Content Marketing has been around for hundreds of years, but it has picked up since 2010.

But wait, what exactly is content marketing?

“Content marketing is the gap between what brands produce and what consumers want,” says Michael Brenner

If I were to explain content marketing to a newbie, I would take up this example:

Hubspot is an inbound marketing and sales software. It helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.

But apart from the services, they offer you different things and that’s what makes them special. The resource tab on their website is where you can get access to free guides, e-books, courses, and certifications.

Their strategy is to attract and build an audience base to achieve their marketing objectives. They provide enough value to gain some loyal customers. It's called velvet rope strategy and works amazingly!

Seth Godin, the marketing Guru has termed content marketing as “Permission Marketing.” It follows the pull strategy, which means attracting the audience by providing them value.

But you cannot build an audience by giving one free guide or posting on social media, that doesn’t count as content marketing. It is the regular frequency of quality content you push on different platforms which attracts and builds a loyal following.

Nobody is going to remember you if you post and ghost, show up often.

The evolving trends in content marketing.

Let me tell you a secret, people are done with ads, banners, and popups.

They don’t like getting spammed with sales messages.

Gone are those days when you could sell by selling. People want high-quality, useful, relevant, and engaging content about things that matter to them.

Content Marketing is evolving and changing. You can’t say what was relevant in the past year or month would be relevant now.

Look at these examples to understand better:

i) Short-form video content is preferred by the majority of people. Video marketing is outperforming every day. Nearly 2 billion people watch videos on Twitter daily and 82% of the consumer internet traffic drives towards videos.

ii) These days consumers prefer ultra-personalized content, which means they’ll open your sales email if you address them by their name.

iii) People still prefer to invest their time in well-written, detailed, and engaging blog posts. Avid readers don’t read shallow blogs but well-researched, and in-depth articles.

Who is a content marketer?

I am a content marketer, and I have written this article for you assuming that you are eager to know more about this topic. While I was writing, I had to step down in your shoes and figure out what you might be looking for.

That’s the job of a content marketer. They play the role of mediator between the business they represent and the interests of a specific audience, content is the medium to connect. A content marketer has to brainstorm about what messages would drive the audience to take action, build the business and make it more authentic in the market.

Why should you consider becoming a content marketer in 2021?

Before diving into this, let us skim through some stats;

- 53% of marketers prefer content creation to be their priority

- 29% of the whole marketing budget of B2B companies is reserved for content marketing.

- Content marketing generates 3X the leads as compared to outbound marketing.

With so many businesses coming online the demand for content marketing is pretty high. Content is king for generating more leads for a business and creating awareness about your business. It helps the audience to stick around for a longer time and not go away after their first purchase.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t consider being a content marketer.

How to get started?

You might have got convinced by now that content marketing is great, you would want to start. But how?

Two things that will give you a kickstart to your journey:

1) Get curious and research

2) Be observant

I started as a content writer, researched before writing blogs or social media captions. Gradually as I explored more I fell in love with marketing, and read marketing case studies.

A content marketer’s journey begins by reading, looking at certain problems and the way products are marketed. Step in the customer’s shoes and see if the content you see is solving your problem, is it convincing enough?

Few more tips:

• Observe marketing strategies of different brands and their impact on the audience.
• If you know how to write well, this is going to be a game-changer.
• Take up good courses.
• Get active on social media platforms and build your brand. Market yourself.

What platforms to be active on.

You need to build your brand online, no matter if you are a freelancer or a full-time employee in any company. Create content and promote it on different platforms to establish your expertise.

- LinkedIn: It is not a job board but a goldmine for freelancers. Put out content, network with people, add value and engage with them.

- Medium: If you want your articles to reach a wider audience, start with Medium.

-Quora: It’s a great platform for driving traffic to blogs, boosting your authority, and learning more about your audience.

- Twitter: Use Twitter to read what industry experts are sharing online. Consume high-quality, bite-sized content.

To increase brand presence, insert your brand into a conversation that’s relevant to both your offering and your audience.

A list of FREE resources to learn Content Marketing:

1) Content Marketing by Hubspot.

2) The Strategy of content marketing by the University of California, on Coursera.

3) Beginner’s guide to Content Marketing By Moz.

4) Video Marketing by Hubspot

5) Content Marketing Toolkit by SEMRush

6) Content Marketing and Blogging by Ahrefs on Youtube.

7) Blogs by Neil Patel.

Steal these hacks right away:

- People love listening to stories and stories sell more. Master the art of storytelling.

- Marketers these days are using unconventional ways to create the buzz about the brand. Creative ways like memes and humor are working to hook your audience and keep them engaged.

Pro Tip: Learn to repurpose your content.

To conclude I would say, content marketing is a slow process, one cannot get results overnight. Be consistent with your efforts and you’ll the magic in the long run!