What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the practice of developing and distributing the online materials and work of a business to defined audiences. 

It involves more than just content creation or writing a piece of content. For instance, after completing your blog posts, you'll then need to have a plan of distribution to get in front of your potential clients.

Here are a few examples of the different types of content marketing strategies a business could use:

• Guest blogging
• Email newsletters
• White papers
• Gated content
• Social media posts
• Videos

Why hire a freelance Content Marketer?

Freelancers who offer content marketing services are one of the most cost-effective solutions.

Compared to hiring a full-time employee or a content marketing agency, they're more affordable, responsive, and flexible. 

A content marketing expert will have a variety and a diverse range of experience working for other similar companies. Getting their insight gives you a competitive advantage as they'll have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. 

To sum it up, they’re valuable pieces to the chessboard because they’re capable of:

• Setting you up for long-term success

• Developing trust, loyalty, and new relationships with a potential customer
• Establishing subject-matter expertise

All of which our marketing specialists excel in. But let’s dive a bit deeper, shall we?

What does a freelance Content Marketer do?

Aside from having excellent writing skills and the capability of producing high-quality content, more importantly, they devise a content strategy that leads to customer acquisition and retention. In terms of business growth, this is what’s most important.

Specialists at Passionfruit are trusted to do the following:

• Consult on content and SEO strategies 
• Audio, visual, and written content creation
• Edit, proofread, and optimise the content format 
• Manage an editorial calendar
• Collaborate with the sales and marketing team
• Ideate content marketing campaigns

Freelance Content Marketer responsibilities 

Content marketing is more than just writing. It requires in-depth research, industry knowledge, and expertise in search engine optimization (SEO). 

Here are a few examples of tasks this could include:

• Customer research
• Competitor research
• Market research
• Site audits 
• Content gaps analysis

Unfortunately, high-quality content alone isn’t enough to reach the right audiences and move prospects along the sales funnel. Even more so if you’re not an established authority in your niche. 

That said, content marketers are also skilled at the following:

• Copywriting
• Data analysis
• Keyword research
• Social media marketing

On top of that, they’re familiar with using software such as Google Analytics to track organic search results.

Content Marketing is one of the most effective strategies for business growth

Content is everywhere.

There's a good chance your target audience is consuming content in multiple ways. It’s not only billboards or posters that companies are using to promote their product or service. Nowadays, it’s common for businesses to create blogs, case studies, ebooks, guides, and videos.  

In other words, a major part of digital marketing is made up of online content.

With the number of online consumers increasing, having a stronger online presence means making yourself known to more people. 

And being known to more of the right people can generate more leads for your business.

Moving the right people along the sales funnel

From the top to the bottom of the sales funnel, content can be used to serve each stage. 

Let’s take a look at a fairly plain example. 

You're a business that decides to use your blog to capture email leads. You focus on developing your content and SEO strategies alongside your content writing process to get in front of your ideal customers. 

After consistent implementation, your content marketing efforts start to pay off. You begin to see a level of success as your website is getting traction. 

Some of your website visitors really enjoy reading your blog posts. They decide to enter their email address in the signup form as they want to receive personalised content directly into their inbox. 

From there, you send the initial welcome email to your email list and prepare an exclusive offer to thank them for subscribing. 

Some take action, some don’t. 

Either way, both groups of people are still subscribed because they genuinely enjoy your content. 

You continue to put out high-quality pieces and you cater to your audience at the top of the funnel by informing and educating them about the problem your business helps to resolve. You also cater to those at the middle and bottom of the funnel by writing ebooks, customer success stories, and other relevant content. 

As time passes by, you’re nurturing your relationship with them until they’re ready to make a purchase. Once they are, it’s your brand that comes to mind, which maximises your chances of making the sale. 

Not all customer journeys look exactly like this. 

However, it all starts with being aware of your brand and what you have to offer. Or it starts by understanding how your product solves the problem users are trying to solve. 

Those are only a few things of many that good content marketing helps you with. 

How much should I invest in Content Marketing? 

Companies can invest from £400/day, up to £475/day, or more. A freelance content marketer usually works 1-2 days per week depending on how much content you need. 

The best route depends on your marketing needs. On top of having an expert for your content marketing campaigns, your team may also benefit from having a freelance content writer on board to maintain a consistent quality of effective content.