Vertical Leap: What is content generation?
Content generation as it says on the tin, surrounds the ”generation” ie: production of content, to engage current and potential customers. It is custom-made media but without the hard-sell and in-your-face pressure of traditional marketing methods such as advertising. By generating informative content, it is hoped that readers will be persuaded to make their own decisions with regards to buying a certain product or taking a specific action.
It is important to understand what falls under the remit of content generation. Popular content marketing methods include standard mediums such as newsletters, magazines, printed publications, case studies and white papers. However, content can include social media sites, podcasts, mobile content, videos and email marketing campaigns.
Perhaps one of the most popular methods of content generation is that of mobile applications. The BBC has recently launched a range of free apps, including BBC News, iPlayer and Sports apps. News content marketing and sports information apps are amongst the prevalent, with Eurosport and Sky News amongst the many protagonists on the mobile content bandwagon.
Podcasts are also becoming an innovative way to push content onto an audience. As with mobile content, the BBC is promoting podcasts of all its radio shows on its website. More traditional print media companies are also harnessing the power of podcast content, with the Times and the Guardian hosting a plethora of audio and visual clips on their respective sites.
With any form of content, whether it be innovative podcasts or more traditional newsletters, the backbone of content is trust. It is widely recognised that by supplying a current and potential audience with up-to-the-minute, reliable information, they will return, as well as re-tweeting, following or becoming fans of your content.
Whilst content attracts and informs an audience, it is also an important tool in search engine marketing. Content with attracted keywords and inbound links is used to capture the interest of search engines. The more people click on the links and read the content, the higher a websites conversion rate will be, but also the sites rankings in Google is likely to improve. Indeed, without original text content, most search engines will not be able to match search terms to the content of a site.
If search engines recognise that new content is being added on a consistent basis since they last indexed your site, they are more likely to come back and see your site more often. In addition, the more content on a site, with variations of chosen keywords that the search engines can index, the more likely your site will be found in long tail searches.
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of regular content generation is that of authority - by adding relevant news and information about your business area, you will be seen as the provider of knowledge in your field.
