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Content marketing

| Article: 2 min read | Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach built on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and ultimately drive profitable action. This is how the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) defines it (CMI).

In plain words

You do not advertise the product directly, you help people: you explain how to choose, compare and use. People find your texts, videos or newsletters, start to trust you, and when they need a product, they remember you. For an online store, this is an article like "how to choose running shoes," a comparison, a how-to, a roundup.

Key components according to CMI:

  • a documented strategy: the approach requires a written plan;
  • a clear audience: content is created for specific people (target audience);
  • help before the sale: content solves the audience's problems rather than pitching a product;
  • integration: content is built into email, social networks, SEO, PR and advertising rather than living on its own;
  • expected benefits: more sales, cost savings, greater loyalty (CMI).

What Google considers quality content

In its search guidelines, Google advises creating content primarily for people, not to manipulate rankings. The page poses questions: does the material contain original information, research or analysis, is the topic covered thoroughly, is it clear who the author is and how the material was created (including whether automation or AI was used), and did the reader achieve their goal after reading. "Trust" is named the most important part of E-E-A-T (Google Search Central).

Formats for an online store

  • Articles and guides ("what is," "how to choose").
  • Product comparisons and roundups.
  • How-tos, videos, reviews.
  • Newsletters for customers.
  • Category and product descriptions: also content, and important for SEO (SEO audit).

How to measure

Content marketing does not always pay back quickly, so metrics are taken by stage:

  1. Reach: visits to articles from search.
  2. Engagement: time on page, pages per visit.
  3. Micro-conversions: subscriptions, add to cart from an article (micro-conversions).
  4. Sales: orders the content led to, and the CAC of that channel.

Example (illustrative numbers): an article gets 2,000 visits a month, 40 of them (2%) subscribe to the newsletter, 6 buy. Calculate the revenue from those 6, subtract the cost of writing, and compare with other channels.

Common mistakes

  • Writing for search engines rather than for the reader.
  • Publishing without a strategy and an audience: CMI considers a written plan mandatory.
  • Mixing informational articles with selling: the reader came for an answer.
  • Not measuring the result, judging by the number of publications.
  • Expecting results within a week.

FAQ

What is content marketing in plain words? Creating useful content for your audience so that it finds you, trusts you and buys.

How is content marketing different from advertising? Advertising offers the product directly. Content helps and builds trust, and the sale follows as a result.

What content does an online store need? Content that answers shoppers' questions: how to choose, what the difference is, how to use it.

How do I know content is working? Look at visits from search, micro-conversions and the orders it brings, and compare with costs.

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