Is content marketing dead?

The days of stuffing a webpage with thoroughly analyzed keywords, are long gone and this is mainly thanks to the shift to content marketing. The game changed, and content managed took over. But as with everything in life, the game of content marketing has changed as well. In a time that enormous volumes of content are designed every day, this technique is beginning to lose its effectivity. Some even state content marketing is dead and suggest we move on and start implementing other online marketing techniques. Thankfully there are ways to move around this and still benefit from the power of content marketing. Is content marketing dead? Not if you do it the right way.

Engage with your clients

Most of us have experienced the switch from intrusive push marketing to classy content marketing. Companies who aren’t putting enough effort into their content and therefore not seeing the expected results, have already started dropping it. To us, there’s still no better way to engage with your clients than by telling them a story. If you do it correct, content marketing is still the most effective way to build emotional connections consequently leading to trust and sales. In order to make your audience trust you, you’ll need to make sure you’re visible and top-of-mind. Content marketing is one of the ways to establish transparency and visibility.

You’re not the only one

The difference between traditional content marketing and its most modern form is that you’ll need to be personal to convince. As you might have noticed by now you’re not the only one with flashy PDF whitepapers and sophisticated 3D graphics. General content marketing efforts make sure someone feels part of a community but addressing someone with a personal message will lead to more trust. Don’t forget that customers have the power nowadays. A lot of content marketing is nevertheless still focused on how it can help saving customers’ problems. Is content marketing dead? As long as you keep it personal the trick will still be effective. Just be aware that it’s about your audience, not about you.

Listen and learn

Most online marketing departments are focused on trying to send out the right message to the right people, but we often forget what our audience wants to hear and read. Our audience is not as easily impressed anymore. There’s a content explosion and a big portion of the available content is of low quality. Most marketers say they listen to their target group and adapt accordingly, while they actually don’t. Don’t focuss just on keywords from a SEO perspective, but listen to your audience. So, the key is: listen, learn, and adapt.

Content marketing is alive and kicking

Ask yourself a question: what am I trying to do with my content marketing efforts? If the answer is that is all about the leads and the holy sales funnel, then it’s time to rethink what you’re doing. Instead, just try to tell something interesting because you want to tell something interesting: it is as simple as that. By doing so, you’ll build real trust and loyalty and results will follow if you continue to do this in a consistent way. So, whether you have your own business to run or you’re one of the marketing trainees: focus less on marketing outputs and more on high quality content. Keep delivering and figuring out how you can answer the real questions your customers face, and you’ll keep your content marketing alive and kicking.

Would you like to learn more?

Would you like to learn more about content marketing and see if you need to change your content marketing strategy? We are happy to help! Contact us and we will work together on the best content marketing strategy for your business.