Content marketing or content marketing is an increasingly widespread discipline, which has been evolving, specializing and diversifying its nature. The survey recently published by IDG Enterprise, carried out among 740 marketing professionals, indicates that 84% of the participants consider that the generation of content is a good that is revalued day after day. To achieve optimal results in this area, companies must consider the following questions:

Is there a content strategy? Who determines it?

Content generation serves a specific strategy, with a specific action policy. These guidelines are established, in more than half of the cases, by the marketing department; specifically within the corporate management area of ​​the brand. Other figures that usually take sides in these types of decisions are the product manager, or the CEO of the company.

What are the objectives pursued by companies that practice content marketing?

The three main objectives of content generation are:

• The capture of leads, that is, getting new followers to the brand. The aim is to win over those loyal supporters and supporters of the same, to make them extend their influence among their contacts and become potential brad advocates.
• Get to influence the user and change their attitude around the brand. In order to condition their behavior and act in favor of the company, the brands provide quality and attractive content for the recipients.
• Gain brand notoriety The companies seek to expand their area of ​​action, becoming the benchmark company in their sector, the first option in the mind of the consumer. This is achieved by increasing its presence, linked to positive aspects and high value for users.

What are the main ingredients that all good content should have?

According to the respondents, the “storytelling” is taken from the street to the other formats in which to present the information, 81% of them think so. Another determining factor, if we take into account the opinion of more than half of these professionals, is originality and personalized content. It is a quality intimately with the first; Users accept more content that, besides being interesting, is presented in a different way, is easy to assimilate and where they feel like the main recipients.

The vast majority of content is homegrown, created from scratch; always looking for this to be of the highest quality. The concept of content curation, or recycling of the existing one, is still not widespread, although it is gaining followers; in fact it already has the favor of a third of the interviewees.

What results do companies obtain thanks to content marketing?

There is a healthy concern to measure the results obtained from the generation of content, in terms of engagement. The main metrics used are web traffic, the number of visits or downloads of the content in particular and the analysis of the leads, both in quantity and quality. Analyzing the results obtained, the companies have first level data that tells them how to optimize their content marketing strategy.