Learning and Leading in Content Marketing
Written By: Erin Law
I recently received my Master’s Degree in Digital Media and Storytelling from Loyola University Chicago, where my courses focused on some of the most important skills hiring managers often look for: how to write, produce and edit powerful digital content. Loyola created this program to develop effective storytellers and communicators in today’s digital world. This program gave me the skills and advanced industry insights needed to succeed in content marketing, and KemperLesnik gave me the chance to use these skills for our clients’ benefit.
Content marketing has taken hold as an invaluable tool to help develop a brand’s voice and engage a target audience through meaningful stories. The main difference between content marketing and traditional marketing is the value that a viewer gains from the content to which they are exposed. With traditional ads, consumers typically try to avoid them. Content marketing, when done well, prompts these same people to seek out the content and want to consume it – the content adds value to their lives somehow, whether that value is educational, entertaining, inspirational or otherwise useful. Even more powerful is content that a consumer finds so valuable that they decide to share it on their personal social media pages, showing their personal identification with the story or message, and further extending the reach of that content.
Traditional marketing has always been about sharing a message or story that captures someone’s attention and motivates them to act in line with business objectives. The key difference now is whether a company can strategically create and distribute relevant and consistent content to acquire and maintain a clearly defined audience. With the goal of driving profitable consumer interactions and positive brand association, content reigns supreme in getting brands closer to reaching this objective.
The most effective yet underutilized medium is video marketing, which is projected to account for 80% of all Internet traffic by 2019. Video often has the misconception of being expensive and difficult to execute well. However, with the falling cost of professional grade equipment and rising quality of smart phone cameras, video is becoming easier and faster to produce than ever before. Video also offers the opportunity for reuse and repurposing for different means, which ultimately translates to getting more content produced and disseminated. In this way, video content also comes with a longer shelf life than other mediums and has the potential to be recirculated for future use.
Content, especially when disseminated strategically and consistently, also brings added benefits to a company’s online presence with stronger social media marketing. Video content specifically drives much greater reach and engagement than written content, with the chances of getting a page one listing on Google increasing 53 times if it contains a video. Quality content contributes positively to search engine optimization by generating natural inbound links to a company’s website and increasing search engine rank, leading to increased website traffic. Instead of focusing on paid social to cut through the noise of the Internet, focusing on content marketing can be an effective and engaging way to boost concentrated SEO efforts and reach the right audience.
Overall, content marketing is a powerful tool for communicating a message in a creative, visual and engaging way. KemperLesnik recognizes the value of strategic integrated digital content marketing and is pushing the envelope on creativity and innovation to develop meaningful content for our clients. Our vast content capabilities are as diverse as our clients’ individual marketing objectives, and we customize our creative strategy to accomplish those goals. Whatever the medium or outlet best suited to the specific needs of each project, KemperLesnik is ready to capture, produce and distribute content and help our clients stand out with impactful content marketing.