Content is King: Why Content is Vital in Digital Marketing

Main Content is King Takeaways:

• Brands use content to improve reach and engagement.
• You can present information about your brand using different content platforms.
• Some types of content include email newsletters, blog posts, infographics, and videos.
• Blog posts provide an excellent opportunity for keyword optimization and link-building.
• Email remains one of the most popular ways to communicate with the audience.
• Video remains one of the most common content types today.
• Your content should address a specific audience’s needs.

In January 1996, Bill Gates published an essay titled Content is King on the Microsoft website. The piece suggested that content would become an essential factor for digital marketing success. He wrote:

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.”

Fast forward to the present and yes, he’s right!

It has been over 24 years since Content is King, and those words are more valid than ever. Indeed, content is more relevant now than it was in 1996. But why?

Why Content is King?

Content is king today for the same reason that it was 24 years ago — engagement. Brands push various content types, like funny, entertaining, or informational, to grab a specific audience’s attention. Whether it’s email newsletters, blog posts, infographics, or videos, the goal is to engage your target, build loyalty, and gain more customers.

Almost half of the global population has access to the internet.

According to Statista, the global population is just over 4 billion. That includes 3.7 billion mobile internet users and over 3 billion social media users. Marketers can quickly reach these people using the right content.

However, it begins with finding the right platform to publish your content.

What is a Content Platform?

Harvard Business Review describes a content platform as a standardized method of presenting the information. Whether it’s search engines, social media pages, or review sites, a content platform ensures that specific information is readily available to the target audience. For example, you can publish your videos on streaming sites such as YouTube. Similarly, brands can post content on social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn.

Here’s a breakdown of platforms based on the content type.

1. Image-Sharing Platforms

Brands can share infographics and other types of branded photos on various image-sharing platforms.

Visual content like pictures, diagrams, charts, infographics, gifs, and memes could easily attract the attention of people. By sharing images and other visual content related to their brands and products on different image-sharing platforms, companies could quickly reach more audience.

Some of the most popular platforms for sharing image content are Instagram and Pinterest.

2. Video-Sharing Platform

With over 163 million monthly active users, YouTube remains the most popular video-sharing platform. As such, it’s the ideal platform for brands that are looking to engage potential customers.

Besides YouTube, other video sharing platforms include Vimeo, Snapchat, and TikTok, among others.

3. Wiki Content Platforms

The first thing that comes to mind here is Wikipedia, and that’s not surprising.

The free online encyclopedia is often referred to as the mother of all content platforms. Moreover, Wikipedia enjoys tons of attention from search engines such as Google and Bing.

However, the word Wiki refers to websites or databases developed collaboratively by a community of users. As a result, any user will have the privilege of writing and editing content.

You can use Wikis to share information about your company or the people behind the success of your organization. This can help improve your company or brand’s online visibility.

Besides Wikipedia, other available Wikis online are Wikitravel, WikiHow, Wiktionary, and WikiBooks.

4. Podcasts-Hosting Sites

The phrase content is king extends beyond visual materials alone. Companies can now create and share podcasts to inform and entertain a specific audience.

It begins with uploading your audio files on podcast-hosting platforms such as BuzzSprout, Podbean, or Transistor. After that, you can promote the content on Google Podcast, Spotify, Apple Podcast, or SoundCloud.

5. Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter address the user’s short-attention span.

For example, brands using Twitter must summarize their content within a 280-character limit. Similarly, Facebook allows its users to scroll through local content conveniently.

With social media, you can create a community where you can engage with your followers using different kinds of content. It could be a quick poll about a new product or a social card announcing an upcoming event that you are about to host.

What are the Types of Content?

Marketers use various types of content to increase reach and engagement. These include:

• blog posts
• white paper
• e-book
• email newsletter
• infographics
• videos
• case studies
• memes
• book reviews
• podcasts
• research
• data

However, for this post, we’ll focus on some of the most shared content types.

1. Website Content

Blog posts and articles may be the most dominant form of content on the web. According to HubSpot, businesses that use blogs in content marketing are 13 times more likely to increase ROI.

That’s because well-written content can drive a lot of organic traffic to your website. At the same time, it also provides a convenient way to inform potential customers about your products, service, and brand.

For example, brands use long-form pieces to match up against popular queries on Google Search. And with the help of advanced optimization tools like INK, they can quickly answer questions that are relevant to their audience.

Moreover, blog posts provide an excellent opportunity for keyword optimization and link building. This, in turn, can help improve your website’s SEO and organic traffic.

2. White Paper and e-book

The goal of this content type is to provide valuable insights into industry-specific topics. Brands use white papers and e-books to inform the audience about their products.

These types of content are usually between 3,000 and 5,000-word count and often downloadable as PDFs. For this reason, it takes longer to develop white papers and e-books than an average blog post.

However, statistics suggest that they’re effective at grabbing attention and establishing expertise in a field. That’s why as much as 79 percent of B2B buyers share white papers with their colleagues.

3. Email Newsletter

Businesses that consistently introduce new products, services, or promotions need a quick way to share these updates with their audience. That’s where the email newsletter comes in.

Email remains one of the most popular ways to communicate with the audience. And that’s not surprising. According to Statista, roughly 90 percent of adults in the United States use email.

Email marketing entails sending out a series of emails to your subscribers and collecting data in return. Not only will such information speed up the buying process, but it could also improve your content creation.

Consider creating a trigger-based email system that’ll compose a semi-personal email based on user behavior.

4. Infographics

In an age with progressively shorter attention span, infographics are an excellent way to provide information.

That’s because this content type is visual, and visuals are known to improve learning and retention by 400 percent. In fact, infographics have more impact on learning than any other content type.

So, if your post relies heavily on facts and figures, you may want to turn the article to visual content. Luckily, several tools, such as PiktoChart and Canva, can help with that.

5. Videos

Videos have become one of the most popular content due to the number of people with access to smartphones.

According to reports, over 75 million people in the United States currently watch an online video every day. What’s more, Cisco predicts that video will represent 82 percent of internet traffic by 2025.

The prediction may not be far-fetched, considering the number of video platforms that are available today. Besides YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat offer video upload options.

There’s also Live Video, which allows brands to engage with their audience in real-time. According to Facebook, people engage with live streams three times as long as other content.

6. Case Studies

Brands use case studies to make issues more relatable. That’s because they use archetypal examples to illustrate common challenges that your audience may be facing.

A compelling case study usually begins with a summary of a specific problem that consumers may be experiencing. After that, it goes over the solution, providing actionable examples that readers can emulate.

In the end, the case study provides a summary of the results that your customer achieved using your product or service. A strong call-to-action usually follows this.

As said earlier, these six content types are some of the most popular across the web. However, specific practices are necessary to create top-notch content that’ll engage and encourage sharing.

How do you Create Content?

Creating great content begins with knowing your target audience. After that, you must create an outline that’ll address the audience’s specific needs. Then, choose a strong topic that sparks readers’ interest.

If you want to know more about content creation, we’ve detailed everything that you must know in our article 7 Useful Tips To Create Viral Content.

Other effective content creation techniques include:

• Understanding your topic
• Optimizing your content using tools such as INK or KWFinder
• Making the content helpful and engaging
• Proving accurate information

These techniques are essential, whether you’re creating a blog post or video content. However, if you’re unsure how to proceed with written content, consider taking a content writing course online.

Read More: How and why you Should Only Create Authentic Content.