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Are you struggling to get enough traffic or quality leads? Do you throw a lot of marketing spaghetti at the wall, hoping something might stick and actually work this time?
Do you spend too much face-to-face time educating prospective customers or clients about how you can help? Are you finding it difficult to earn trust?
Content marketing solves these problems by creating valuable, relevant content that educates your audience and builds trust. They say it now takes nine touches to gain a new client—what if that number were cut in half or more? With content marketing, you can engage potential clients more effectively, allowing you to spend more time doing what you do best in your business or movement.
Content marketing is a tried and tested process that works because it’s real –– it is you, your brand, your expertise, and your experience that uses basic marketing principles to package and deliver it as content that your audience can easily find and resonate with.
This guide will help you understand:
Content marketing is creating valuable and relevant content that comes directly from you and your business or brand. Seth Godin famously said, "Content marketing is the only marketing left." Since then, content marketing has increasingly become the most important tool for businesses. Why? Because audiences are demanding authenticity. They want real, meaningful interactions and are tired of the same old sales pitches and flashy ads.
One way to define content marketing is by its formats, such as:
But there are many other forms that content marketing takes. And just because the content is published in one of these ways, that doesn’t make it marketing.
A widely cited definition of content marketing (published both by HubSpot and the Content Marketing Institute) is: “a strategic marketing and business process focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, and ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Companies often choose content marketing because it’s more cost-effective than outbound marketing tactics such as paid advertising and direct mail. According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising. But there’s another reason to engage in content marketing and do it well: You’re improving the quality and breadth of content people can find online about the problems your products and services solve, which helps everyone.
For your content marketing to be worth the investment, it must align with and advance your business's mission. However, the mission of your content is not the same as the mission of your company.
If your company plans to engage in content marketing or is currently engaged, you need a content mission statement. When you determine why you’re creating content, that informs what content you need to create. Reversing the order of those decisions results in content that’s less likely to show meaningful results for the company. Your company’s content mission sets the tone for your entire content marketing strategy and ensures that the purpose of the content is aligned with the purpose of the business.
Justin Champion at HubSpot provides this template for creating a content mission statement, which is useful for companies of all types:
"Our mission is to [fill this in], but when it comes to our content strategy, it’s not about doing that, it’s about the idea that everyone should know how to [fill this in]."
Once you’ve articulated your content mission statement, it’s time to step outside your company and look at the work you do from a totally different perspective: the perspective of people who know nothing about you. But they do have some connection to the issues you’re working on, and chances are they’re researching those issues in some way using digital media.
Content marketing exists solely because of the technology that makes it possible. It’s the technology people use to find information to meet their needs, challenges, and desires. It’s Google (and Facebook, and YouTube, and every other search-driven platform). That’s why, to be an effective content marketer for your company, you need to understand how search has changed.
According to Moz, Google rolls out 500 to 600 minor algorithm changes each year, a major algorithmic update that significantly affects search results.
Winning at SEO in the current landscape involves understanding and adapting to the latest Google algorithm updates. In March 2024, Google integrated the Helpful Content System into its core, emphasizing creating user-centric content. This update aims to improve search results by focusing on helpful quality content that adds value rather than content designed to manipulate search rankings.
Adhering to E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is crucial to ranking well in Google. This framework ensures that content is valuable and reliable, essential for higher search rankings.
Google’s E-E-A-T is more than just an algorithm—it’s a blueprint for building trust, authority, and lasting connections with your audience. By integrating E-E-A-T principles into your content, you can create a strong foundation that not only boosts your search rankings but also transforms casual visitors into lifelong customers.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming many aspects of content marketing, but it won't replace the genuine human touch that makes content truly resonate. AI can help with:
AI can streamline and enhance the content creation process, but your unique perspective and expertise will make your content stand out and build trust with your audience.
One of the most significant advantages of authentic, high-quality content is that it’s evergreen. This means it continues to attract interest and generate traffic long after publication. Unlike ads that disappear once the budget runs out, evergreen content keeps working for you, bringing in more interested visitors over time.
Authentic content doesn't just attract more visitors—it attracts the right visitors. People will likely become loyal customers when they resonate with your message and see you as a trustworthy source. This is why content marketing generates higher-quality leads than traditional advertising. It’s not just about getting eyes on your page; it’s about connecting with people who truly value what you offer.
With so much noise and competition online, it’s more important than ever to keep your content straightforward. This doesn’t mean dumbing things down; it means cutting through the clutter to deliver clear, valuable insights. Your audience doesn’t have time for fluff—they want answers, relief, and resonance.
At its core, content marketing is about answering your audience’s questions and helping them find solutions. It’s about sharing your knowledge and insights in a way that’s accessible and engaging. Whether through blog posts, videos, podcasts, or social media updates, content marketing allows you to communicate directly with your audience, providing value and building relationships.
You need to dig deep within your business to create truly compelling content. Identify what makes you unique, and don’t be afraid to share your expertise and unique take on things. This authenticity will set you apart from the competition and help you build a loyal audience.
AI technologies have recently begun to influence SEO, such as AI snippets that appear above the standard search results (SERPs). These snippets can take up a significant portion of the screen, potentially decreasing organic traffic to traditional search results. However, if your content appears in these AI snippets, it can lead to more clicks. While it's still early to fully understand the impact, ensuring your content is discoverable and indexable, with proper structured data and schema markup, is crucial.
Search behavior is evolving with an increase in long-tail and conversational searches. Users are asking more complex, informational questions; content that comprehensively answers these questions will rank higher. Focus on creating in-depth content that addresses these queries and provides detailed, authoritative answers.
Authorship is becoming increasingly important. Ensure your content is attributed to real people with expertise in the subject matter. Create authorship pages and link them to profiles on platforms like LinkedIn to establish a digital footprint. This builds credibility and signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy.
AI should support your content creation process, not replace it. Use AI tools to enhance productivity, streamline research, and organize data, but keep the heart and soul of your content human. AI can help with outlining and drafting, but your unique voice and expertise are what will truly resonate with your audience.
In the evolving landscape of SEO, quality trumps quantity. More content does not necessarily lead to higher rankings. Focus on creating valuable, relevant, high-quality content that aligns with your expertise and addresses your audience’s needs. Conduct a content audit to understand your current performance, identify gaps, and create a plan to repurpose or create new value-driven content.
A genuine content ecosystem is not a random collection of content pieces scattered across various platforms. Instead, it is a meticulously crafted network of topic clusters centered around core themes that resonate deeply with your audience. This ecosystem is built upon in-depth content that showcases your brand's knowledge, expertise, and authority on topics that matter to your audience.
Here are a few crucial components of a Content Ecosystem that will benefit your business in the long run:
Content marketing is a powerful strategy for connecting with your audience and establishing your business as an authority. By focusing on authenticity, simplicity, depth, and the principles of EEAT, you can create content that not only attracts attention but also builds lasting relationships. This is the key to standing out and driving meaningful engagement in a noisy world.
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