Always ahead of his time, Bill Gates predicted “Content is King”, even before many of us even understood what ‘content’ really was. In 2019, if you don’t have a content marketing plan, you are planning to fail.

Unlike traditional marketing, Content Marketing aims at attracting and retaining an audience by sharing valuable content. Providing “How-To” articles, e-books, videos, and webinars prove useful and engaging rather than specifically selling a product.

So, if you have a content marketing strategy in place, here are 4 questions to ask yourself (or your agency).

Are you being authentic when you communicate?

When you create content, align it with your brand personality and experience. Consumers value authenticity and transparency. Leave the click-bait lines behind and connect on a human level when you communicate.

Let’s take Diamond Arabia, for example. To promote their products, we created a series of ‘Kitchen Hack’ videos that subtly showcased unique ways of using Diamond brand products through helpful recipes and promoted it on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Are you personalizing the user journey?

In this digital and social age, one-to-one marketing is important. Personalize your interaction with your consumer depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey. Something as simple as a well-crafted welcome email on sign-up or a retargeted ad to bounced visitors can boost your conversion rate significantly.

Are you capturing the micro-moments?

Google defines 4 important ‘micro-moments’ in the buyer’s journey.

• “I-want-to-know” – where a consumer explores, researches and discovers.
• “I-want-to-go” – where a consumer looks for a local business, product or service.
• “I-want-to-do” – where the consumer seeks help to do something.
• “I-want-to-buy” – where the consumer is ready to purchase.

Tailoring your content to these ‘micro-moments’ allows you to provide the exact information your prospect seeks at any given point, thereby increasing your credibility.

For example, Sharjah Media City, Shams captures and communicates with its audience in the “I-want-to-know” moments through a strong social media presence. In the “I-want-to-do” moments, they educate prospects through articles like “Startup Survival Guide: How to make it in a content-driven world” on their blog.

Are you in a trend-frenzy?

Don’t jump into trends randomly or for the sake of it. Although it is good to experiment with new mediums, at the end of the day, your content marketing strategy should provide value to your consumer while meeting your marketing objectives.

For instance, if you are a health insurance company, consider creating a YouTube series on how to tackle common lifestyle diseases like diabetes or PCOS. Use Facebook and Instagram to drive traffic to your videos. Place links in the description to drive website visits.

Source:

• CORE DNA – Dec 2018 – 10 Biggest Content Marketing Trends that Will Dominate 2019
• Social Media Today – Dec 2018 – Content Marketing Trends You Can’t Ignore