Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used by businesses in order to:

• Attract attention and generate leads

• Expand their customer base

• Generate or increase online sales

• Increase brand awareness or credibility

• Engage an online community of users

Content marketing attracts prospects and transforms prospects into customers by creating and sharing valuable free content.

Content marketing helps companies create sustainable brand loyalty, provides valuable information to consumers, and creates a willingness to purchase products from the company in the future. This relatively new form of marketing does not involve direct sales. Instead, it builds trust and rapport with the audience.

Unlike other forms of online marketing, content marketing relies on anticipating and meeting an existing customer need for information, as opposed to creating demand for a new need.

As James O'Brien of Contently wrote on Mashable, "The idea central to content marketing is that a brand must give something valuable to get something valuable in return. Instead of the commercial, be the show. Instead of the banner ad, be the feature story." Content marketing requires continuous delivery of large amounts of content, preferably within a content marketing strategy.

When businesses pursue content marketing, the main focus should be the needs of the prospect or customer. Once a business has identified the customer's need, information can be presented in a variety of formats, including news, video, white papers, e-books, infographics, email newsletters, case studies, podcasts, how-to guides, question and answer articles, photos, blogs, etc.

Most of these formats belong to the digital channel.

Digital content marketing is a management process that uses electronic channels to identify, forecast, and satisfy the content requirements of a particular audience. It must be consistently updated and added to in order to influence the behavior of customers.

7 Reasons Behind Growing Importance of Content Marketing in 2017

Following are the 7 reasons behind growing importance of content marketing in 2017: 1.) It aids marketers make more money, generate more sales & pull in unexpected customers • This one sentence sums it up for me as if a marketing strategy does not help you make profit; Small businesses depend on large sales, and content Marketing. 2.) It helps you build valuable relationships and it is cheaper than other forms of marketing • It helps marketers create valuable relationships with their audiences and make sales. • It can help build deals and relationship to boost sales by meeting prospects wherever they are at in the purchasing process and cajoling them forward by giving the knowledge they need to make their next stride. If you do this in a right way, you can convert them to walk them down on your path and increase ROI. 3.) It enhances your Brand Image and helps you make a Personal Connection • Businesses of various kinds can enhance their brand image by creating different types of brandings and sharing quality content. Subsequently, building up a content marketing plan can be a power-full game changer for your business' online growth. • It is very powerful in establishing a personal relationship with users. Content that has your own personal touch helps you have chance to increase followers in the marketplace. By exposure of high-quality content consistently, you can develop the trust of your audience that will help you establish your name as a brand and nowadays people only like brands. It will help you to enhance your Digital Marketing Company brand image as well. 4.) It enhances Customer Engagement & helps you beat your Competitors • Content marketing lets marketers see execution through live on Facebook platform it will increase more traffic on your page and chance to make better relationship with users. This is the very personalized tool nowadays to make content effective. It is so, because your audiences love it; it is low cost-effective; it engages your customers, produces more popularity and helps you beat your competitors in a sustainable way. • Value of content marketing is as if you have two platforms with similar Performa will prefer engaging with the one that includes content in their online marketing strategy like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. This sustainable effort will makes your company unique, which helps you enjoy superiority in your industry in more powerful manner. 5.) Content marketing can work with any Industry, can let Non-Profits make Profits & can Attract People with Real Interest in Your Brand • The power of content marketing in 2017 is people will follow anything that they don't know and it will be knowledgeable. It will be time consuming people will connect through the world with the help of content and internet. • It is very important that you build strong relationship and well-targeted and customized content marketing strategy with the help of digital marketing company. 6.) It is very powerful in Improving your Customer Experience & growing Long-term Audiences • Importance of Content Marketing includes in its ability of improving customer experiences and ensuring long-term facilities of audiences. Great content material gives brands something highlighted to talk about with their clients beyond complaints and difficulties, compliments, or inquiries. Each interaction you have with a prospect or customer can give you knowledge and increase the inquiries/issues they have. • Through content marketing, you can answer those questions clearly and early in the process that helps you reduce the amount of complaints and confusions. Each part of content offers a great opportunity to hook new personalities and grow your fan base. As such gathering of audiences grows; you will have a much greater base of individuals willing to share your content that is the huge advantage of digital content marketing. • Rather than beginning without any preparation as in traditional marketing, you can establish on your own success through content marketing with the way you want to. You can use follow up strategies with the help of digital marketing or email nurturing and social media marketing that help you enjoy steady gains in your users. 7.) It can help marketers increase Email Response Rates & encourage Virality • Content Marketing company importance includes its ability to increase email response rates and encourage Virality of internet population marketing campaigns. The email trafficking will increase rates it can be effectively increased by keeping professional communication intact through efficient content marketing by understanding site's audience and channelizing custom-fit campaigns. • All the interactions that you have with a prospect or customer through Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. Whether in person, in phone call, in email, or through other traditional marketing methods, you have to be focused on giving value and truthful substance. • For effective It, you need to create something that is highly interesting and entertaining like an interesting post on Facebook, Twitter and Google. Then you are ready to see special kind of Virality for your brand that no other marketing channel can provide.

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.

Most social media platforms have built-in data analytics tools, which enable companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns. Companies address a range of stakeholders through social media marketing, including current and potential customers, current and potential employees, journalists, bloggers, and the general public.

On a strategic level, social media marketing includes the management of a marketing campaign, governance, setting the scope (e.g. more active or passive use) and the establishment of a firm's desired social media "culture" and "tone."

When using social media marketing, firms can allow customers and Internet users to post user-generated content (e.g., online comments, product reviews, etc.), also known as "earned media," rather than use marketer-prepared advertising copy.