We all know the old adage “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” No matter how you feel about the answer to this question, we can all agree that they need each other to survive. Marketers may ask themselves a similar question- “which came first, the content or the technology?” Either way, like chickens and eggs, they both need each other to prosper. Let’s look at the mutually beneficial relationship content and technology have and how you can use both to succeed at content marketing.
Technology Makes Content Measurable
In the age of the Internet, tracking metrics and data is complex because it’s hard for marketers to find a direct correlation between their content and responses. Finding return on investment, or ROI, for content such as blog posts and social content without technology is nearly impossible.
Luckily, though, marketers can more easily track their success by looking at conversion rates, click through rates, and other ROI factors. Check out services like Google Analytics, Hubspot, and LinkTally.com for various key performance indicators like social shares and traffic.
Content Can Be More Diverse
When content marketing began to gain traction, most marketers turned to press releases as the go-to source for spreading information. While press releases are still alive and well, there are many different ways content marketers can spread their ideas today.
For example, a strong topic can easily be turned into an infographic, video or presentation thanks to sites like Piktochart and LinkedIn’s SlideShare. Our users enjoy our Presentations tool for this reason, as well – they are able to promote a salient topic in a new way.
Technology Allows Content to be Shareable
Years ago there were much fewer ways for people to share content but today, good marketers take advantage of the sharing capabilities of social media platforms. Users share all kinds of content, from blog posts to videos to direct advertisements, and all these opportunities for publicity give marketers a chance to expose their brand and get feedback.
Although technology can give content marketing a boost, good content is still the foundation of this strategy. Just as trends in content marketing are always changing, technology is also changing rapidly. It’s important for service professionals to keep up with the industry if they want to get ahead with their content marketing endeavors.