Marketing has changed over the years. In the beginning, it was all about getting the customer interested in the product and encouraging them to buy it. The relationship between the company and the recipient was one-sided - the brand sent a message to the consumer, and the latter responded to it by buying the advertised product or not. The development of the Internet has forced some changes in the approach to promoting products and services. Internet marketing is mainly focused on valuable content, educating the customer, and building a mutual relationship - it is no longer just about advertising, but also about the customer's response.

Modern marketing

Before the Internet became so widely available and popular, marketing worked in offline channels - that is, according to the assumptions of traditional marketing. This term includes activities and instruments that do not refer to the digital space. The most popular of these are advertisements on billboards, television, radio, as well as flyers and posters. There are two main differences between online and traditional marketing. The first is cost. In the case of offline marketing, they are high - the rate for publishing an ad on TV or a billboard in a large city is quite high, higher than in the case of an advertising campaign online, in social media or on Google. It is also not possible to precisely define the target group. It can be done, but not to exclude from the audience of the ad people who will definitely not be interested in it.

Online marketing, on the other hand, offers tools that allow you to narrow down your audience to those who are most interested. All this also makes it impossible to simply measure the effectiveness of offline marketing efforts. Another difference is that with offline marketing, there is no room for discussion with the customer. Online activities have the advantage of allowing the customer to interact with the company at any time, which makes it open to the needs of the audience and gives it a more "human" face in their eyes. Want to learn more about online marketing? Check out the courses at Webinar Universe. Customer reviews show that you can learn a lot here.

Content ... the basics

In modern marketing, you often hear the word "content". It can be a text on a blog, but also graphics or video. Online marketing is often based on content - it is a strategy for acquiring customers by creating meaningful content for them. To be effective, this content should be consistent with the nature of the company, be based on thematic information related to the industry, as well as be combined with SEO strategy, which is to improve the company's visibility in Google search.

What are the benefits of using content marketing?

• Building an image as an expert in a given field,
• Creating an engaged community,
• Increasing company recognition,
• Improving sales,
• Improving the content value of the company's blog, website.

Well prepared content will encourage the customer to buy a product or use the company's services. However, it is not about empty slogans such as "buy now, it won't be cheaper!", but about presenting information about products and services to the customer in such a way that they could see the benefit for themselves and make a purchase decision. Substantive content makes the recipient trust the company, because they find in it answers to their problems, not the advertisement itself. It should not be the main axis of the presented content. The basis is the information and value given to the customer.

Use of content marketing

Well created content can be very effective. On the one hand, an inexpensive solution, on the other, it responds to customer needs and reaches exactly those people who may be interested in a given brand or product.

Content marketing is divided into two areas:

• Internal - includes communication channels controlled by the company, such as the company website, blog, Facebook fanpage,
• External - includes places where the company can appear with a guest post, e.g. sponsored article - these are profiles of influencers, internet portals.

How to use content marketing to promote a brand? There are many ways. One of the most popular is to maintain a company blog and a social media page. Depending on the portal, the content can be text, graphics or video. The most important thing is that they are high quality and substantive, to provide the recipient with valuable information.

Content marketing and social media

Content marketing is not limited to blogs. Currently, social media, which are very popular among both customers and companies, allow you to reach a wide range of interested people with your offer. Well prepared content, consistent with the brand image will encourage users to observe the page, as well as to share posts, which is an effective and free advertising.

What is the best form of content to choose? It all depends on the portal. On Facebook, text and graphics work well, but video content is also popular.

Social media provide many opportunities for interesting use of content marketing. It is worth mentioning Real Time Marketing, which is a quick response to current events in the form of a post matching the industry in which the company operates. An interesting response to a popular trend may not only interest fans, but also gain the status of a viral - i.e. become a willingly shared post.

Storytelling also works well in social media. Storytelling and engaging the audience in stories increases trust in the brand and helps to establish a lasting relationship with the customer.

Content marketing and SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is an important pillar in marketing strategy. It consists of activities that optimize the content on the website for search engines, mainly Google. It includes activities consisting of high quality and regularly updated content saturated with key phrases and link building. A well-developed SEO strategy ensures that a company's website is displayed after entering selected keywords, e.g. webinar universe platform. As a result, more people will visit the site - and, importantly, more people will be interested in the topic. It is very likely that they will become customers. Of course, SEO is made up of many technical aspects in addition to content, but it is valuable content that is the basis on which the entire strategy can be built.

There is a popular saying in the marketing industry "Content is the king". There is a lot of truth in this. A well-developed marketing strategy is an effective method of sales and building the image of an expert in the industry. Modern marketing offers many opportunities - it's worth taking advantage of them. If you want to learn more about content marketing, check out the webinar universe training.