There may once have been a time when content marketing was thought of as a process for famous, glamorous and on-trend firms. Many key decision-makers saw this advertising option simply as a way of creating content that’s relevant and resonates enough with an audience to be shared across social media. There’s an easy to identify pattern too; the themes that get most shared are often food, travel, fashion or technology. Currently, Pokémon Go is hitting all the headlines. However, content marketing isn’t actually the creation of valuable material that’s based on the latest in-vogue trends. Instead, it is about developing content that appeals to a pre-determined target audience with the objective of driving profit. Creating material on Pokémon Go, for example, might get many shares, but if it’s not what a firm’s target audience are looking for, it’s unlikely to be successful in delivering successful results and improving the bottom line.

For firms considering whether to move into the area of content marketing development, it’s important to consider that it isn’t only about shareable content. Working in conjunction with this is the need for content to be shared with the right people if it’s going to result in a lead or sale. All businesses create and define their target audiences to help sales teams identify the most attractive prospects. Content marketing, therefore, is about creating content that will offer value to these customers, and not only to generate a one-off sale, but keep the conversation flowing for months and years to come.

Regardless of a business’s services or products, content marketing requires the customer journey to be mapped out. This can be split into five stages: Awareness of Need, Consumer Research, Analysis and Comparison, Purchase and Loyalty. By using these points, even the most unglamorous firm can create the right content campaign. For example, a pest control business is unlikely to be generating much day-to-day engagement on social media. However, by aiming content at the right audiences, positive results can be achieved.

Using the pest control example, at the Awareness of Need stage, content can be developed to showcase why consumers might need a service. An infographic, or even a short video, could be produced about the various problems caused by rats, for example. Consumer Research can be conducted on Twitter and other social media by using relevant search terms, whilst marketers can use comparisons with other similar services to identify key selling points. To help facilitate the Purchase stage, website case studies can be used. While to build Loyalty, a regularly updated blog can be maintained.

Content marketing is far more complex than simply creating material on a current trend and hoping it is shared across social media. For true success, developers need to hone their campaign so it appeals to a target audience and leads a consumer through the sales process. It is, therefore, important for every company to utilise – and not only those who may be attracting consumers with glamorous travel packages or on-trend smartphone games.