In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses operate in a time where attention is scarce and content is everywhere. Businesses who are serious about reaching out to their consumers are upping their game to win their attention.

To stand out and be heard, more and more businesses are beginning to understand that at the heart of marketing is content.

Content marketing, according to HubSpot, “is a marketing program that centers on creating, publishing, and distributing content for your target audience — usually online — the goal of which is to attract new customers.”

If you’re still wondering if you should include content marketing in your efforts, or you’ve just started it in your organisation, this content marketing roundup will help you navigate your way to success.

Statistics to Build the Business Case for Content Marketing

Content Marketing Tips from Experts to Get You Started

• Define your content marketing goal

Source: 10 Content Marketing Goals Worth Pursuing | Copyblogger

You need to clearly define why you’re doing content marketing before you get started. Without it, your content will simply be part of the online content clutter.

Sonia Simone from Copyblogger stressed that “content marketing is a meaningless exercise without business goals.” In her article, she shares ten content marketing goals that drive businesses.

• Clearly describe your buyer persona

Source: How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Persona Template]  | HubSpot

To know who you’re doing all this for, you need to narrowly define and understand your buyer persona. It’s a fictional, generalised representation of your ideal customer, and to have this is crucial for your content-creating efforts.

This article describes in detail what it is, why it’s important, and how to create one. (Plus you get to download HubSpot’s persona template.)

• Launch a blog

Source: Blogging for Business? Here’s Everything You Need to Know. | Impact

With the statistics cited above, it’s clear that blogging for business really works. If you don’t have a blog set up for your organisation yet, this article is your ultimate guide.

From great facts and ugly truths about business blogging to a checklist on building a successful blog, this article covers everything you need to know to set up a blog for your organisation.

• Build your subscriber list

Source: How to Get Subscribers for Your Blog: 7 Fresh Ideas | HubSpot

To see the great effects of your content marketing and blogging efforts, one of the things you need to think about is how to get more people subscribing to your blog. This article provides you with smart, effective ways to get people interested in your blog database.

• Build a process for developing content

  Source: Content Development Guide | Schumacher Marketing

  Have a content development process in place. This includes your SOP when it comes to researching, planning, writing, editing, publishing, and promoting your content. This way, no matter who's writing, you can be sure every piece of content is aligned with your branding and strategy.

• Create high-quality, relevant content for your audience

Source: The Nine Ingredients That Make Great Content | Looka

There’s no question that quality wins over quantity every time. From crafting original content to making regular updates to your blog, this blog article teaches you how to create better content that’s relevant and helpful to your target audience.

• Promote and distribute your content

Source: How to Promote Your Blog with 107 Content Promotion Tactics | CoSchedule

The real value of content marketing isn’t in creating content. It’s in promoting and distributing it. In fact, content marketing smarts uphold this golden rule: spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% promoting it. This article covers at great length some great tactics on how to distribute and promote your content.

• Repurpose your best content

Source: 27 Awesome Ways of Repurposing Content | CognitiveSEO

Creating great content takes time, which most marketers probably don’t have much of. The good news is, if you already have old content that’s performing well, you can give it new life in another form. This article shares actionable tips on how to repurpose your content.

Content Trends in 2019

Content continues to be the best way to reach out to our target audience. That’s why it’s crucial we regularly keep tabs on how consumers prefer to consume content and where they read or view the content. You also get to prepare your business for the challenges most content marketers are facing, and the current state of content marketing as it is.

These articles will help you stay updated on the latest trends in content marketing.

• State of Content Marketing 2019 by Contently 
• 2019 B2B Content Marketing Trends: The 10 Biggest Opportunities for Marketers by TopRank Marketing
• 10 Social Media Trends That Will Matter Most in 2019 by Search Engine Journal
• Email Marketing Trends to Expect in 2019 by Marketing Land

Putting Together Your Content Team

Implementing a great content marketing strategy is no easy feat. If it fits well within your marketing budget, you may want to consider building a team who will be responsible for implementing the company’s content marketing program. Here are some articles to help you get started.

• Building a Framework and a Content Team by Moz
• How to Build Your Content Marketing Team at Scale by Convince and Convert
• How to Outsource Your Content Marketing While Still Maintaining Quality by Neil Patel
• A Simple Content Marketing Org Chart by Ann Handley