THE ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CROATIAN CONTENT MARKETING CHAPTER OF THE CANNUAL REPORT 2017
Yes, it’s true that when people love you, they don’t date others; they spend their time with you. Like in any other relationship, it is as simple and as difficult as that. That is why brands on the Croatian market understand – now more than ever – that content marketing can be used as a leverage to build strong relationships with their consumers. I Promise to Inspire You and to Laugh with You Although content marketing is not a new segment of marketing communications, its importance has rapidly grown in recent years. Content marketing now plays one of the leading roles in the improvement of relationships between brands and consumers. Branded pages don’t entertain with their flashy designs anymore: nowadays, they provide live interaction, relevant information, and content twenty-four-seven. 90% of the leading brands on the Croatian market invest in content marketing. Moreover, brands understand that content marketing means the continuous creation of content that their customers actually read and share. Besides, brands are more than willing to build an audience with subscribers who allow them to take up space in their already overcrowded newsfeed. Furthermore, intending to achieve good sales results, brands aspire to create content which provides their customers with relevant information, teaches them something new, and allows them to have some fun. The logic behind this relationship is clear: brands provide useful and interesting content to potential customers continuously and consistently, hoping that they will reward the brand with the purchase of their products and services as well as loyalty to the brand in return. To put it simply, Croatian brands embrace the idea of investing in valuable and reputable content and generating strong relationships instead of forcing customers to buy their products with the classic advertising methods. This approach is very different from traditional advertising because it assumes well-researched, genuine and authentic content that is favoured by the target audience. Although classic advertising and content marketing methods are observed separately for the most part, the results of REZ's research and strategy for the purpose of the International Content Marketing Forum (ICMF) show that the integration and synergy of these two forms of communication are necessary, since the two are considered an invincible communication duo.
Without You, I’m Nothing
High-quality content has numerous benefits for the brand. The easiest and best way to create relevant content for the brand’s target audience is by asking potential consumers. Nowadays, the number of ways to do that is endless, starting from online surveys to user comments on Facebook pages. Ultimately, high-quality content can help a particular brand position itself as an expert in a particular industry. With that in mind, content marketing increases brand visibility, and it strengthens brand awareness as well as brand credibility.
However, without proper targeting, the benefits of high-quality content do not reach their full potential. Leading experts agree that it is indispensable to reach the audience through the targeted promotion of an original content. In the Croatian market, promotion of your original content is considered to be a significant factor in terms of success, and decision makers in the marketing departments of companies invest significant amounts of money into promoting their content in order to increase reach and their audience.
Furthermore, social networks have become an integral part of everyday life and 40% of Croats visit Facebook on a daily basis. Facebook is by far the most popular social network on the Croatian market, followed by Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest, while Tumblr, Flickr and Vine are not as popular in this country. 30% of Facebook users follow brands – companies, products and services – that they like. Consequently, social media agencies and content providers on the Croatian market are finding new communication mechanisms to offer users more attractive ways of content marketing consumption. Nowadays, there is a blooming trend of 360-degree videos, live videos, interactive videos, infographic and reaction buttons that leading brands are using as an effective way to stand out from the competitive market.