Last updated on October 13th, 2023
Content marketing is not just a buzzword, it is the go-to place for all marketers. A brand gets noticed by its users if the content that it produces is helpful. To drive profitable customer action, it is important to have a content marketing strategy that focuses on creating valuable, relevant, and consistent content. Priyam Jha, from WebEngage talks to us about the importance of content marketing, the dos, and don’ts of content marketing, and the way to go about creating an effective content marketing strategy. Before you read up on the interview, here’s a little information about WebEngage and Priyam.
About WebEngage
WebEngage is a multi-channel user engagement platform that automates communication across users’ life-cycle. It enables you to connect with them through these channels – Web Messages (notification, survey, and feedback), In-App Messages, Push Notifications, Emails, and Text Messages.
Quick Demonstration of how WebEngage works
About Priyam
Priyam works as the content marketer for WebEngage. He is responsible for all content marketing initiatives to drive traffic, engagement, and leads, that deliver sales and customer retention. Content categorization, structure, development, distribution, and measurement all come under his area of work. He has previously worked and interned with organizations like Zepo.ini, and MTR FOODS PVT. LTD and Chevrolet India.
What is content marketing according to you?
Content marketing according to me is the process of creating helpful information that actually helps to solve the problems of various people. The reason we create content is to impart knowledge and empower our consumers. It helps us in establishing ourselves as thought leaders in our domain of work and also builds trust amongst our users. And I am happy to admit that we have been able to create a big funnel of visitors for our website, without being overly promotional about what we do.
What aspects of content marketing are the most important to you?
Content marketing is the sum of content creation and content promotion. Let me talk about them one by one.
Content Creation
Content creation is extremely important. But you need to know the intent of your target audience and create the right types of content. You need to solve a palatable problem that most of them might have – and not just shoot in the dark.
Content Promotion
The other half of a content marketing strategy is content promotion and most marketers don’t give enough importance to it. Your content might not be able to grab enough eyeballs if you do not promote it well. Creating a good blog might capture the attention of your already existing audience, but if you distribute it on various channels, you can amplify the reach by manifolds.
What according to you is a remarkable piece of content?
Personally, for me, there are three things that make content a remarkable piece – structure, purpose, and readability.
Content flow and structure are imperative.
If you have a good structure around your content, then you can talk about your product in a more compelling way. Also, a good structure can help you craft a story around your product or services, and your audience would love that piece of content. For example, our blog “Why Multi-Channel Marketing Is The Key To Growth “is well-structured, has a defined flow, and showcases some comprehensible examples.
Then you need to ask yourself the purpose of writing content. You can ask yourself questions like
- who is it that I am targeting?
- Is it better than the rest of the blogs on the same topic
- is it going to solve some problems for x users
An example is our blog called 11 In-App Messaging Best Practices To Boost User Retention Rate This blog is made with the purpose of giving tips to marketers about In-App Messaging practices that will help them retain their customers better.
Finally, your content needs to be very simple and readable.
Simple content doesn’t mean mediocre content. For example, a technical piece has a certain tonality and an audience. But the author should make sure that it’s also readable to people with lesser or no knowledge of the subject. An example that I would like to explain this to you with is our blog – What is a WebHook? Many people might not know what a WebHook is, but the way our author has written it, someone new to it with no prior knowledge can also easily get a grip on it. And would not bother looking elsewhere for answers.
What are the essential steps for creating a good content marketing strategy?
Personally, I follow set of steps, that I will share with you. They are:-
1. Understanding my target audience
2. Creating a buyer persona or a user profile
3. Understanding the search intent for my product.
4. Conducting research on the market, and our competitors.
5. Determining the end goal of my content marketing strategy.
6. Determining the key metrics
7. Plan and create a quarterly content calendar.
8. Plan content distribution alongside content development and mark those dates on the calendar.
Here’s a simple guide by WittyPen for creating an editorial calendar.
What platforms do you use for content sharing?
For a platform like WebEngage, platforms like Twitter and Linkedin work well. The reason is – We have positioned ourselves as thought leaders in the domain in that we work, and we find people with the same bent of mind on those platforms. They relate to our content and have opinions on it as well.
How important are keywords for you?
Crucial is the word. If you don’t focus on the right keywords, you are painting in the dark. You need to know the keywords that your users are using. Keywords help you in understanding the user’s intent. For us, a mix of head and tail keywords work well.
Head keywords drive the necessary traffic and spread the word like fire, whereas tail keywords help us in meeting targetted audience. We have a very good SEO team, that goes an extra mile to optimize our website. In fact, I am proud to share that we have been ranking number 1 on page one for the keyword “b2c marketing automation” for the longest time. Also, there has been a mammoth increase of 70% in our website traffic.
What’s more important – Viral Content or Evergreen Content?
Well, content helps both marketers and customers and it has to be a healthy blend of both. While viral marketing through content grabs eyeballs, evergreen content, on the other hand, is there to stay and gives your brand the status of a thought leader.
Any tips for marketers?
So the first tip for them is to be educated about the latest trends in the industry. Content marketing as a field is ever-evolving, and therefore it is imperative to stay knowledgeable to be ahead of everyone else.
And the second tip is to research. You must research your industry, competitors, your audience, and everything that can help you produce the best content for your brand.
Conclusion
This was our last question on the list and we are grateful to Priyam for taking out the time to answer our questions. His content marketing tips are very beneficial, and would surely help us and others become better at what we do – Content marketing.
