If you had to venture a guess, how much time would you say you spend interacting with media? Think scanning your social media feeds, streaming your favourite TV show or maybe — just maybe! — reading a newspaper or magazine.
Did you guess more than eight hours? Well, according to a report by ZenithOptimedia, average daily media consumption globally is more than 490 minutes. As if that isn’t staggering enough, they predict that number will rise even more by 2017.
Spreading your message with content
What does that data tell us? Well, for one thing, content is everywhere. And considering that media consumption is rising, it’s clear that there’s an appetite for more.
So for organisations and businesses of all kinds, content presents a massive opportunity to connect with the people who you want to connect with — potential donors, prospective students, consumers, businesses in need of your services. Anyone, really.
Especially in today’s digital age, a lot of people are exposed to media and content in some way every day. And they aren’t just receptive to content; they’re frequently seeking it out. From a marketing perspective, this means you have the chance to share your message in a powerful, authentic way.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing focuses on drawing your target audience to you by providing them with valuable content. That’s the key. It’s offering something that matters to them, whether that’s inspiration or information, entertainment or facts.
Content marketing is vast, but just a few examples may include:
- A blog (like this one!)
- An e-book or white paper
- An infographic
And it isn’t just about written words. Videos, interactive web experiences, visual assets — these can all be part of your content marketing arsenal too (and they should).
The benefits of content marketing
If content marketing is all about offering value to your audience, what value does it bring to you as an organisation? It’s a flexible and effective way to:
- Draw attention to a cause
- Increase brand awareness
- Demonstrate your brand’s value by offering relevant information
- Differentiate your organisation from the competition and establish leadership
- Drive results, whether that means people making a donation, subscribing to your newsletter or any other number of goals.
Getting started
As with any aspect of communications, it’s essential to understand your audience to create a tailored content marketing strategy.
With that in mind, here are a just a few resources to get you started (you’ll find plenty more…).
- Get an overview from the Content Marketing Institute
- See five different content marketing examples from Forbes
- Discover how five non-profits have leveraged content marketing
- How to proof read your own writing