Are you looking for ways to improve your content marketing efforts? If so, you may want to consider using a technique known as “bullseye” content marketing.
Bullseye content marketing is a strategy for creating content targeted at a small, well-defined audience. The idea is to generate highly-targeted content that will resonate with this audience and help you achieve your marketing goals.
While this approach requires more effort than creating general-purpose content, it can be well worth it if done correctly. So if you’re looking for ways to improve your content marketing, consider using the bullseye technique.
What is an employee advocacy program, and why does your business need it?
A business can’t survive without its employees, and an employee advocacy program helps ensure you have the best team. These programs offer incentives to your employees that help promote your brand. Aside from the obvious benefits, you’ll find that your employees are often more loyal and invested in your brand.
Advantages of an employee advocacy program
About 54% of employees are not engaged in the company where they work, meaning they’re unattached to what they’re doing. At the same time, companies with emotionally attached employees are 24% more profitable. When you allow employees to communicate what they love about your company, you instill a sense of responsibility to help your brand succeed.
Benefits of an employee advocacy program include:
Achieving business goals
Driving quality leads
Increasing social media reach
Building employee trust, and much more
Download the complete eGuide that will walk you through each detail of building your employee advocacy program:
Company morale can boost your business’ image and build your brand. When a brand keeps its employees engaged, the entire company benefits. It’s as simple as setting goals, creating a policy, and preparing your employees.
Once you’ve established these areas, you can plan your training. Identify your biggest champions to get the ball rolling. Friendly competition makes the program more fun. Make sure to let employees know there are rewards as well.
Before you launch your program, have some content prepared ahead of time. Remember to be flexible and keep it in good taste. If you don’t want to take time away from your in-house employees, you can always hire a managed content provider.
Launching your program
When you’re ready to launch, you’ll want to make sure you have an easy way to measure results. It’s important to measure the success of the program along with employee participation and compliance. Making adjustments is often needed and a great way to make sure the program is successful.
Our case studies show how Bullseye Effect™ digital marketing managed service can drive a 600% increase in leads.
Having a strong marketing plan is important to any business, and hiring a digital marketing managed service provider (MSP) can relieve much of the stress. These case studies show how the right digital marketing MSP creates content that produces results.
MSPs and content marketing
One of the main areas of a digital marketing managed service provider is content marketing. This type of marketing requires knowledge of changing trends. Tempesta Media is known for keeping an audience engaged and the content SEO compliant.
Why Tempesta Media should be your digital marketing managed service provider
As digital marketing evolves, so do MSPs and their services. Many brands don’t have an in-house marketing team, which can add more work for employees. CEOs often ask employees to handle social media, email, blogs, and other similar tasks.
Tempesta Media transforms digital marketing for business, and these case studies prove it. We showcase results from seven clients in different industries. Some of the results include:
600% increase in leads in 12 months
186% increase in social media leads
300% increase in blogs
514% increase in website users
4,960% increase in referrals
1,346% increase in LinkedIn follows
518% increase in backlinks
Download the case studies to see how Tempesta Media can help your business:
MSP marketing services are great for both small and medium companies since most can’t afford an in-house marketing team. Tempesta Media takes these MSP services to a higher level with our Bullseye Effect solution.
These case studies highlight a proven track record backed by results. Our reviews, service, and referrals show just how many clients trust our services.
Learn how to create better social and influencer marketing teams with better content.
This eBook is the ultimate guide to creating a top-notch marketing team while building content that produces results. Content creation is more important than ever, but not all content ranks the same. Get insight into the types of content that will work best for your business and inspire your marketing team to create with purpose.
Improve your marketing team’s performance
Did you know your marketing team can quickly improve its content just by having the right plan? In this eBook, you’ll see how to improve each stage of your content production cycle. You’ll learn how to see growth, higher ROI, and lower costs in your campaigns.
You can greatly improve your marketing program simply by leaving the strategy and content to third-party vendors like Tempesta Media.
Learn from our expert marketing team
Specialists from Tempesta Media offer tips on how they create effective campaigns, including:
Program strategy
Objectives and action
Metrics and tech tools
The right marketing team
Workflow and reporting
Optimizing and audits
Third-party resource options
This eBook will cover the latest marketing trends, and guide you on how to use them to your advantage. It will explain how to make your content marketing accountable and see trackable results. The marketing experts behind this guide have over a decade of experience in various industries and are ranked in the top 3% of marketing specialists.
Download the eBook today to get your marketing team on the road to better productivity using the recommendations from the marketing experts behind this guide have over a decade of experience.
Businesses can survive in a stagflationary environment by realigning their marketing strategy. This shift requires collaboration at the C-level and a conscious decision to prioritize owned media.
Marketing today can feel challenging. CMOs feel the pressure of high costs and shrinking profile margins, prompting a new approach.
In part one of our series on finding a path forward post-COVID, we discussed how the pandemic created new challenges for marketers.
In part two, we introduced a bullseye model to realign marketing goals in the context of a stagflationary environment.
Rethinking how you approach your marketing mix is only the first step. The next step is allocating resources to support a content marketing program that establishes a strong online presence by prioritizing owned media.
Here’s why collaboration at the C-level is crucial to achieving this goal.
Why branding vs. direct response is a problematic approach
Traditionally, marketing departments have tended to take a siloed approach and manage branding and direct response separately.
Branding encompasses all the activities that shape a company’s image. It can include messaging, logos, social and environmental programs, and more.
Branding creates value for a business, even though brand value can be difficult to measure. Some would argue it’s at the core of what a business does. When marketers are consistent with branding, it can foster trust and help build relationships with customers.
Most businesses keep branding separate from their direct response programs. Direct response marketing activities acquire new customers through offline and online campaigns.
Unlike branding, it’s easy to track the time and resources invested and ROI by looking at customer acquisition numbers or sales volumes.
This approach is problematic. Marketing today is increasingly digital, a trend that accelerated during COVID-19.
With digital channels playing a more important role, owned media has become a key asset. Owned media refers to the content a business develops to establish its online presence and share information with prospects. It can include blog posts, email series, branded videos, and SEO efforts.
Marketers can leverage owned media to generate awareness for the business, connect with leads, and nurture prospects by delivering information throughout the buying journey.
The branding vs. direct response model makes sense when a business primarily focuses on paid media. Paid ads play a very important role in online marketing spending and allow marketers to generate an immediate response.
However, investing in content creation efforts makes more sense in a stagflationary environment due to the higher ROI of owned media in the long term. Because this content shares elements of branding and direct response with lead generation, the branding vs. direct response approach becomes obsolete.
Managing owned media at the C-level
Owned media is an asset. It’s a strong foundation for your online presence and allows for scalable growth. It can even insulate your marketing department from budget cuts since you can keep using these assets to generate leads with little additional investment of time or resources needed.
Even though 2022 saw an increase in marketing budgets, with businesses spending 9.5% of their revenue on marketing on average, most organizations are spending less than they were before COVID-19.
Investing in building-owned media should be a priority. Everyone at the C-level has a role to play.
CEOs
CEOs can make a conscious decision to prioritize owned media. They can allocate resources to build and optimize this asset and support the work of the CMO. They can also have a significant influence on shaping a company culture that values communication and collaboration by working closely with executives from different departments.
CFOs
CFO buy-in is crucial for developing owned media. Under the traditional branding vs. direct response model, content marketing and SEO often get overlooked.
Many brands lump content marketing and SEO into the branding budget, which means CFOs don’t allocate enough resources to properly develop owned media.
Using the paid media budget to develop content and SEO doesn’t work either. The purpose of this budget is to generate an immediate return. Owned media supports long-term growth goals and needs its budget.
CMOs
As many as 60% of CMOs say they currently lack the resources needed to meet their marketing and customer experience goals.
Marketing today is evolving at a rapid pace. CMOs need to play a more important role at the C-level by educating other decision-makers about the latest trends and advocating for a strategy that prioritizes owned media.
Adopting a new model
Historically, companies that reallocate spending experience growth. Collaboration at the C-level is crucial for realigning marketing spending and unlocking growth in our challenging environment.
CEOs, CFOs, and CMOs need to work together to create a new chart of accounts that reflects the need to emphasize digital marketing. This chart should include a budget for branding, direct response, and owned media.
Creating a separate budget for owned media has several advantages. It facilitates tracking spending and performance for owned media, which means CFOs can calculate ROI accurately.
Plus, CMOs can do a better job with clear goals and a dedicated budget. They can launch programs that make sense for the organization’s goals and resources and plan for the future if they have a predictable owned media budget.
And, with a clear budget allocated to owned media, it will become easier for CMOs to implement consistent strategies and keep developing content in the long term. It’s a crucial aspect of launching a successful owned media program since ROI increases as you keep developing this asset over time.
From budgeting to implementation
Adopting a digital-first approach can make businesses more resilient in a stagflationary environment, but it requires some changes at the C-level. Communicating, making collaborative decisions, and rethinking marketing spending will support long-term growth through owned media.
However, establishing a dedicated owned media budget is only the first step. To get the most out of this budget, businesses need to choose the right strategies for developing content that will yield results.
Managed services market trends reveal that a growing number of businesses choose to outsource this process. Working with a partner gives businesses access to expertise, additional resources, and measurable results.
With Bullseye Effect™, Tempesta Media offers a turnkey managed service solution for content creation, SEO, social media, email marketing, and more than 30 modules. After completing an in-depth review of your current marketing program with our Bullseye Effect assessment, we will develop a plan that is uniquely adapted to your needs. Our approach includes content development, continuous optimization of your owned media program, social sharing, influencer marketing, email marketing, SEO, and more.
The company’s managed service solution, Bullseye Effect, holistically leverages content, social, and influencer marketing channels to drive more leads and revenue.
MICHIGAN CITY, IN, September 12, 2022 – Tempesta Media, the performance-based content marketing solutions company, has released v2 of its managed solution, Bullseye Effect. Bullseye is a managed solution that combines a sophisticated technology platform, deep analytics, and strategy components to predictably drive incremental revenue for B2B companies.
ABOUT BULLSEYE EFFECT
Tempesta Media’s Bullseye Effect™ now has over 30 modules, including:
Prova™ – a comprehensive digital marketing analysis that assesses over 90 different areas of a company’s digital marketing program.
Simple Social Share™ – leverages customer employees and stakeholders to amplify content marketing performance.
Vetted subject matter expert network – with over 27,000 vetted US industry experts, companies can secure experts from their industry for their content marketing programs.
Distributed publishing – whether a company’s website, social media profiles or other channels, Tempesta Media’s advanced publishing module makes it easy to distribute content.
BULLSEYE EFFECT BENEFITS
Because of its breadth and depth, Bullseye Effect is customizable to each company’s specific program objectives and KPIs.
In addition, Bullseye Effect can eliminate the expense of hiring, training, and supporting an internal, dedicated content, social, and influencer marketing team.
“It took me a while to decide to use Tempesta Media,” commented James Ashford, Oklahoma & Arkansas Sales Director at Vision Care Direct. “Tempesta Media is one of the best services we contract out. Their content, ease of business, and staff’s patience are top-notch. We have continued to add other Bullseye Effect components as they have earned our trust. I recommend them to any business.”
By tightly integrating content marketing, social media, and influencer marketing capabilities into one seamless solution, Tempesta Media can uncover unique insights, reduce operational costs, and drive predictable, superior performance for its customers.
“It’s great to have customers rave about their Bullseye Effect results,” commented Michael Marchese, CEO of Tempesta Media. “For too long, content marketing has been viewed as nothing more than a vehicle to drive awareness. Bullseye Effect proves that it can drive real, tangible results.”
AVAILABILITY
Bullseye Effect is now generally available to mid-sized B2B companies within the US. To learn more, please visit www.TempestaMedia.com.
ABOUT TEMPESTA MEDIA
Created in 2011, Tempesta Media is a leading performance-based provider of digital marketing solutions that drives business revenue. Our managed service combines cutting-edge technology with our expertise and industry knowledge to drive leads and revenue for B2B companies. We serve B2B businesses across the US. Contact us at Sales@TempestaMedia.com.
If you want to succeed in B2B content marketing, you’ll need to adapt to today’s competitive realities by considering six key trends for outsized performance for B2B marketers.
Field sales are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Since Covid-19 came on very quickly, companies have been trying to adapt due to being unable to meet their prospects and customers in person. So, they quickly started using Zoom and other remote-based communications.
This blog will describe how the B2B world has changed and how content marketing strategies have adapted, providing six different trends to follow and succeed in your business.
Key factors that changed the B2B world
There are three crucial factors that have contributed to a significant change in the B2B world. You have to quickly find ways to adapt to these changes and keep succeeding in your businesses.
Web presence is key to your marketing success
This phenomenon is not limited to small B2B purchases. The website was always the focal point of communications before Covid.
Before the pandemic, the website may have been a supporting entity part of an overall communication mix. Now, it is the focal point, and other forms of communication support it.
Big-ticket for B2B purchases are happening remotely and through digital self-service
These purchases are generally defined as 50,000 dollars or more.
While the vast majority of big-ticket items are still happening in person, a growing percentage of those, especially between 50,000 and a half million, is happening remotely.
As a B2B marketer, you’ve got to tell your story, provide your value proposition and critical differentiators on your site, and do so concisely. You have to stand over the crowd, which will get the point across to your website’s target audience.
The content of your website is crucial for your brand presence and domain authority
If you have a poorly constructed website and are not focused on taking that customer through the buying journey, you will rapidly see its deceleration and an increase in your competition’s sales and higher domain authority.
6 key trends for content marketing success
1. Crafting longer content: Blog posts are getting longer
Only very long-form content is driving results for marketers. So, if you are writing blog posts that are <600 words, don’t waste your time. You have to show up in the search engines and have a chance at achieving a top-10 listing.
In one SEMrush study, articles with at least 3,000 words generated 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than short-form articles. You’ve got to have content and write 1,500 words at a minimum (or, better yet, between 2,500 and 3,000 words).
Another important factor for crafting longer content is updating older blog posts, making them longer and more valuable to their target audience by refreshing them with new thinking and adding more images.
2. Increasing content publication frequency
Long blog posts need to be published weekly to generate results. In a competitive industry, you need to post more frequently. Expect to post 2–3 times weekly to gain market share. Depending on where you’re in the industry and how competitive it is, you may post anywhere from 2 to 5 times a week.
3. Adding more images
Something very important to consider is that people read and comprehend content differently. For example, some people are visual, others are auditory, and others simply want to read.
Many companies thought it would be sufficient to include an image at the top of the blog post or article, and they felt that their work was done. However, the reality is that adding one image for every 250–300 words of content is optimal for generating better results in the SERPs.
When you create your content, it is crucial not to build it in a model style but to instead incorporate different elements that appeal to further learning or concept absorption for the readers. For example, integrating more images into your content gives you a better ranking performance, better user engagement, and more sales for your company.
4. Incorporating structured data
Incorporating structured data is crucial since it improves your content and gives it better visibility. Incorporating structured data can be known as Google taking elements of your content and adding code around it.
Featured snippets create a new distribution channel for your content. They always appear on the first page of specific search results and are often above the fold so that the search engines know that this is a structured snippet that can appear in other parts of the SERPs.
5. Increasing content promotion
To increase content promotion, you should attempt to look inward first; you should look to start controlling and owning your media versus trying to focus on paid media by considering the following recommendations:
Try guest posting: Public relations, speaking events, and guest posting have become the three most important ways to increase promotion. The most successful content marketers use these tactics more frequently than most other companies.
Expand your LinkedIn presence: LinkedIn outperforms all other social media for B2B. As your budget becomes increasingly constrained due to competition and inflation, you will need to focus your social media programs on LinkedIn at the expense of other venues.
6. Owning distribution
Our “employee advocacy program” is a capability within our managed service. This program allows you to build your corporation and community.
Your employees can become your distribution channel, leveraging their brand to promote your company, driving thought leadership, introducing your company to new prospects, and reducing overall marketing costs.
You can build a corporate-owned community. Companies that establish online communities for their customers and prospects set themselves apart from the competition.
Another thing you need to do is take advantage of the social network and group capability. For example, you can create groups focusing on the business and discuss the issues their prospective audience faces.
In summary
In 2022, focus on the basic blocking and tackling tasks that you need to follow, increasing the word length of your content, incorporating images, and publishing more frequently.
Also, make sure you have content that targets your audience in a segmented fashion, resonating with that audience in search engines.
Do those things consistently, and you will have results this year. Be ready for a very strong 2023. Tempesta Media can help you out with the process. To know all about our content marketing solution managed service, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
There are two ways to look at marketing: paid and owned media. Paid media is when you pay a third party, such as an advertising property like Google or Facebook, to drive traffic back to your site.
Owned media is created by you and doesn’t involve a third party. It could be a blog, social media page, or website.
Two important factors to consider when measuring the effectiveness of any marketing campaign are durability and sustainability. However, if you’re looking for more short-term results, you must be prepared to continue investing in that campaign month after month.
The key is finding a balance between the two extremes. It can be tough to justify investing in marketing and advertising because their return on investment (ROI) is very low. Costs have gone up while profits have decreased, making it hard for businesses to see a positive outcome from any marketing campaign.
However, there are two exceptions to this rule:
Ownable media. With ownable media, you’re investing dollars but getting very few leads in return.
Honorable media. With honorable media, you’re making an initial investment and then receiving a consistent flow of leads over time as long as you continue the campaign.
Where businesses should invest
Investments are an important part of any company, and just like in any other investment, there is a certain expectation of what you should get back. For example, if your company has an internal ROI threshold of 15%, that means for every dollar you invest, you should get $1.50 back within six months. But, of course, this also starts generating a return on your investment.
As a result, you need to find a project that will give you the best ROI in the shortest amount of time. There are many different opportunities right now in marketing, but one area where CMOs are seriously investing in research is social media.
CMOs quickly realize they can’t do everything in-house, and it’s not cost-effective to try. In addition, they struggle to find staff who are trained and capable in all aspects of marketing, from content writing to social media management. As a result, you should consider the following solutions:
Outsourcing. You can examine each component of the marketing team separately to determine what can be outsourced effectively.
Automation. A lot of companies are looking into automation because digital marketing has become increasingly reliant on technology over the last five years. The amount of money you need to spend to keep up with the competition has increased exponentially. So it’s important to be mindful of this when deciding on your marketing strategy.
Trying to build an in-house tech stack can be expensive and time-consuming; instead, it’s often easier to look for external solutions, cobble them together using tools like Zapier, and use that as your tech stack. That way, you can focus on your core business instead of trying to do everything internally. Again, this is an example of making an investment.
Three reasons to invest in digital marketing
With everything digital, from social media to blogging and email marketing, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But it’s important to remember that finding the right balance is key.
So don’t let yourself get bogged down — focus on integrating one or two new digital marketing efforts at a time and see how they go. If you’re still not sure whether digital marketing is the right step for your business, here are three key reasons to invest in digital marketing.
Brand recognition
It’s common knowledge that to increase brand awareness, you need to do some amount of brand advertising. The more visible your company is, the easier it becomes for your sales team to sell and close new business. This also means you’ll get more inbound leads because, based on the strength of your brand, people will be interested in what you offer.
Word of mouth
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool. Referred customers are often more loyal and profitable than other customers, so it’s important to have a system that encourages referrals.
Unfortunately, many companies don’t take advantage of this strategy because they don’t know how to track referrals. But with the right tools, you can easily measure the success of your referral program.
Many companies aspire to be the top player in their field but focus only on their direct competitors. While this is a good start, it’s important to remember that you’re also competing with indirect compe
titors. These businesses may not offer the same product or service as you, but they still threaten your success.
It’s crucial to understand who these companies are and what makes them different from yours. This should include evaluating your performance against theirs and identifying their strengths and weaknesses so you can capitalize on any opportunities.
In summary
To succeed in digital marketing, start considering investments in automation and outsourcing. Such measures can help you achieve your objectives quickly. At the same time, building your brand is an example of an investment that will pay off in the long run.
If your company prioritizes programs that generate fast internal returns on investment, you’ll be setting yourself up for long-term success. You can track and measure your success in the short term and make necessary adjustments along the way.
With Tempesta Media, your investments in digital marketing are safe. Contact us today if you would like to accelerate your success with managed content marketing
In the digital marketing world, nothing stays still for long.
What changed in 2022
The balance between offline and online digital marketing has shifted in recent years. As a result, many advertisers have switched from offline marketing to digital, which has caused the prices of digital advertising to skyrocket. This is particularly evident in the areas of websites, emails, digital ads, and SEO.
The market’s challenge now is that many people have invested in digital programs because they have become too expensive. Consequently, the return on investment for these programs has decreased significantly. To solve this problem, companies are looking for alternatives.
Incremental dollars can make a big difference for businesses and individuals, so it’s important to be strategic about where you invest them. By the end of 2022, we’ll see even more changes.
Overview of the digital marketing industry in 2022
The digital marketing industry is an oligopoly in which a few major players dominate the market. One example is Google. Companies are becoming increasingly frustrated with advertising on major platforms like Google because they do not see the desired ROI.
People in the 18-34 age range, who used to be the main target for advertising, are no longer attentive. A lot of their time is now being spent on Facebook and Google. This shift means there is a dispersion of usage, with different platforms gaining favor at different times.
To capitalize on the trend, other companies need to start looking into strategies to set them apart from the pack. The pendulum is swinging back toward decentralization. This is good news for media buying companies, as they will see a resurgence in their power and influence.
The current economic situation is challenging for businesses. Stagflation, high inflation, and deceleration are leading many companies to scale back hiring and ad spending. So, during this time, you should work harder to optimize the following areas:
Content marketing. You need to keep creating killer content that is relevant and engaging. Keep writing longer content, and make sure you publish it frequently.
SEO. You need a good SEO strategy that attracts your audience, creating leads to buy products or services.
Email marketing. You can continue communicating with your subscribers or customers through relationship-building or sales.
Ad retargeting. You need to work on retargeting to drive higher visibility and brand recognition. Use this tool and be ready to see more conversions from repeat visitors.
Main key performance indicators (KPIs) in 2023
To make decisions about whether to invest in outside sales and marketing, you need to take a long-term view of your customers. These are four important KPIs that you should monitor closely:
Customer lifetime value. It is the total value of a customer’s business with you throughout their relationship with your company. Considering this metric, think about how much it costs to acquire a new customer. If customer lifetime value has decreased, it’s likely because the cost of customer acquisition has risen.
Unique visits. By using data from unique visits, which are an industry-standard metric, you can find out how many people view your content within a given time frame. That way, you can quickly see trends, as this KPI offers a baseline that allows you to compare one type of content to another.
Consumption. You need to understand how your visitors are consuming content. Views, downloads, opens, click rates, time spent, and bounce rates are crucial measurements that help you hold on to your customers. Make sure that when they click on your link, they find what they expect. If you have a low bounce rate, you’re doing things right.
Engagement. Measure likes, shares, mentions, comments, pins, etc. These tell you whether your audience engages with your content. The more they like it, comment, or share, the more engaged they are.
Where companies are spending money
Companies are removing their less effective marketing programs, such as radio, TV, and paid media. Instead, they’re focusing on content marketing, SEO, email marketing, and ad retargeting.
This shift shows businesses know that great content is essential for a successful online presence. As a result, they will spend money in the next 12-18 months in areas where they are most likely to see success.
Differences between the B2B and B2C markets in 2023
The B2B and B2C markets started down different marketing paths in 2019. B2C started gravitating toward influencer-based marketing, while B2B focused on webinars, events, SEO, and content marketing.
The B2C side is showing a significant pullback that’s happening specifically in influencer-based marketing and social media marketing because these businesses are struggling to achieve an ROI that corresponds to the expenses they’re incurring. So B2C businesses are becoming very aggressive and renegotiating ad rates, influencer deals, and other paid media contracts.
The B2B side is better protected and less exposed. Advertisers are B2B companies and are staying true to what works. They’ve done a much better job of quantifying the results that go with that. They will have a drawdown and paid media as well as paid social, but it will be less traumatic than what you see on the B2C side.
What B2B and B2C companies should consider
Many companies have had difficulties attributing their performance to specific marketing channels. So, to begin with, your B2B or B2C company needs to look at a potential partner that can go in and efficiently drive results. Then, with an analytics layer, you can cover all your bases, from content marketing to mobile, social media, and influencer marketing.
The second step is to rationalize your costs and shift your marketing spending to match market demands.
In summary
Since you are responsible for both the B2B and B2C sides, you need to explore outsourcing some or all of those responsibilities. These could include mobile marketing, which is becoming increasingly important. In addition, whether yours is a B2B or B2C company, it’s important to invest in analytics. As a managed content marketing service, Tempesta Media offers a platform with an analytics layer that covers all your bases: content marketing, mobile, social media, and influencer marketing. If you would like your business to keep growing in hard times, contact us today.
The rise of e-commerce is the defining trend of the retail industry over the past decade. As brands compete to grow their online presence, content marketing has an important role to play.
Between brick-and-mortar retailers developing their online presence, online giants transforming the shopping experience, and small retailers finding their niche online, e-commerce is a diverse space.
This market keeps growing, which translates into more opportunities to reach customers. However, it’s also a competitive space. Brands can stand out by leveraging an online shopping platform to deliver a unique experience and go further by investing in a managed content marketing service to connect with their audience.
The role of content
The online shopping journey differs from in-person purchases. Consumers have access to an unparalleled breadth of information to research a purchase and compare options.
From branded content to online reviews, consumers are likely to go on a rich content consumption journey before making a buying decision. This journey will also continue after the purchase, with content designed to upsell, generate repeat sales, or increase loyalty.
You need to deliver a meaningful experience at every step of this journey by offering content that is engaging and meets your audience’s expectations. Getting help from a content marketing service can make a difference since you’ll have access to a team of experts who know how to create content that engages and converts.
Meeting the expectations of your audience
Common challenges for retailers are understanding and meeting the expectations of their target audience. Consumers have expectations regarding product quality, but they also want a convenient experience when buying something or contacting customer service.
A content marketing service can help you identify the expectations of your audience and create content that meets these expectations, in terms of both adopting a branding strategy that reflects consumers’ values and sharing a message aligned with the pain points shoppers are experiencing.
The rise of user-generated content
Branded content is everywhere, but a new type of content is quickly taking over the online shopping space. As consumers become more aware of the strategies that brands use to share promotional messages, the content generated by users has established itself as a more relatable and trustworthy source of information.
Leveraging user-generated content can create a sense of community for your fans. Engaging with the users who create content can also result in a more organic and genuine connection with your brand.
User-generated content can become a driver of scalable growth if you build a strong community of loyal fans who can help with word-of-mouth marketing.
Many brands are also focusing on influencer marketing. This approach often feels more genuine and relatable. With 49% of shoppers depending on recommendations from influencers and 37% trusting influencers more than brands, this type of UGC can have a significant impact on sales.
Partnering with influencers can help you grow awareness in certain niches, but don’t lose sight of the fact that every customer has the potential to create content. Shoppers can share online reviews, testimonials, social media posts, etc.
Engaging with these users post-purchase and encouraging them to share their content is important for word-of-mouth marketing. It will also establish social proof for your brand since 38% of shoppers consider online reviews as very important.
Thanks to their comprehensive approach, managed marketing services can help you implement successful programs for connecting with influencers and customers and promoting user-generated content.
The omnichannel experience
We’ve already established the importance of meeting your audience’s expectations with quality content. However, shoppers have additional expectations regarding content consumption.
In order to deliver an optimal experience, you need to meet prospects and shoppers where they are and share content on their preferred channels. Blogs, email, and social media are common channels. Some retailers are going further with the omnichannel experience by using podcasts, videos, or live chat features.
You also need to keep up with new trends and incorporate the latest popular channels into your omnichannel strategy. For instance, many brands are currently focusing on TikTok to reach its 136 million U.S. users.
Developing an omnichannel experience is another area where a managed service can make a difference. You’ll get to work with experts who can help you identify the best channels for your target audience and ensure that your marketing efforts remain consistent from one channel to another.
The importance of thought leadership
With the rise of online shopping, brands are always challenging themselves to stand out with value and creativity. This competitive environment gives shoppers access to more options than ever, but it can also feel overwhelming.
Experts believe that shoppers are happiest with fewer options. The more options a shopper has to compare, the more difficult the decision will be. It can result in analysis paralysis. Shoppers can also second-guess their decision and regret their purchase because they didn’t get to try the myriad of other products available.
The best way to prevent analysis paralysis is to instill confidence in your audience with thought leadership. If shoppers feel they can trust you, they’ll have the peace of mind to know they made the best decision possible by following your advice.
Outsourcing content creation to a team of experts can help build trust and authority. You can work with a managed service to develop content that educates about your products and shows how they solve pain points in an authoritative manner.
Get help with content marketing
A strong content marketing strategy is paramount to the success of your online shop brand. Content is the primary channel through which you can form a meaningful connection with your audience and deliver a memorable experience.
However, many brands don’t have the time or resources necessary to implement the right content marketing strategies. If you find yourself in this situation, getting help from a team of content marketing experts is an option worth exploring.
As a managed content marketing service, Tempesta Media can help you grow your online presence through compelling content. Besides creating and publishing content on your behalf, Tempesta Media can implement a social media marketing or influencer marketing strategy to help you get the most out of these channels.
