CHAPTER 8
Attract, Engage, and Inspire: Building Your Content Plan
What a journey we’re on. We’ve identified our goals and know who our customers are as well as what they care about in terms of search keywords and social topics. Now it’s time to translate that planning, research, and insight into an actionable content plan.
WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?
Content marketing is an approach to attract, engage, and inspire customers to a logical conclusion to buy and share through content that empathizes with the varied interests and behaviors during the buying cycle.
As a marketing discipline, content marketing has skyrocketed in popularity, with over 60 percent of content marketers planning to increase their spend over the next 12 months.1 It’s no wonder content has stepped into the spotlight, as consumers have become numb to the overabundance of traditional advertising and now spend more time educating themselves online about products and services before they buy. Content is the reason search engines exist, and it’s also a common vehicle for social sharing in the form of text, images, video, and audio. When marketers can effectively align their knowledge of search and social keyword demand with a relevant content plan, it helps connect buyers with products and services more efficiently, thus resulting in a better customer experience. There’s no doubt that content is the key to more effective online marketing. The question is, “How do we to plan, create, optimize, promote, and measure ...
