The concept of content marketing is not a new one. In the early 2000s, marketers were publishing books, penning articles, and holding webinars to attract, engage, and educate prospects on a range of marketing topics. However, the emergence of social media and SEO transformed the industry. Today, content marketing is more important than ever before, as consumers have shifted to using digital media for research and shopping.

While the industry has changed, the goal of attracting, engaging, and converting customers has not. In fact, content marketing is now a vital part of every business.’s digital marketing strategy.

Why Should You Care About the Current Word for Online Marketing?

The current word for online marketing is important, as it will impact the type of content you produce as a marketer and how you perform your job. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the most important aspects of online marketing that you need to know.

Digital Marketing Is Now A Vital Part Of Every Business’ Strategy

In 2019, digital marketing will become even more important to business, as 48% of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service from digital sources rather than from the mainstream media.

This trend was driven primarily by younger generations, as 58% of adults between the ages of 18 to 34 cite online reviews as the most influential factor when deciding whether or not to purchase a product or service. Additionally, 40% of millennials have bought something after reading an online review, and 28% of Gen Z consumers have followed the same strategy.

This is why brands must harness the power of digital marketing to attract, engage, and convert their target audience.

The most effective strategy for doing this is by creating high-quality, value-packed content regularly and consistently. When done right, content marketing can help businesses grow and flourish, as proven by these well-known companies:

HubSpot

Founded in 2006, HubSpot is one of the world’s leading software companies that helps businesses become more agile and productive. Based in Boston, MA, the company is known for creating powerful, yet easy-to-use business and marketing tools. As a content marketer with HubSpot, you will be responsible for creating engaging, valuable content to help customers land on your site and make a purchase. Additionally, you’ll be required to conduct online marketing research, track campaign performance, and create content that educates and persuades customers to take action. If you’re looking for a challenge, this could be the job for you.

HubSpot Marketing

HubSpot Marketing is a specialized group within HubSpot that focuses on digital marketing and content creation. In this role, you will be responsible for creating marketing content including blog posts, landing pages, and social media posts for HubSpot’s various platforms (e.g., blogs, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). You will also conduct online marketing research, track campaign performance, and devise new content ideas for future campaigns. Additional responsibilities include pitching inbound marketing strategies and tactics, and contributing to the development and revision of the company’s CMS.

Blue Ribbon Content

Founded in 2010, Blue Ribbon Content is a content marketing agency that focuses on inbound marketing and SEO. This type of marketing is all about attracting, engaging, and converting prospective customers using digital marketing strategies. Blue Ribbon Content believes in creating content that is easy to understand and memorable. Additionally, the firm focuses on inbound marketing, which provides businesses with a step-by-step guide to creating valuable content that attracts, engages, and converts customers.

This content-focused strategy works because customers discover useful, helpful information that inspires them to take action and buy what you’re promoting. Essentially, inbound marketing is about creating content that teaches potential customers how to find the information they need online, rather than selling directly to them.

Wistia

Wistia is on the hunt for talented market researchers and content creators to help with “high-quality, engaging content that would both educate and excite our diverse global audience.” The content you create for Wistia must have a clear call to action (i.e., a form), be easily consumable (i.e., short and snappy), and provide value that is “highly relevant to our audience’s needs, interests, and circumstances.”

If you’re looking to make a career change and want to gain experience or want to further your education, a market researcher role with Wistia could be the ticket you’re looking for.

To get started, simply click the link below and you’ll be directed to the research requisition.

Pricing Strategy And Research Productivity

One of the biggest misconceptions about a career in market research is that the work is less productive or less accurate as compared to that of a professional in other industries. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, market research is among the most meticulous and accurate industries when it comes to gathering data.

What’s different is the way in which you interpret and analyze the data. Most importantly, you’ll need to develop accurate and efficient strategies for presenting the results of your analysis. This brings us to our next point.

Strategizing, Planning, And Budgeting

To achieve effective and productive research, you’ll need to develop and follow a research strategy. This strategy will form the backbone of all your research activity, as it defines how you plan, collect data, analyze results, and report your findings. Additionally, it will determine how effective your research is and if you need to adapt your strategy accordingly.

Thought leaders in the field recommend that you develop and document a robust strategy that includes the following:

• A research objective that ties back to the business question you’re seeking to answer
• A definition of your target audience and the type of content you will use to reach them
• A description of the methodology you will use to gather data
• An outline of the steps you will take to analyze and interpret the data
• An estimate of how much time you will need to conduct your research (e.g., 2 weeks, or longer if it’s a longer-term project)
• A summary of existing research on your topic
• An indication of any special software or hardware needed to carry out your research
• Your contact information (e.g., phone number, email, and mailing address)
• A budget for your project (e.g., $5,000)

Once you have this information, you will be ready to begin your research. From there, you can take advantage of the many tools and resources available to you online. Additionally, the specialists at NPD have created a one-stop shop for all your market research needs, as they provide an excellent overview of the industry along with a broad range of resources for you to learn more.

Why should you take the time to plan your research strategy? The benefits are endless. First, it will help you execute a more effective study. Essentially, good research should be able to answer the questions you’re asking; it should not be a guessing game. Second, it will allow you to build a more accurate picture of your target audience, which in turn will improve your ability to connect with them. Third, having a plan will encourage you to follow through and be more consistent, which will ultimately improve your productivity. Finally, it will allow you to properly allocate your resources (e.g., time and money) to the project, ensuring that you don’t waste any precious time or resources if you don’t need to.

How To Create Engaging Content

With the right mindset and planning, you’ll be able to create engaging content for virtually any purpose. The following are six tips for effectively using content to attract, educate, and convert customers:

1. Be Scary

When you’re developing content for an online audience, you need to make sure that the information you provide is both engaging and scary. What do I mean by scary? Users won’t simply consume your content; they’ll be afraid of you or something related to you. This is especially important if you’re writing for a B2B audience.