What Is Content-Marketing?
Content marketing refers to addressing customers with relevant content in a way that is appropriate for the target group. This type of marketing is primarily aimed at informing, advising and entertaining, i.e. offering the user a certain added value. Content marketing is mainly used in online marketing.
In order to develop a good content marketing strategy, it is important to examine your target group in advance and find out which information is important and useful for them. The goal is not only to win new customers for your brand or company, but also to keep existing customers loyal. In order to exactly address your customers, you have to understand them. There are many ways of content marketing, such as (expert) texts, influencers, bloggers, videos, images, podcasts, surveys, etc.
In comparison to classical advertising, the customer should not simply be asked to buy, but should be persuaded from the product through useful information. A distinction must be made between three types of content marketing. On the one hand there is the own marketing of relevant content, on the other hand the information of third e.g. by independent editorial texts (e.g. studies or independent product comparisons) and lastly, paid contributions in various forms (e.g. blog contributions, influencer marketing on Instagram, Facebook, in YouTube videos, etc.). With paid content marketing, it is important to make this known to the customer (e.g. “sponsored post”), otherwise, occurs the so-called surreptitious advertising.
Search Engine Marketing, a Form of Content Marketing
One option used for content marketing is Search Engine Marketing (SEM). There is a distinction between search engine advertising (SEA) and search engine optimization (SEO). Both forms are aimed at making the web presence of a company, a product or a brand more relevant, no matter if it is Google, Amazon or similar. Targeted Amazon optimization with Enhanced Brand Content or A+ Content is also a form of product-related content marketing.
How Important Is Search Engine Marketing for Amazon Dealers?
Amazon’s primary goal is to persuade customers to buy. So the main focus is not on content marketing. However, it is still possible to lead customers to their Amazon product with the help of target-group-specific strategies. A combination of search engine advertising and search engine optimization is an advantage.
On Amazon, good search engine optimization is the basic prerequisite for becoming (organically) visible to customers – an Amazon marketing agency is particularly helpful. Here, too, it is necessary to identify your target group well, because only those who know what customers are looking for can find the right keywords that potential buyers are looking for. Since the space for visible information is limited to titles, bullet points and product descriptions, it is important to know which information is important for the customer. The backend area of an Amazon optimization is hidden from buyers; it is only used to store other relevant keywords.
The picture bar is also helpful as it can contain a lot of additional information. Vendors also have the option of placing videos in the bar, which can be useful in many cases by offering potential buyers added value. They also have the opportunity to use the so-called A+ content. This additional section allows the customer to be provided with additional target group-specific information.
All other Amazon retailers have the option of using Enhanced Brand Content (EBC), which is similar to A+ content, but more limited. This also allows a customer, for example, to obtain more information about the brand, the company or obtain further knowledge about a product.
Dealers have a variety of means at their disposal to support content marketing with the help of search engine advertising (SEA). One possibility is to create a landing page. Here, customers can be provided with target group-oriented information, e.g. with the help of videos, infographics, studies, instructions, etc. Of course, it is important to establish a connection to your own product, e.g. to your own web shop or to marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay or similar. A targeted advertising campaign on this landing page provides the necessary traffic and conversion.
Another type of content marketing is affiliate marketing. A website operator offers a seller the opportunity to offer his product on his website. On the website, the potential customer receives a multitude of useful content on the subject of watches. They also have the chance to link directly to Amazon and buy one of the products.
Newsletters, microsites or e-books can create content for a brand or product. For merchants who want to generate their traffic via Amazon, it is important to know where the target group to be addressed is looking for and how it does it. Many search queries with a direct purchase intention are already carried out on Amazon. Since content marketing is intended to retain customers in the long term, it is good to know where the target group is getting information or what they are doing.
Content Marketing with the Help of Social Media
Especially through social media companies have a great chance to win as many customers as possible for their brand or products. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat and others usually address different target groups and offer different possibilities to place products. Here, too, marketing works either through your own channel, through unpaid external channels or with the help of paid content.
Via social media, companies also have the opportunity to interact with the target group. Thus brands or products can become more tangible for the potential customer and one has the possibility to build a community around oneself.
Goals of Content Marketing
The goals of content marketing are very extensive and versatile. It aims at:
- making the brand or the company more popular
- binding existing customers for the long-term
- winning new customers.