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Content Marketing is a blanket term for Internet marketing that incorporates high-quality, value enriched content that generates profitable customer action. Additional benefits include building consumer trust, brand loyalty, as well as customer expansion and retention. The content shared in websites, blogs, social media sites and advertising links has the potential to influence the consumer decision-making process. Content quality can literally make or break an online presence.

Adapting the literary checklist of the Five W’s (and one H) of Who, What, Where, When, Why and How to the process of creating quality content, serves to establish guidelines for modern day marketers. The alignment of these guidelines with the marketing goals, as well as target market interests, helps to insure that the content created will drive the actions desired.

1.) WHO – Who is the target market that the content is trying to influence? As with public speaking, formulating content around a thorough analysis of the target audience is essential to eliciting a positive response.

2.) WHAT – What are the key needs, influences and motivations of the target audience in relation to the information that the Internet Marketing company is capable of offering? The information being shared is in essence an offer; the most effective offers are those that directly fulfill a specific need. Choosing topics that meet the needs of the target audience will serve as a guide for content development.

3.) WHERE – Where is the most relevant information found? Beyond an extensive analysis of the target audience, taking stock of the content offered in the marketplace, especially from acknowledged success stories in the same industry, is a worthwhile next step. This will help to ascertain the hot topic issues being addressed and more importantly, what is not being addressed that can serve as a basis for your own content development.

4.) WHEN – When is the best time to consider content marketing strategies? A good indicator is when there is the time and resources available to engage in expanding the consumer base through a variety of online channels. A diversified marketing approach, whether traditional or online, has proven to yield greater returns than a solitary strategy. Online marketing has grown as a result of the number of internet opportunities available for employing action-generating content. These include websites, blogs, social media sites, advertising links, videos and audio-image presentations.

5.) WHY – Why does the target market need or want this information? This is a critical question to ask when developing content. The answers will help to shape the content, as well as the format in which the content will be offered. Why is an important interrogatory in recognizing any gaps in relevant information, as well as preventing a glut of content on topics that have been overly addressed.

6.) HOW- How do I draw the target audience to the content? A diversified advertising approach should be planned within the content marketing strategy. Quality content can draw and keep an audience, but should not be relied upon solely for the most effective results. Promotion begins with notifying the current customer base and requesting they share the content with their own networks. Paid advertising should be incorporated, as well as notifying the traditional and online media via press releases.

So often, success can be as simple as merely asking the right questions.

You are invited to comment on this post. Do you have any suggestions for content development?