Goals Performance and Future Prospects of Content Marketing - Research Proposal Example

Name: Subject: Professor: Date: Marketing Research Proposal: Goals performance and future prospects of content marketing Background Unlike traditional marketing, content marketing is beginning to take shape in the market where companies are striving to be known for the exact content they produce and not a few touchy brands that are furiously advertised through common media channels. It is a form of marketing where the company dwells on marketing the whole package of goods and services that they produce well. This is a different form of marketing compared to the commonly used traditional marketing. Traditional marketing dwells with marketing only one product that makes the company famous for producing or providing it. However, there are also other services that are produced by the company that also need to be marketed. The role of content marketing is to make sure that all other products and services produced by a specific company are at the same level of their top brand. In recent times, content marketing has grown its strength as a marketing utility for grown competitive companies. The power of advertisement is very significant to attracting more customers hence the growth of a specific company (Paajanen 5). Content marketing does not only achieve increase in customer number but also strategizes on how exactly to keep them (Lieb 5). With the current integration of technology in advertisement, content marketing is moving a step ahead with more prospects of future growth. This therefore prompts the aims of this particular research proposal in determining the future of content marketing. Through the tactic of content marketing, companies are able to make consumers to like their content (Odden 51). Compared to traditional marketing, content marketing has not been in existence for very long. It has been introduced recently with greater expectations in future for the companies that make use of this particular strategy. Expansion of social media provides more ground for content marketing to grow. It is therefore important to determine what exactly the promising future of content marketing looks like. Objectives of the study Main objective To determine the current trend of content marketing and its effect in quality production in Australia Specific objectives To determine the effect of social media advancement to the prosperity of content marketing To determine the strengths of content marketing compared to traditional marketing. To determine the limits of content marketing in attracting and retaining customers Research questions The research study aims to answer the following research questions What are the top goals set by Australian organizations when using content marketing? What decisive factors do organizations across Australia set to define the success of content market? What adjustmestments should be made by enterprises to accommodate and provide cool environment for the growth of contend marketing? Do cultural differences in Australia affect the strategies applied by Australian enterprises for content marketing? Significance of the study From an academic point of view, this particular research study aims to use the current form of content marketing to determine its possible future. Content advertisement is gaining more familiarity at a faster rate. Companies prefer it where they share more of their content to attract and retain customers. With more development predicted to happen in terms of content marketing, this particular research study aims to cover all necessary factors that can be exploited to achieve the stated objectives. The literature of this particular research study covers relevant factors such as measuring the performance of content marketing in the market. The Australian market is showing a significant increase in the application of content marketing prompting the current study to determine its future prospects (Pulizzi117). Literature review Despite the fact that content marketing is relatively a new concept that is slowly being introduced to the market, it does mean that it is new. This marketing technique has been in place for like time just like the other traditional tools used by marketers. The focus of content marketing is to distribute relevant and valuable content to an audience that is already understood by its preferences (Lieb 6). It is important to insist on the terms relevant and value as they signify how the balance of power has shifted from marketers to buyers. Buyers determine the content and the value they need from the market hence more push for content marketing in the current entrepreneurial world. With a compelling content being delivered to consumers, organizations have the high probability of attracting and retaining more consumers (Rahim and Clemens 897). With more focus on content, every marketer has the ability to be unique and administer a specific content for a certain category of consumers. No generalizations are allowed by this mechanism of marketing. Some of the benefits accrued from content marketing are the ability to engage the customer with a particular brand. With unique content for specified customers, they are able to learn more concerning a particular brand. Content is usually administered in articles, videos and in some cases white papers (Lieb 2). Significance of content Based on the selection of what most consumers buy, it is very clear that their decisions and choices are only directed by a small section of the marketing content that they already have. In this particular era, consumers have gained knowledge on how to filter out the message delivered through traditional marketing that focuses on only one brand while leaving out the rest. Content marketing therefore seeks to address this particular issue through the delivery of original and meaningful content that helps the customers to make well informed decisions (Lieb 27). In the instances where consumers are able to make non-regrettable choices based on the well availed quality content, the chances of him/her retaining the same shop are high. Content marketing in other mode, is very successful in attaining long term customers. Previous study researches indicate that customers are willing to trade loyalty with well informed knowledge (Rahim and Clemens 897). This is only through content marketing. To emphasize on how consumers have changed their approach towards marketing, scholars indicate that more consumers are reaching out to the internet to get more information about particular brands. With the increased format of using social sites such as Facebook for advertisement, more information and content is likely to get through to the final consumer (Lieb 62). Goals achieved and possible ways of measuring content marketing The goals of content marketing range from short term to generally long term goals. Long term strategy is specific for building good relationship and trust between the organization and the customer. It also creates loyalty among the existing customers and attracts more customers. Engaging customers is one particular way to ensure that they are provided with relevant information they need thus creating more chances for retaining them. Engagement of consumers therefore ensures loyalty, connection, trust, commitment and satisfaction on their quarter is achieved (Rahim and Clemens 898). Measuring the performance of content marketing has proven to be tricky on most occasions. This is simply because the factors available used to measure the performance cannot give precise feedback but at the current, they are used to approximate almost true results as attested by some of the competitors. The factors include customer feedback, web traffic and search engine optimization. However, with the current advent of marketing through social media, an organization can gauge its performance through the feedback they receive on cites such as Facebook. Return on Investment (ROI) can also be used to gauge results and achievements. For instance, in 2014, 46% of the marketers used this criterion and indicated that instant results were produced (Press 1). Statistics indicate that almost 83% percent of Australian marketers used content marketing (Press 1). In relation to cultural differences, some certain effects are likely to happen when the same content marketing is used. This is well explained in certain models that cover the effect of cultural diversity and marketing. Australia exhibits some form of cultural diversity but it does not have greater effect since most of its inhabitants have integrated together their cultural diversities. Future Prospects of Content Marketing With increased utilization of content marketing, its application is predicted to increase more in future. Australian companies have been analyzed to be using an average of 12 content marketing strategies (Press 1). The marketing strategies include; video and blogs (social media), web articles among others. Video was the most used (72%) by Australian marketers (Press 1). With this current rate, indications for future progress of content marketing are very bright. The industry of content marketing in the world currently is growing faster than expected. The industry is currently being estimated to be over 44 billion dollars with still more room for expansion (McCoy 1). To be precise, approximately 118 billion dollars was used by industries last year on content marketing (Kuenn 1). With more emphasis on content, most advertisers are turning their attention towards content marketing to get more customers. It therefore safe to say that there is a revolution in the marketing sector that currently favors content. Good things are highly appreciated and shared between customers. This therefore indicates that more trends towards content marketing are expected to be developed and enhanced in the current near future. Organizations are compelled to produce quality (Smarty 1). Hypothesis Statement HA: Content marketing pushes Australian marketers to produce quality in order to attract more permanent customers. Research Methodology Research Design This particular research study will use a descriptive approach to analyze the current and possible future achievements of content marketing compared to other forms of traditional marketing. The sole reason for the application of this particular approach is because it has the ability to elaborate further on content marketing on how marketers are forced to use this particular approach to woe more and permanent customers. Since this relatively an old factor turned into a new one and is still gaining momentum in the world of marketing, descriptive study design fits the objectivity of the project. Sampling design The target population to be used in this study will involve majority of business holders in the entire Australia. The selection will cut across all cultures as the study aims to identify any cultural effects on content marketing. Sampling Technique For effectiveness of the results obtained, random sampling will be more preferred to any other sampling methods. Sample size The sample size of this study will be limited to 350 entrepreneurs or organizational leaders. Data Collection Method Survey will be used to collect data since this is a descriptive study. This is more important as the feedback on how content marketing is helping business men attract long-term customers is more important in the making of well-informed conclusions. Information on how organizational leaders are able to gauge their performances will also be covered through survey. The most preferable tool that will be used for survey will be questionnaires. The questionnaire will be divided into two sections. The first section covers the information related to customer retention using content marketing while the second sections covers reactions related to the future growth of content marketing by its users. Conclusion Content marketing is very significant in the marketing of organizations using the unique content that each produce. A study in determining the overall achievement of content marketing and its future prospects is therefore very significant. With the current increased application of content marketing, the future ahead seems to be brighter than expected. More research therefore is needed to familiarize marketers with this particular marketing design and how they can rip benefits from it. Works Cited "Press." New Study Reveals Significant Australian Spend on Content Marketing. 19 Nov. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.. Bertrand, Marianne, et al. "What's advertising content worth? Evidence from a consumer credit marketing field experiment." Yale University Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper 968 (2009). Kuenn, Arnie. "What Is The Future Of Content Marketing And How Can You Prepare?" Marketing Land. 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. . Lieb, Rebecca. Content Marketing: Think like a Publisher-- How to Use Content to Market Online and in Social Media. Indianapolis: Que, 2012. Print. McCoy, Julia. "Why the Future of Content Marketing Is Bright." Social Media Today. 30 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. . Odden, Lee. Optimize How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2012. Print. Paajanen, Jenni. "Social media in marketing communications planning for entrepreneurs." (2011). Pulizzi, Joe. "The rise of storytelling as the new marketing." Publishing research quarterly 28.2 (2012): 116-123. Rahim, Kaba, and Bechter Clemens. "Organizational goals and performance measurement criteria for content marketing." Journal of Communication and Computer 9.8 (2012): 896-904. Smarty, Ann. "Content Marketing 101: Definition, Channels and Success Stories." 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. . Read More