{"id":39877,"date":"2021-12-06T11:50:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T11:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/act.com\/?page_id=39877"},"modified":"2023-01-04T11:16:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T18:16:12","slug":"content-marketing-definition","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/products.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-definition\/","title":{"rendered":"Content marketing definition"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"39877\" class=\"elementor elementor-39877\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3a28927d elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3a28927d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-53ee3e65\" data-id=\"53ee3e65\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9c762c8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9c762c8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What is Content Marketing?<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2d41a5b2 elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2d41a5b2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-626a455f\" data-id=\"626a455f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-2f3b446 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2f3b446\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-b8000e9\" data-id=\"b8000e9\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-818091b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"818091b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/articles\/b2b-content-marketing-research-trends-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">71 percent of businesses<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> believe content marketing is critical for growth? From multi-million-dollar organisations to small businesses and startups, everyone seems to be investing in creating and marketing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This makes you wonder why content marketing is so essential for modern businesses. What\u2019s missing from <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> channels that&#8217;s forcing companies to change their ways and invest in more interactive <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re still watching from the sidelines and unsure if content marketing is right for you, this article will answer these questions and more. We\u2019ll define content marketing and its types, explore the content marketing funnel, and look at real-world examples of successful brands using content marketing to grow.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-6982be0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6982be0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-dd3e85e\" data-id=\"dd3e85e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ea05ef8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ea05ef8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Content Marketing Definition<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a70eaf8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a70eaf8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the act of creating online content that contains <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">valuable information<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and attracts and educates your audience, while at the same time, increasing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">organic traffic<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to your website and building <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for your business and its products. Generally, the content doesn&#8217;t directly promote the brand. Instead, it is designed to solve problems and provide helpful information for your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">target audience<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This could be through solving a problem, teaching something valuable, answering questions, addressing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pain points<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or simply providing entertainment.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main goal of content marketing is to build your brand authority by sharing valuable, credible, actionable, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">great content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that fulfills your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">potential customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 needs. It assumes that once consumers trust you as an expert because of your content, they&#8217;ll gravitate toward your products or services when making a purchase decision.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing has two primary components: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content creation<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and marketing (promotion). Some of the most popular kinds of content are blog posts, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">email newsletters<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, videos, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">infographics<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you create the right <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pieces of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you\u2019ll need to promote it using channels and strategies like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engine<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">optimization<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media platforms<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and email marketing. As a type of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">digital marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, content marketing uses these content types and marketing platforms together in a coordinated way to achieve well-defined business goals.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike traditional advertising and other direct marketing strategies, content marketing takes longer to produce results. That&#8217;s because it focuses on driving sales and leads by strengthening your brand image, positioning you as an authority, and building a loyal community and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscriber<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> base for your brand.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it&#8217;s slower to pay off, content marketing&#8217;s returns are sustainable. Every <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">piece of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you publish becomes a permanent brand asset and keeps driving results with minimal additional effort.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-b8e7daf elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b8e7daf\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-8b70628\" data-id=\"8b70628\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7dc9989 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7dc9989\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why content marketing is important\n<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0f8313f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0f8313f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Worldwide, consumers are losing confidence in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and advertising. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingcharts.com\/advertising-trends\/creative-and-formats-224633\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">survey of more than 36,000 consumers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 28 countries found that 62 percent of consumers partially or completely distrust ads.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what do consumers trust?<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.quicksprout.com\/corporate-blogging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 60 percent of consumers feel positive about a brand after consuming its content, while 70 percent learn about brands through online content rather than ads.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/articles\/b2b-content-marketing-research-trends-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">77 percent of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketers<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">believe they\u2019ve significantly increased their brand\u2019s influence and credibility using content marketing in the last 12 months.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These stats don\u2019t mean advertising and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> channels are ineffective, but complementing them with a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> increases engagement with your brand, makes your messaging more credible, and increases the overall effectiveness of all your marketing channels.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-72e7e2f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"72e7e2f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-4408e84\" data-id=\"4408e84\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e77d0fa elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e77d0fa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The components of content marketing\n<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4527c3c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4527c3c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing consists of various content types and marketing strategies to communicate your message to the right audience at the right place and at the right time. Let\u2019s briefly discuss the essential components and some <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">examples of content marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before diving deeper into how it works.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blogs, articles, and other written content<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The written word is still among the most popular online content formats and the primary way <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engines<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> process information. This is why blogs, articles, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">white papers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and various other types of written content are at the foundation of any <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">good content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategy. It\u2019s important to note, that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blogging<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to establish yourself as a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">thought leader<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in your industry to attract and educate <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video content<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video is the fastest-growing content format on the internet. According to research, consumers spend <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oberlo.com\/blog\/youtube-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than one billion hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> every day watching YouTube videos alone. So, naturally, it is a critical component of any modern <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Podcasts<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Podcasts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allow consumers to explore deeper topics and listen to their favourite experts on the go. Their popularity is at an all-time high across the globe. According to research, the number of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">podcast<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> listeners in the US alone is expected to cross <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/forecasts\/1123105\/statista-amo-podcast-reach-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">100 million by 2024<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing pages<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The primary role of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is to convert traffic from various sources into email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, free users, and leads. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can also be used to capture leads by including easy-to-fill-out forms that your audience can complete in exchange for viewing or leveraging your content.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engine optimisation<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engine<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> optimisation (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) is among the primary traffic channels for a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To ensure your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">target audience<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reads and consumes your content, you must optimise it using the right keywords and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> best practices.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email marketing<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the primary goals of your content is to drive traffic to your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where your visitors sign up for your email list. This gives you unlimited access to your audience and allows you to send targeted email content to increase brand engagement, answer questions, counter objections, and ultimately convert leads into paying customers. Today\u2019s email marketing and marketing automation solutions let you easily segment your prospects and customers and send them personalised, automated emails that contain <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relevant content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and help them along their <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">buyer\u2019s journey<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is another critical channel for promoting your content. The most popular <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social networks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are TikTok, Facebook, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. A successful <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategy, by definition, doesn\u2019t have to target all of these. To find success, you must identify the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social networks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your audience uses and create the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kind of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that when tailored to their needs and interests will help increase their engagement with your brand.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-61ca936 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"61ca936\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-c1baf30\" data-id=\"c1baf30\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e48a1a8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e48a1a8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How content marketing works<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a60fd7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9a60fd7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When done well, content marketing generates demand, engages your audience, and converts it into customers and brand loyalists. But to make this happen, you must understand how the content marketing funnel works.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A content marketing funnel is a multi-stage process that uses different <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">types of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to attract, educate, engage, and convert your audience into customers. Each stage of the funnel addresses a different need and prepares your audience for the next one.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Top of the funnel (TOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stage of the content marketing funnel is about creating <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and generating traffic. Its goal is to attract relevant traffic to your website and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and position your brand as a source of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">valuable content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It does so by identifying the most common questions your audience has and answering them through detailed, credible, actionable, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few examples of TOFU content topics for an email marketing tool:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is email marketing?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create an email marketing strategy?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to write an email<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is email automation?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to grow your email list<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email marketing best practices<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, none of those topics directly sells any services or products Instead, they focus on sharing value and free information. Blog posts, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> content, and videos are the most commonly used TOFU content types.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Middle of the funnel (MOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stage of the funnel emphasizes the relationship between your audience\u2019s goals and your product. It provides your audience with a glimpse of what your product can do without being overly promotional.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few content examples for this funnel stage for an email marketing tool:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing page<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create an email automation sequence<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to send the perfect welcome email sequence<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step-by-step email marketing strategy guide<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, your content will educate your audience using your product as its primary tool. You can use <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">webinars<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, blog posts, video tutorials, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, demos, emails, and PDF ebooks in this funnel stage.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bottom-of-the-funnel content is about positioning your products or services as the best option and driving sales. To do this, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must clearly show their product\u2019s benefits and how it solves their audience\u2019s problems more efficiently and cost-effectively.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this funnel stage, you\u2019ll rely on product comparison, reviews, testimonials, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and sales <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for conversions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-a32ec1c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a32ec1c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-d420df7\" data-id=\"d420df7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dfc24b5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"dfc24b5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What are the Benefits of Content Marketing?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-39f0086 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"39f0086\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefits your business in numerous ways, from building brand authority to reducing your reliance on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paid advertising<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #1: build brand authority<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses can use content marketing to build authority in their industry. By producing content using the expertise, data, and knowledge a business possesses, it can position itself as an expert in its sector.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accounting firm PwC does this at a high level. For example, it recently released the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwc.com\/gx\/en\/issues\/crisis-solutions\/global-crisis-survey.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGlobal Crisis Survey 2021<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d. In this report, the firm interviewed a range of global business leaders and produced a variety of content, including blog posts, videos, quizzes, and a PDF. This type of content enhances PwC&#8217;s brand authority in the eyes of the public and across a range of business sectors.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #2: grow organic search traffic<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People often use content marketing for its <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> benefits. By creating blog posts or web pages that answer common search queries related to your product, you\u2019ll show up in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engines<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when people are looking for solutions you offer.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at what happens when you search for \u201cHow to meditate\u201d on Google. One of the top links is a meditation guide written by Headspace, a meditation app.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When people click on the link, they do not only get a handy guide to meditation, but they also become aware of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.headspace.com\/meditation\/how-to-meditate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headspace<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In the future, if they decide to continue their meditation journey, they may remember Headspace and download the app.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #3: generate qualified leads<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is among the most effective ways to generate qualified leads for your business. The most common lead-generation strategy is to offer a lead magnet in exchange for a user\u2019s email address. A lead magnet is a compelling free resource that provides immediate value to your website visitors and converts them into leads and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To use content to build leads, the material should be valuable enough for customers to want to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">give you<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> their contact details. Usually, this means it&#8217;s more in-depth than regular blog posts or articles. Other lead magnet examples include software trials, video tutorials, checklists, cheat sheets, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">templates<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and free consultations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #4: build a community<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Publishing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that solves problems for readers helps you build a strong relationship with your audience and stand out in your industry. As a result, your audience becomes your brand advocate, actively shares your content, drives more traffic to your site, and brings referral sales through word-of-mouth marketing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #5: grow your email subscriber base<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are among your company\u2019s most valuable assets. An email list gives you unlimited access to your followers&#8217; inboxes and allows you to strengthen your relationship with them and drive repeat sales.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But building an engaged email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscriber<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> base is only possible with coordinated <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing efforts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Consumers rarely share their contact information without good reason. So, when you provide them with a free resource that offers immense value and solves their problems, it&#8217;s much easier to get them on board.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #6: reduce reliance on paid marketing<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pay-per-click (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PPC<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) advertising helps you drive sales immediately. But it only works as long as you invest money in running ad campaigns. The moment you stop your ad campaigns, the results dry up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the complete opposite. It takes time to create content, rank for your target keywords, build <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and grow your email list. But once you do it, the results keep coming even if you don\u2019t create <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as frequently.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, your content becomes a permanent asset that keeps driving traffic and converting visitors into <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leads, and customers. It perfectly complements your direct marketing and sales channels and reduces your reliance on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paid advertising<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c1108e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"c1108e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-plan-template-download\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-39879\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5.png 1024w, https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5-300x71.png 300w, https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5-768x181.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-f0d9fc6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f0d9fc6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-0d235e9\" data-id=\"0d235e9\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-688acd2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"688acd2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Content marketing examples<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-993eaff elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"993eaff\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thousands of startups, small businesses, and multinational brands use content marketing to attract new visitors, create <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and drive sales. Let\u2019s look at some excellent content marketing examples of successful brands.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer, a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tool, is an excellent example of how content marketing can help businesses with limited resources grow, scale, and compete with much larger companies.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer is a startup dominating some of the highest volume search keywords in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Its success is based on its outstanding and in-depth blog content that shares practical advice with its users and helps them grow their businesses.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer\u2019s content has built its authority and helped it attract thousands of users and email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs is a leading <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and market research tool that ranks for some of the most competitive <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and online marketing keywords thanks to its <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides its excellent and in-depth blog content, Ahrefs has published numerous guides and has a buzzing YouTube channel with detailed product tutorials and informational content.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ClickUp<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ClickUp is a leading project management tool that has successfully used its blog and YouTube content to build a massive following. Its content not only shares practical information and product tips but also regularly covers entertaining topics with a project management angle.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-b525ebe elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b525ebe\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-67f27c4\" data-id=\"67f27c4\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b41d72c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b41d72c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Now is the time to invest in content marketing<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-476b752 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"476b752\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the most sustainable way to build an authentic brand image. So, if you haven\u2019t invested in content marketing yet, now is the time to do it. With every passing day, the competition is getting tighter.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want more information about content marketing, check out our guide to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/blog\/gb\/content-marketing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creating a compelling <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or read our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/video-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reasons to explore <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> marketing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-9f794c6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9f794c6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-fd1fd06\" data-id=\"fd1fd06\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4807e65 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4807e65\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Learn more about Content Marketing:<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3985e31 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3985e31\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/blog\/gb\/content-marketing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Develop a Compelling Content Marketing Strategy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/blog\/gb\/b2b-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six B2B Content Marketing Best Practices You Need to Start Using Today<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/blog\/gb\/video-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six Reasons Why Video Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-plan-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ultimate Content Marketing Plan Template Anyone Can Use<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/persona-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Persona Template: How to Create Buyer Personas for Your Business<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3191d68e elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3191d68e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5da254a8\" data-id=\"5da254a8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d319a4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"61d319a4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Big results. Small investment.<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ccd9544 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3ccd9544\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"lead\">Ready to take the first step?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23f27645 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"23f27645\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/trial\/act\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Try it free<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-74fa37cc footer_custom elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"74fa37cc\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1a1122e6\" data-id=\"1a1122e6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-42e1034b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"42e1034b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-8c4525\" data-id=\"8c4525\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26b609a2 cross_footer_custom elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"26b609a2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon\">\n\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-far-times-circle\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8zm0 448c-110.5 0-200-89.5-200-200S145.5 56 256 56s200 89.5 200 200-89.5 200-200 200zm101.8-262.2L295.6 256l62.2 62.2c4.7 4.7 4.7 12.3 0 17l-22.6 22.6c-4.7 4.7-12.3 4.7-17 0L256 295.6l-62.2 62.2c-4.7 4.7-12.3 4.7-17 0l-22.6-22.6c-4.7-4.7-4.7-12.3 0-17l62.2-62.2-62.2-62.2c-4.7-4.7-4.7-12.3 0-17l22.6-22.6c4.7-4.7 12.3-4.7 17 0l62.2 62.2 62.2-62.2c4.7-4.7 12.3-4.7 17 0l22.6 22.6c4.7 4.7 4.7 12.3 0 17z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-58066c69 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"58066c69\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<script>\n    \njQuery(window).scroll( function(){\n     var y = jQuery(this).scrollTop();\n        if (y > 100) {\n            jQuery('.footer_custom').fadeIn();\n          } else {\n            jQuery('.footer_custom').fadeOut();\n          }\n});\njQuery('.cross_footer_custom').click(function(){\n\tjQuery('.footer_custom').remove();\n})\n<\/script>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-b82187f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b82187f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-7a665315\" data-id=\"7a665315\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f646f9a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f646f9a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">FREE TEMPLATE<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-78da95fd\" data-id=\"78da95fd\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-85d2e6a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"85d2e6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">\nDon't forget your content marketing plan template!<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-6204c0ac\" data-id=\"6204c0ac\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-782f3077 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"782f3077\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"\/en-gb\/content-marketing-plan-template\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Download now<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-542c152 topSection elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"542c152\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-28073b9\" data-id=\"28073b9\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e6d9e73 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e6d9e73\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What is Content Marketing?<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f90c6fa elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f90c6fa\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ebf241b\" data-id=\"ebf241b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-e18311e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e18311e\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-cf1d4d8 Fixed_SideBar\" data-id=\"cf1d4d8\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-55d788f elementor-icon-list--layout-traditional elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list\" data-id=\"55d788f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;sticky&quot;:&quot;top&quot;,&quot;sticky_on&quot;:[&quot;desktop&quot;],&quot;sticky_offset&quot;:150,&quot;sticky_effects_offset&quot;:0}\" data-widget_type=\"icon-list.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/elementor\/assets\/css\/widget-icon-list.min.css\">\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-icon-list-items\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_01\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">1. Content Marketing Definition<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_02\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">2. Why content marketing is important<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_03\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">3. The components of content marketing<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_04\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">4. How content marketing works<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_05\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">5. What are the Benefits of Content Marketing?<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_06\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">6. Content marketing examples<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#Step_07\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">7. Now is the time to invest in content marketing<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"\/en-gb\/learning-center\/\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\"><strong style=\"color: #0ab4dc;\">More questions?<\/strong><br>     Visit our Learning Center<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\"><center><hr><br><span style=\"color: #0ab4dc; font-weight: 700; font-size: 16px\">Start Creating More Meaningful Relationships With Act!<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12px;\">Start your 14 day free trial today. No download or credit card required.<\/span><br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/trial\/act\/\" class=\"listBtn\" style=\"width: max-content;\" id=\"free-trial-sidebar-button\" target=\"_blank\">Start Free Trial<\/a><br><br><\/center><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-00c8a13\" data-id=\"00c8a13\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9526d46 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9526d46\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/articles\/b2b-content-marketing-research-trends-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">71 percent of businesses<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> believe content marketing is critical for growth? From multi-million-dollar organisations to small businesses and startups, everyone seems to be investing in creating and marketing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This makes you wonder why content marketing is so essential for modern businesses. What\u2019s missing from <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> channels that&#8217;s forcing companies to change their ways and invest in more interactive <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re still watching from the sidelines and unsure if content marketing is right for you, this article will answer these questions and more. We\u2019ll define content marketing and its types, explore the content marketing funnel, and look at real-world examples of successful brands using content marketing to grow.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-abadd5e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"abadd5e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_01\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Content Marketing Definition<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8bafa41 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8bafa41\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the act of creating online content that contains <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">valuable information<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and attracts and educates your audience, while at the same time, increasing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">organic traffic<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to your website and building <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for your business and its products. Generally, the content doesn&#8217;t directly promote the brand. Instead, it is designed to solve problems and provide helpful information for your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">target audience<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This could be through solving a problem, teaching something valuable, answering questions, addressing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pain points<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or simply providing entertainment.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main goal of content marketing is to build your brand authority by sharing valuable, credible, actionable, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">great content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that fulfills your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">potential customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 needs. It assumes that once consumers trust you as an expert because of your content, they&#8217;ll gravitate toward your products or services when making a purchase decision.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing has two primary components: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content creation<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and marketing (promotion). Some of the most popular kinds of content are blog posts, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">email newsletters<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, videos, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">infographics<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you create the right <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pieces of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you\u2019ll need to promote it using channels and strategies like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engine<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">optimization<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media platforms<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and email marketing. As a type of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">digital marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, content marketing uses these content types and marketing platforms together in a coordinated way to achieve well-defined business goals.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike traditional advertising and other direct marketing strategies, content marketing takes longer to produce results. That&#8217;s because it focuses on driving sales and leads by strengthening your brand image, positioning you as an authority, and building a loyal community and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscriber<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> base for your brand.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it&#8217;s slower to pay off, content marketing&#8217;s returns are sustainable. Every <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">piece of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you publish becomes a permanent brand asset and keeps driving results with minimal additional effort.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f625aa9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f625aa9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_02\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why content marketing is important\n<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b9ead42 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b9ead42\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Worldwide, consumers are losing confidence in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and advertising. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingcharts.com\/advertising-trends\/creative-and-formats-224633\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">survey of more than 36,000 consumers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 28 countries found that 62 percent of consumers partially or completely distrust ads.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what do consumers trust?<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.quicksprout.com\/corporate-blogging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 60 percent of consumers feel positive about a brand after consuming its content, while 70 percent learn about brands through online content rather than ads.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/articles\/b2b-content-marketing-research-trends-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">77 percent of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketers<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">believe they\u2019ve significantly increased their brand\u2019s influence and credibility using content marketing in the last 12 months.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These stats don\u2019t mean advertising and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">traditional marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> channels are ineffective, but complementing them with a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> increases engagement with your brand, makes your messaging more credible, and increases the overall effectiveness of all your marketing channels.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15c0b2a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"15c0b2a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_03\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The components of content marketing\n<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1cd18e2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1cd18e2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing consists of various content types and marketing strategies to communicate your message to the right audience at the right place and at the right time. Let\u2019s briefly discuss the essential components and some <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">examples of content marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before diving deeper into how it works.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blogs, articles, and other written content<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The written word is still among the most popular online content formats and the primary way <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engines<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> process information. This is why blogs, articles, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">white papers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and various other types of written content are at the foundation of any <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">good content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategy. It\u2019s important to note, that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blogging<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to establish yourself as a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">thought leader<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in your industry to attract and educate <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video content<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video is the fastest-growing content format on the internet. According to research, consumers spend <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oberlo.com\/blog\/youtube-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than one billion hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> every day watching YouTube videos alone. So, naturally, it is a critical component of any modern <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Podcasts<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Podcasts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allow consumers to explore deeper topics and listen to their favourite experts on the go. Their popularity is at an all-time high across the globe. According to research, the number of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">podcast<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> listeners in the US alone is expected to cross <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/forecasts\/1123105\/statista-amo-podcast-reach-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">100 million by 2024<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing pages<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The primary role of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is to convert traffic from various sources into email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, free users, and leads. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can also be used to capture leads by including easy-to-fill-out forms that your audience can complete in exchange for viewing or leveraging your content.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engine optimisation<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engine<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> optimisation (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) is among the primary traffic channels for a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To ensure your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">target audience<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reads and consumes your content, you must optimise it using the right keywords and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> best practices.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email marketing<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the primary goals of your content is to drive traffic to your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where your visitors sign up for your email list. This gives you unlimited access to your audience and allows you to send targeted email content to increase brand engagement, answer questions, counter objections, and ultimately convert leads into paying customers. Today\u2019s email marketing and marketing automation solutions let you easily segment your prospects and customers and send them personalised, automated emails that contain <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relevant content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and help them along their <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">buyer\u2019s journey<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is another critical channel for promoting your content. The most popular <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social networks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are TikTok, Facebook, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. A successful <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategy, by definition, doesn\u2019t have to target all of these. To find success, you must identify the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social networks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your audience uses and create the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kind of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that when tailored to their needs and interests will help increase their engagement with your brand.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dfdfa69 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"dfdfa69\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_04\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How content marketing works<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f205d1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6f205d1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When done well, content marketing generates demand, engages your audience, and converts it into customers and brand loyalists. But to make this happen, you must understand how the content marketing funnel works.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A content marketing funnel is a multi-stage process that uses different <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">types of content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to attract, educate, engage, and convert your audience into customers. Each stage of the funnel addresses a different need and prepares your audience for the next one.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Top of the funnel (TOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stage of the content marketing funnel is about creating <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and generating traffic. Its goal is to attract relevant traffic to your website and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and position your brand as a source of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">valuable content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It does so by identifying the most common questions your audience has and answering them through detailed, credible, actionable, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few examples of TOFU content topics for an email marketing tool:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is email marketing?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create an email marketing strategy?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to write an email<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is email automation?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to grow your email list<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email marketing best practices<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, none of those topics directly sells any services or products Instead, they focus on sharing value and free information. Blog posts, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> content, and videos are the most commonly used TOFU content types.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Middle of the funnel (MOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stage of the funnel emphasizes the relationship between your audience\u2019s goals and your product. It provides your audience with a glimpse of what your product can do without being overly promotional.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few content examples for this funnel stage for an email marketing tool:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing page<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create an email automation sequence<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to send the perfect welcome email sequence<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step-by-step email marketing strategy guide<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, your content will educate your audience using your product as its primary tool. You can use <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">webinars<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, blog posts, video tutorials, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, demos, emails, and PDF ebooks in this funnel stage.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bottom-of-the-funnel content is about positioning your products or services as the best option and driving sales. To do this, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must clearly show their product\u2019s benefits and how it solves their audience\u2019s problems more efficiently and cost-effectively.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this funnel stage, you\u2019ll rely on product comparison, reviews, testimonials, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">case studies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and sales <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landing pages<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for conversions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a564e8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5a564e8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_05\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What are the Benefits of Content Marketing?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c056a3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c056a3e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefits your business in numerous ways, from building brand authority to reducing your reliance on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paid advertising<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #1: build brand authority<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses can use content marketing to build authority in their industry. By producing content using the expertise, data, and knowledge a business possesses, it can position itself as an expert in its sector.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accounting firm PwC does this at a high level. For example, it recently released the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwc.com\/gx\/en\/issues\/crisis-solutions\/global-crisis-survey.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGlobal Crisis Survey 2021<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d. In this report, the firm interviewed a range of global business leaders and produced a variety of content, including blog posts, videos, quizzes, and a PDF. This type of content enhances PwC&#8217;s brand authority in the eyes of the public and across a range of business sectors.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #2: grow organic search traffic<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People often use content marketing for its <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> benefits. By creating blog posts or web pages that answer common search queries related to your product, you\u2019ll show up in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engines<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when people are looking for solutions you offer.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at what happens when you search for \u201cHow to meditate\u201d on Google. One of the top links is a meditation guide written by Headspace, a meditation app.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When people click on the link, they do not only get a handy guide to meditation, but they also become aware of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.headspace.com\/meditation\/how-to-meditate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headspace<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In the future, if they decide to continue their meditation journey, they may remember Headspace and download the app.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #3: generate qualified leads<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is among the most effective ways to generate qualified leads for your business. The most common lead-generation strategy is to offer a lead magnet in exchange for a user\u2019s email address. A lead magnet is a compelling free resource that provides immediate value to your website visitors and converts them into leads and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To use content to build leads, the material should be valuable enough for customers to want to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">give you<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> their contact details. Usually, this means it&#8217;s more in-depth than regular blog posts or articles. Other lead magnet examples include software trials, video tutorials, checklists, cheat sheets, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">templates<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and free consultations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #4: build a community<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Publishing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that solves problems for readers helps you build a strong relationship with your audience and stand out in your industry. As a result, your audience becomes your brand advocate, actively shares your content, drives more traffic to your site, and brings referral sales through word-of-mouth marketing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #5: grow your email subscriber base<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are among your company\u2019s most valuable assets. An email list gives you unlimited access to your followers&#8217; inboxes and allows you to strengthen your relationship with them and drive repeat sales.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But building an engaged email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscriber<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> base is only possible with coordinated <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing efforts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Consumers rarely share their contact information without good reason. So, when you provide them with a free resource that offers immense value and solves their problems, it&#8217;s much easier to get them on board.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing benefit #6: reduce reliance on paid marketing<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pay-per-click (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PPC<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) advertising helps you drive sales immediately. But it only works as long as you invest money in running ad campaigns. The moment you stop your ad campaigns, the results dry up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the complete opposite. It takes time to create content, rank for your target keywords, build <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and grow your email list. But once you do it, the results keep coming even if you don\u2019t create <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as frequently.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, your content becomes a permanent asset that keeps driving traffic and converting visitors into <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leads, and customers. It perfectly complements your direct marketing and sales channels and reduces your reliance on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">paid advertising<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a930f55 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a930f55\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-plan-template-download\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-39879\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5.png 1024w, https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5-300x71.png 300w, https:\/\/products.act.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5-768x181.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6cb058b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6cb058b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_06\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Content marketing examples<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c01ab7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3c01ab7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thousands of startups, small businesses, and multinational brands use content marketing to attract new visitors, create <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and drive sales. Let\u2019s look at some excellent content marketing examples of successful brands.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer, a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tool, is an excellent example of how content marketing can help businesses with limited resources grow, scale, and compete with much larger companies.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer is a startup dominating some of the highest volume search keywords in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Its success is based on its outstanding and in-depth blog content that shares practical advice with its users and helps them grow their businesses.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer\u2019s content has built its authority and helped it attract thousands of users and email <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs is a leading <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and market research tool that ranks for some of the most competitive <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and online marketing keywords thanks to its <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides its excellent and in-depth blog content, Ahrefs has published numerous guides and has a buzzing YouTube channel with detailed product tutorials and informational content.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ClickUp<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ClickUp is a leading project management tool that has successfully used its blog and YouTube content to build a massive following. Its content not only shares practical information and product tips but also regularly covers entertaining topics with a project management angle.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-924f603 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"924f603\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"Step_07\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Now is the time to invest in content marketing<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c63c711 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c63c711\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing is the most sustainable way to build an authentic brand image. So, if you haven\u2019t invested in content marketing yet, now is the time to do it. With every passing day, the competition is getting tighter.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want more information about content marketing, check out our guide to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creating a compelling <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or read our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/video-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reasons to explore <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> marketing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e9ff300 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e9ff300\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Learn more about Content Marketing:<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44ab662 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"44ab662\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Develop a Compelling Content Marketing Strategy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/b2b-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six B2B Content Marketing Best Practices You Need to Start Using Today<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/video-content-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six Reasons Why Video Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-plan-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ultimate Content Marketing Plan Template Anyone Can Use<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/persona-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Persona Template: How to Create Buyer Personas for Your Business<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-8b7cb75\" data-id=\"8b7cb75\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3ac1729 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3ac1729\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-342f61f\" data-id=\"342f61f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4250429 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4250429\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Big results. Small investment.<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5b78485 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5b78485\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Ready to take the first step?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c6fb99b elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"c6fb99b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.act.com\/en-gb\/trial\/act\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Try it free<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Content Marketing? Did you know that 71 percent of businesses believe content marketing is critical for growth? From multi-million-dollar organisations to small businesses and startups, everyone seems to be investing in creating and marketing high-quality content. This makes you wonder why content marketing is so essential for modern businesses. What\u2019s missing from traditional [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"folder":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.2 (Yoast SEO v22.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is Content Marketing? | Content Marketing Definition | Act!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore how content marketing is defined, its benefits and uses, and different examples of effective content marketing with this guide from Act!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Content marketing definition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore how content marketing is defined, its benefits and uses, and different examples of effective content marketing with this guide from Act!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-definition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Act!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-04T18:16:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev-inproduct.pantheonsite.io\/uploads\/2021\/12\/content-marketing-plan-template5fa69ae796e1633a9d88ff00001e67f5.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"23 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-definition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/products.act.com\/en-gb\/content-marketing-definition\/\",\"name\":\"What Is Content Marketing? 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