UNIT 9.1 UNDERSTAND THE USES OF CONTENT MARKETING

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The content throughout this unit has been written with the purpose of demonstrating ways to understand content marketing and the things that surround it. Especially popular due to the huge presence of social media; content marketing is one of the most accessible areas of the marketing industry for people with no understanding prior, which will be made apparent as this unit goes on.

1.1 Explain the relationship between branding and content marketing.

What is Branding?

Branding is the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

Source: (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/branding.html) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Source: (https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshsteimle/2014/09/19/what-is-content-marketing/#717f155a10b9) Quoted from (https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

How are branding and content marketing related?

Having a strong brand builds a foundation for success with customers however it is ultimately the content that you put out there that will draw in the huge crowds. In the age of social media, a standard ad with the logo and company name can only go so far; utilising popular social platforms with videos, interactivity and pop culture type content is what is going to gain traction. The two are related in the sense that a company cant be overly successful without strongly branding whilst simultaneously marketing with a range of content

The “Share a Coke” campaign from Coca Cola had the perfect combination of both strong, recognisable branding accompanied by customisable content marketing to draw in a range of customers. “They took the 150 most popular names in Australia and added them to the side of the bottles. And, well… people went crazy for it. Everyone was talking about Coke”.

Source: (https://marketingland.com/content-marketing-done-right-8-examples-can-learn-149088) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

1.2 Describe the difference between original and curated content.

Original content creation is the process of creating your own content from scratch and marketing it to your followers or subscribers. Content curation, on the other hand, is the process of gathering existing information like blogs, social media posts or, eBooks relevant to a particular topic and sharing it with your brand’s followers.

Source: (https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/lets-clear-content-creation-vs-content-curation) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

1.3 Explain the factors to consider when creating a brief for a content marketing campaign.

Know your goals – Are you trying to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, or up sell to existing customers? It’s possible to have multiple business goals for your content marketing strategy, but it’s important to know what they are. If you provide a service and want to enhance your customer’s experience to keep them consistently engaged, you would use different content than if you were trying to generate new customer leads. Your business goals will help inform your strategy, so make sure they are clearly defined.

Know your target audience – A key component for any type of marketing campaign is knowing your demographics and their behavior. Do they like to watch videos, read top ten lists, or stay informed about industry news?

Create useful content – Content marketing campaigns are too often created with the goal of adding more keywords to a website. While this might help improve search engine optimization a little bit, this approach won’t keep potential customers on the page for long. Think about topics that will actually be useful to your readers. This will help you establish a community of loyal followers and position your brand as a credible one.

Mix it up – Blog posts do not have to be the only component of a content marketing campaign. You can also use content pieces such as white papers, online guides, e-books, and even video to build your web presence and grow your brand.

Analyse results – Calculating a return on your investment can be difficult with content marketing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t analyse the data you have. Which blogs posts resulted in the most reader comments? Which keywords are most often used to find your content online? A good content marketing campaign should be dynamic and responsive.

Source: (https://www.smartbugmedia.com/blog/five-things-to-consider-in-basic-content-marketing-campaign) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

1.4 Propose content marketing campaign ideas to meet aims and objectives.

1.5 Explain the uses of an editorial calendar for content marketing campaigns.

What is an editorial calendar?

Image result for editorial calendar — Example of an editorial calendar

Image Source: (https://www.meistertask.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-08-at-14.45.43-796×516.png) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

An editorial calendar is [essentially] a tool that helps you plan out your content. You can use it as a solo blogger or with a team… they encourage you as you start to see your content as it will be, and they kick you in the pants as you see your content as it should be. [They allow you to] keep track of what you want to write, and when you want to write it. Originally, this concept was used by magazines and newspapers while planning future issues; editors needed a way to keep track of prospective assignments.

Why are editorial calendars used in marketing?

[They’re used primarily to] plan the content you’ll create and how you will do it as well as to help execute your plan using a content marketing editorial calendar to publish and share your content.

Sources: (https://coschedule.com/content-marketing-editorial-calendar/) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

(https://www.scribendi.com/advice/are_you_using_an_editorial_calendar.en.html) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

1.6 Evaluate the legal requirements of a content marketing campaign.

Following Creative Commons license requirements.

“Creative Commons is an organisation dedicated to expanding the body of creative works available to build upon and share. They are most well-known for providing free, easy-to-use copyright licenses that give creators a simple and standardised way to give the public permission to share and use their work under conditions chosen by the creator”.*

*Source: https://counselforcreators.com/log/creative-commons/ (Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019)

Creative Commons licensed content can be a great source of material for your content marketing plans. But only if you follow the license requirements properly. Creative Commons licenses are granted provided that you follow the terms of that license.

Having legal clearances on all images used.

It’s easy to search the Internet for images to use in your content. And that is often an easy way to get sued. Professional photographers have become increasingly protective of their rights and hire companies that search the Internet to find unauthorised uses of their images. If they find those images on your blog or website, it is likely that they will send you a demand letter asking for payment that is far in excess of what you would have paid had you gotten permission. Don’t fall into the trap. Make sure that you have the right to use any images that you use in your content – there are a number of sites that offer high-quality images

Getting rights from contractors or freelancers.

Many businesses engage freelancers as an easy way to get help with a variety of tasks. This includes content marketing. But be aware that freelancers can create content marketing legal issues if things are not done the right way. By default, contractors and freelancers will own the rights to the work that they produce for you. That’s why it is crucial to get an assignment of rights or a proper license to the work that they produce. And while work for hire agreements may make sense in some scenarios, they are not always the solution.

Following Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines on endorsements.

Content marketing can often involve things like sponsored content or other endorsements. While this type of influencer marketing can help everyone involved, it can easily cause problems. The Federal Trade Commission has set forth guidelines on influencer marketing and other types of sponsored content that any content marketer should read.

Don’t forget your brand.

Content marketing supports brand-building. Brand-building relies upon trademark law as its foundation. That means that every content marketer should consider how their brand will be represented in the content that they are creating. Additionally, any content marketer needs to make sure that their brand is adequately cleared, registered and enforced. This is easy to do at the beginning, more difficult to do later on.

Source: (https://counselforcreators.com/log/content-marketing-legal-issues/) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

Having explained case studies along with curating important information and examples to further demonstrate the proposer uses of content marketing, it should now be clear what it both entails and when / where it should be used. With this new information, targeting a certain demographic using this way of marketing are likely to improve success as far as interactions go.

All sources used:

(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/branding.html) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

(https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshsteimle/2014/09/19/what-is-content-marketing/#717f155a10b9) Quoted from (https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

(https://marketingland.com/content-marketing-done-right-8-examples-can-learn-149088) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

(https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/lets-clear-content-creation-vs-content-curation) Accessed on Wednesday 23rd January 2019

(https://www.smartbugmedia.com/blog/five-things-to-consider-in-basic-content-marketing-campaign) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

(https://www.meistertask.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-08-at-14.45.43-796×516.png) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

(https://coschedule.com/content-marketing-editorial-calendar/) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

(https://www.scribendi.com/advice/are_you_using_an_editorial_calendar.en.html) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019

Source: (https://counselforcreators.com/log/content-marketing-legal-issues/) Accessed on Thursday 24th January 2019