&nbsp;(watch on YouTube)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4XrtVkhOBfQ\">Crushing content marketing on a tiny budget<\/a>&nbsp;(watch on YouTube)<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Content marketing helps you&nbsp;attract, engage, convert, and retain customers you may not reach otherwise. And it\u2019s never been more popular\u2014if you\u2019re not doing it, chances are your competitors already are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions\/1655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lvboard.infostore.in.ua\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}