I think marketing is the discipline of business most disrupted by artificial intelligence to date.
Would you agree?
For example, tools like ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly are making content production faster than ever before.
In my previous article, I talked about how AI in marketing automation is enabling companies to provide better customer service and more personalized customer experiences, driving stronger engagement and revenue.
Because content marketing is being so greatly affected by artificial intelligence – and because it’s such an important and valuable component of a successful modern marketing strategy – I’m going to provide a “refresher” on what content marketing is.
I’ll also talk about the various types of content that can comprise a content marketing strategy, as well as the various results companies should enjoy from great content marketing.
What Is Content Marketing?
According to Adobe, content marketing “aims to educate and share value for readers instead of promoting a product or service. It isn’t outwardly promotional in nature, but establishes your business as a thought leader and a trustworthy source of information.”
The idea is to create compelling content for a target audience with hopes of establishing your business as a knowledgeable expert that can help them achieve desired outcomes.
It’s an incredibly popular digital marketing tactic. According to Statista, the content marketing industry is expected to reach $107B by 2026. Content marketing is a massive industry because it’s a critical component of modern marketing strategy.
What Are the Types of Content Marketing?
Different types of content comprise content marketing:
- Blog Posts
- Case Studies
- eBooks
- Email Newsletters
- Images/Graphics/Infographics
- Podcasts
- Social Media Posts
- Videos
- Webinars
Businesses leverage these types of content with varying intensities and results.
For instance, Demand Thrive is a B2B marketing agency that helps organizations develop content strategies, create content, execute the distribution, and measure results. Because we focus on B2B companies, we know that some types of content marketing are likely to yield stronger results than others.
For example, webinars make a lot of sense for B2B companies to try, but not as much sense for B2C companies. A business selling data analytics consulting services has the potential to reap significant benefits from offering informational webinars, whereas a local cupcake store likely wouldn’t.
Measuring Content Marketing Success
Measuring the success of your content marketing efforts is vital. And success can come in many forms. Here are some of the top metrics I’ve traditionally used for measuring content marketing success:
- Increased organic search traffic (SEO)
- Increased engagement and followers on social media
- Increased email engagement
- Increased subscriber growth
- Increased brand awareness
The last bullet, “increased brand awareness,” can be a tricky one to measure.
Here’s an interesting and recent client example that may give you an idea or two. One of our clients is a tech consultancy that has done a lot of hiring over the last 2-3 years.
It isn’t uncommon for job applicants to mention that they’ve seen the company’s content online before, and that they were already aware of the company thanks to a blog post, social media post, or email.
This goes a long way for smaller companies that don’t have enormous marketing budgets and existing brand power like the Nike’s and Coca-Cola’s of the world.
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