What exactly is content marketing?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 3:18 am
By sharing this content through different channels (blog, newsletter, ads, social media, etc.) you can achieve some or all of these goals:
Optimize your SEO positioning. By creating relevant blog posts, you can improve your natural positioning in search engines and gain visibility when Internet users perform specific searches (with keywords that correspond to your products, for example).
Boost your brand image . By sharing your expert knowledge on your blog or social media, you can create a strong and inspiring brand image. This way, potential customers can have more confidence that your products or services are a good choice to meet their goals.
Establish a long-term relationship with your customers. Sharing quality content—for example, in your newsletter—is an opportunity to maintain contact with your customers and develop an effective lead nurturing campaign .
Attract quality traffic . When you optimize your SEO, when you gain more visibility on social media, when you create infographics that are easily shared (to name just a few examples), you can attract new prospects to your landing pages and generate more sales.
In a digital environment with ever-increasing competition, a good content strategy will often make the difference between an invisible company and one that achieves good results!
What are the advantages of content marketing?
Having a much more educational than commercial communication with the client makes the purchasing process an easier decision. Some other advantages it has for your business are:
It is the ideal way to promote a brand or products because it is not intrusive.
The brand's differentiator is communicated more effectively, leading to more targeted campaigns and allowing the company to position itself as a benchmark in the industry or market to which it belongs.
A community is created through the different channels used. Members can get to know the brand so well that they eventually become ambassadors for it.
Because content is created with the goal of educating and guiding the target audience, trust is increased and lead generation and conversion rates are much higher.
A more personalized connection is created with the audience by sharing content relevant to their tastes and interests.
By creating a much more consolidated community, a feeling of satisfaction is created on the part of the client/audience.
More focused communication is carried out through digital media or channels that also offer instant reports, allowing content to be optimized and improved.
How to develop a content marketing strategy for your brand
Now we are going to see how to plan an effective content strategy for your digital marketing plan and organize the dissemination of your content across your different communication media.
1) Define your goals
The first stage of a good content strategy is the clear definition of your objectives
The term “content strategy” may seem vague, and it really is, because it is a set of numerous isolated strategies in which different teams within the company will be involved.
So, to guide your digital strategy, the first step is to define several key performance indicators (KPIs) that will allow you to measure the success of your strategy. These objectives could be, for example:
Improve your SEO positioning and increase your visibility in search engines.
Increase the interaction of your social media posts.
Increase your website traffic.
Increase the conversion rate associated with your newsletter.
We recommend avoiding a list of objectives that is too long and instead focusing on a list of two or three goals, so as not to lose sight of the overall vision of your strategy.
To define your goals, it is always useful to use the SMART method .
What is the SMART method?
It is a method that allows you to identify Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound objectives.
These characteristics are interpreted as follows:
Specific: The objectives must be clearly defined and you must also identify the resources that you are going to assign to each of them.
Measurable: Make sure you choose performance indicators that are easily quantifiable, such as an increase in your newsletter sign-ups or a change in your website traffic that you can measure with tools like Google Analytics.
Achievable: There is no point in defining impossible—or almost impossible—goals that cause stress to your team and make your strategy ineffective.
Realists: Actually, it comes from the English Relevant (adequate) in the original acronym. It is about setting objectives that will really be useful for your company. For example, there is no point in increasing subscriptions to your newsletter if you do not intend to carry out an email marketing strategy .
Time-bound: With a defined deadline. Always set a deadline for meeting your objectives, it will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns in the future.
SMART objectives are a good way to gain a global vision for implementing your editorial strategy.
To give you a more concrete idea, we are going to share two examples of SMART objectives:
Increase organic website traffic by 25% in one year by publishing 4 blog posts per month
Gain 100 new newsletter contacts in 6 months thanks to regular Facebook and Twitter posts
2) Identify your customer profiles
To guide the creation of content with high added value, the first thing you must do is identify your target audience.
On the Brevo blog, we often talk about buyer personas . And we have a good reason for doing so: they are a starting point, often indispensable, for creating your marketing campaigns.
A buyer persona represents a typical consumer profile of your company. It will help you understand the specific needs and expectations of your customers and respond to them in the best possible way.
To create your customer prototypes, it is normal to rely on the following characteristics:
Demographics: age, gender, city where your customers live, etc.
The professional profile of your clients: managers, marketing consultants, freelancers, etc. This information will often determine the time and energy they can invest in your services.
Social characteristics: such as your income level, your family situation, your budget, etc.
Their behaviour as consumers: the communication channels they use (email, social networks, etc.), their preferred devices (smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.), their areas of interest and also their consumption habits: do they often shop online? How much do they usually spend? and other related questions.
If you have a company that already has customers, the best way to define your consumer profiles is to try to get to know your current audience; for example, by sending them surveys or organizing focus groups .
However, if your project is just starting out, the job will be more about prediction. You will have to try to figure out what kind of clients you want to attract in the future.
3) Adapt your messages based on the customer journey
To plan your content well, it is important to organize it according to its function in the sales funnel.
First things first: what is a conversion funnel?
The sales (or conversion) funnel is the path formed by the different stages of interaction between a consumer and a company, from the first contact to the purchase decision.
At the top of the conversion funnel , the primary goal is to make your brand visible – for example, by ranking highly in search engines for a particular keyword. Then, you need to pique consumer interest by positioning yourself as an expert and earning their trust.
The further down the funnel you go, the closer you get to the sale. In the final stages, therefore, it is about stimulating the decision (with special offers, for example) and then finalizing the purchase with facilities that simplify the process for the consumer (free delivery, for example).
The different communication formats for your content
Depending on the stage of the sales funnel your target audience is in, you can brazil phone number list use different communication formats that will play different roles in your content strategy.
These are the main communication formats available to you at the different stages of the sales funnel:
Blog posts: These are particularly effective for optimising your SEO (search engine rankings). They will therefore be useful for giving visibility to your brand in the first stage of the sales funnel. In addition, blog posts will also be useful in the second stage, as they will allow you to consolidate your position as an expert while at the same time presenting your products and services.
Infographics: These are also very useful, especially in the first two stages of the funnel. They are easily shared on social media and are a good way to improve your visibility.
Newsletters: A consumer who signs up for your newsletter already has some interest in your brand. Therefore, creating a newsletter is more effective for targeting prospects who are in the penultimate stage of the funnel. You can also use them to promote new products, offer discounts, special offers, etc.
Landing pages: Landing pages are a resource used in the final stage of the sales funnel: on them, you can offer specific calls to action to buy a product, take advantage of a personalized offer, etc.
Naturally, this distribution along the sales funnel depends on your strategy and objectives and will need to be adapted to each particular case.
To learn more:
What is a landing page and how to make it convert?
4) Create your editorial calendar and your communication plan
Once you have defined your content strategy, you can use tables to organize and outline it.
For this, the editorial calendar and the communication plan are very useful tools, as they allow you to define your editorial line, organize the types of content and prepare the dissemination and production of the content.
Although at first glance they are relatively similar, they actually have slightly different functions.
The editorial calendar
The editorial calendar is a tool that will help you classify your content and plan its development.
It will allow you to organize your teams and define responsibilities and deadlines for the creation of your blog articles, infographics, newsletters, etc.
It is usually created in an Excel spreadsheet, although you can also use specific project management tools such as Asana or Trello.
To learn more:
How does content marketing work in your email marketing strategy?
The communication plan
The communication plan allows you to plan the dissemination of the content that your team has developed.
Here you can also indicate the members of your team responsible for each task, the dissemination channels (newsletter, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and the expected publication dates.
It is also a good way to specify the objective of each dissemination action and to have a global vision of your company's communication.
5) Create valuable content
Prioritize quality over quantity. Creating relevant and valuable content is essential to attract potential customers. Remember that the goal is for users to reach your brand through the content you offer them.
To do this, it will be important to have the necessary resources to generate content in the different formats that will be shared on the different channels and depending on each stage of the sales funnel.
You should consider the following profiles in your work team:
Editorial team
Video editors
Graphic designers
Specialists in web positioning
If you do not have the tools or equipment necessary to structure a content strategy, you can choose to hire the services of a content marketing agency . Having the help of a team of experts who can advise you in each of the planning stages of your strategy will always be a safe bet.
Optimize your SEO positioning. By creating relevant blog posts, you can improve your natural positioning in search engines and gain visibility when Internet users perform specific searches (with keywords that correspond to your products, for example).
Boost your brand image . By sharing your expert knowledge on your blog or social media, you can create a strong and inspiring brand image. This way, potential customers can have more confidence that your products or services are a good choice to meet their goals.
Establish a long-term relationship with your customers. Sharing quality content—for example, in your newsletter—is an opportunity to maintain contact with your customers and develop an effective lead nurturing campaign .
Attract quality traffic . When you optimize your SEO, when you gain more visibility on social media, when you create infographics that are easily shared (to name just a few examples), you can attract new prospects to your landing pages and generate more sales.
In a digital environment with ever-increasing competition, a good content strategy will often make the difference between an invisible company and one that achieves good results!
What are the advantages of content marketing?
Having a much more educational than commercial communication with the client makes the purchasing process an easier decision. Some other advantages it has for your business are:
It is the ideal way to promote a brand or products because it is not intrusive.
The brand's differentiator is communicated more effectively, leading to more targeted campaigns and allowing the company to position itself as a benchmark in the industry or market to which it belongs.
A community is created through the different channels used. Members can get to know the brand so well that they eventually become ambassadors for it.
Because content is created with the goal of educating and guiding the target audience, trust is increased and lead generation and conversion rates are much higher.
A more personalized connection is created with the audience by sharing content relevant to their tastes and interests.
By creating a much more consolidated community, a feeling of satisfaction is created on the part of the client/audience.
More focused communication is carried out through digital media or channels that also offer instant reports, allowing content to be optimized and improved.
How to develop a content marketing strategy for your brand
Now we are going to see how to plan an effective content strategy for your digital marketing plan and organize the dissemination of your content across your different communication media.
1) Define your goals
The first stage of a good content strategy is the clear definition of your objectives
The term “content strategy” may seem vague, and it really is, because it is a set of numerous isolated strategies in which different teams within the company will be involved.
So, to guide your digital strategy, the first step is to define several key performance indicators (KPIs) that will allow you to measure the success of your strategy. These objectives could be, for example:
Improve your SEO positioning and increase your visibility in search engines.
Increase the interaction of your social media posts.
Increase your website traffic.
Increase the conversion rate associated with your newsletter.
We recommend avoiding a list of objectives that is too long and instead focusing on a list of two or three goals, so as not to lose sight of the overall vision of your strategy.
To define your goals, it is always useful to use the SMART method .
What is the SMART method?
It is a method that allows you to identify Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound objectives.
These characteristics are interpreted as follows:
Specific: The objectives must be clearly defined and you must also identify the resources that you are going to assign to each of them.
Measurable: Make sure you choose performance indicators that are easily quantifiable, such as an increase in your newsletter sign-ups or a change in your website traffic that you can measure with tools like Google Analytics.
Achievable: There is no point in defining impossible—or almost impossible—goals that cause stress to your team and make your strategy ineffective.
Realists: Actually, it comes from the English Relevant (adequate) in the original acronym. It is about setting objectives that will really be useful for your company. For example, there is no point in increasing subscriptions to your newsletter if you do not intend to carry out an email marketing strategy .
Time-bound: With a defined deadline. Always set a deadline for meeting your objectives, it will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns in the future.
SMART objectives are a good way to gain a global vision for implementing your editorial strategy.
To give you a more concrete idea, we are going to share two examples of SMART objectives:
Increase organic website traffic by 25% in one year by publishing 4 blog posts per month
Gain 100 new newsletter contacts in 6 months thanks to regular Facebook and Twitter posts
2) Identify your customer profiles
To guide the creation of content with high added value, the first thing you must do is identify your target audience.
On the Brevo blog, we often talk about buyer personas . And we have a good reason for doing so: they are a starting point, often indispensable, for creating your marketing campaigns.
A buyer persona represents a typical consumer profile of your company. It will help you understand the specific needs and expectations of your customers and respond to them in the best possible way.
To create your customer prototypes, it is normal to rely on the following characteristics:
Demographics: age, gender, city where your customers live, etc.
The professional profile of your clients: managers, marketing consultants, freelancers, etc. This information will often determine the time and energy they can invest in your services.
Social characteristics: such as your income level, your family situation, your budget, etc.
Their behaviour as consumers: the communication channels they use (email, social networks, etc.), their preferred devices (smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.), their areas of interest and also their consumption habits: do they often shop online? How much do they usually spend? and other related questions.
If you have a company that already has customers, the best way to define your consumer profiles is to try to get to know your current audience; for example, by sending them surveys or organizing focus groups .
However, if your project is just starting out, the job will be more about prediction. You will have to try to figure out what kind of clients you want to attract in the future.
3) Adapt your messages based on the customer journey
To plan your content well, it is important to organize it according to its function in the sales funnel.
First things first: what is a conversion funnel?
The sales (or conversion) funnel is the path formed by the different stages of interaction between a consumer and a company, from the first contact to the purchase decision.
At the top of the conversion funnel , the primary goal is to make your brand visible – for example, by ranking highly in search engines for a particular keyword. Then, you need to pique consumer interest by positioning yourself as an expert and earning their trust.
The further down the funnel you go, the closer you get to the sale. In the final stages, therefore, it is about stimulating the decision (with special offers, for example) and then finalizing the purchase with facilities that simplify the process for the consumer (free delivery, for example).
The different communication formats for your content
Depending on the stage of the sales funnel your target audience is in, you can brazil phone number list use different communication formats that will play different roles in your content strategy.
These are the main communication formats available to you at the different stages of the sales funnel:
Blog posts: These are particularly effective for optimising your SEO (search engine rankings). They will therefore be useful for giving visibility to your brand in the first stage of the sales funnel. In addition, blog posts will also be useful in the second stage, as they will allow you to consolidate your position as an expert while at the same time presenting your products and services.
Infographics: These are also very useful, especially in the first two stages of the funnel. They are easily shared on social media and are a good way to improve your visibility.
Newsletters: A consumer who signs up for your newsletter already has some interest in your brand. Therefore, creating a newsletter is more effective for targeting prospects who are in the penultimate stage of the funnel. You can also use them to promote new products, offer discounts, special offers, etc.
Landing pages: Landing pages are a resource used in the final stage of the sales funnel: on them, you can offer specific calls to action to buy a product, take advantage of a personalized offer, etc.
Naturally, this distribution along the sales funnel depends on your strategy and objectives and will need to be adapted to each particular case.
To learn more:
What is a landing page and how to make it convert?
4) Create your editorial calendar and your communication plan
Once you have defined your content strategy, you can use tables to organize and outline it.
For this, the editorial calendar and the communication plan are very useful tools, as they allow you to define your editorial line, organize the types of content and prepare the dissemination and production of the content.
Although at first glance they are relatively similar, they actually have slightly different functions.
The editorial calendar
The editorial calendar is a tool that will help you classify your content and plan its development.
It will allow you to organize your teams and define responsibilities and deadlines for the creation of your blog articles, infographics, newsletters, etc.
It is usually created in an Excel spreadsheet, although you can also use specific project management tools such as Asana or Trello.
To learn more:
How does content marketing work in your email marketing strategy?
The communication plan
The communication plan allows you to plan the dissemination of the content that your team has developed.
Here you can also indicate the members of your team responsible for each task, the dissemination channels (newsletter, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and the expected publication dates.
It is also a good way to specify the objective of each dissemination action and to have a global vision of your company's communication.
5) Create valuable content
Prioritize quality over quantity. Creating relevant and valuable content is essential to attract potential customers. Remember that the goal is for users to reach your brand through the content you offer them.
To do this, it will be important to have the necessary resources to generate content in the different formats that will be shared on the different channels and depending on each stage of the sales funnel.
You should consider the following profiles in your work team:
Editorial team
Video editors
Graphic designers
Specialists in web positioning
If you do not have the tools or equipment necessary to structure a content strategy, you can choose to hire the services of a content marketing agency . Having the help of a team of experts who can advise you in each of the planning stages of your strategy will always be a safe bet.