Consumers have never been so attentive to quality content. They want to be able to consult it at any time, and from anywhere. As a result, digital publishing platforms, like Calameo, have quickly become an integral part of content marketing strategies around the world by making it quick and easy to publish documents online.
Why do you need a content marketing strategy?
Although content marketing is booming right now, thanks to the internet and social media, it has been around since before the advent of digital communication channels. Many trace its origins back to France in 1900, when a tire company called Michelin published its first guide to restaurants in France. With its free guide, Michelin wanted to encourage more French people to get behind the wheel and dine somewhere new. Because more hungry drivers traveling also means more tires to sell, and a fabulous new marketing strategy!
In short: companies offer information, or inspiration, related to their industry, so they can attract the attention of users who are interested in the topic. By providing valuable content to readers, you will grow your audience and encourage sales, not only attracting new prospects in a subtle way, but also ensuring a positive brand image.
Your brand will always benefit from your content marketing strategy. Whether it includes print content, like Michelin, or offers digital elements that are more in line with the times.
The advantages of digital publishing over print
In recent years, in the world of marketing and communication, the number of digital projects has increased tenfold and the print format has tended to lose steam. Indeed, the digital format has some important advantages, among which :
- Speed: Sometimes we need to do things quickly. Whether it's creating a last-minute flyer or completing a multi-page publication, time is of the essence. However, printing your content takes hours (at best) or even weeks. And that's not counting the time it takes to distribute it by mail or hand-deliver it! Compare those hours and weeks to the time it takes to upload your document to a digital publishing platform like Calameo. The advantage goes to digital.
- Cost: As with speed, the cost of different formats varies greatly depending on the need. For print content, the cost of paper and ink add up quickly. For digital, most channels are free or inexpensive. For example, you can create and share an unlimited number of publications for free on Calameo.
- Experience: Print and digital formats offer completely different experiences. Online formats are dynamic, interactive and shareable. Advantages they don't necessarily share with print formats.
- Statistics: Before the internet, it was difficult to measure how many people were watching or interacting with content. Newspapers and magazines determined their reach in terms of circulation, while companies recorded the number of messages sent. With online formats, detailed statistics help you understand how audiences view and interact with your content. A great advantage of digital.
- Environment: Finally, think about the environmental footprint of print and digital content. You might think that online formats are a greener choice, however, remember that even one email sent has an environmental impact. So to determine if your communications are environmentally friendly, you need to track the entire process of creation and distribution. In most cases, digital will offer you a more environmentally friendly solution.
How do you use digital publishing in your content strategy?
Digital publishing is an obvious choice for implementing your content marketing strategy. Here are some tips:
- Publish an online magazine: A magazine is a classic format for capturing readers' attention and can be a useful part of your content marketing strategy. Create articles and visuals around your industry or product to entertain and inspire potential customers.
- Send newsletters: Creating a newsletter is essential to your marketing strategy because it will allow you to reach your target audience through a channel they use daily: the email inbox. You can take advantage of this to put content in front of your readers, like digital publications for example.
- Include links to your site: Connecting your content to your business is a key element of successful content marketing. With digital publishing, it couldn't be easier: just add links back to your website! External links offer readers browsing your publication a seamless transition to visit your company's website.
- Offer a bonus: Everyone likes to feel special, so why not offer bonus content to your audience when they visit your site? Whether it's a series of recipes or an overview of your company culture, digital publishing turns your content into a professionally rendered interactive flipbook. Plus, with just a few clicks, you can embed your publication on your blog or website so your readers can more easily discover it.
- Share a printable: Printable templates are a favorite of content marketers in all industries. Take relevant information, format it so your audience can print it out and use it at their leisure, then publish!
- Generate leads: White papers, reports and guides help you share your company's knowledge and expertise in your field. These types of publications can also be an effective way to build a subscriber base or generate leads. Remember to ask for your readers' email addresses in exchange for downloading your publication and be sure to include a "Contact Us" button.
- Optimize your advertising inserts: The best marketing levers use technology to convert users into buyers. By using digital publications, you can link directly to your magazine's advertisers' website using our Editor tool. Rather than expecting your readers to remember a print ad and then do some research, a simple click takes them directly to the purchase.
- Showcase your brand: Are you already driving traffic to your site, encouraging visitors to sign up for your newsletters and selling a lot of products? Don't forget to showcase your digital publications on your site!
- Add videos: Nowadays, video is an important element in all marketing strategies. Companies that decide to ignore this trend do so at their own peril! Videos are engaging, and in an age of information overload, it's important for brands to offer digestible content to the audience. Calameo allows PLATINUM users to insert Vimeo or YouTube videos into their digital publications to provide an enhanced multimedia reading experience.
- Use strategic call-to-actions: Call-to-actions (CTAs) placed in your digital publications guide your readers through the buying process and can turn visitors into customers. The Editor allows you to create buttons within your publications. You can use this feature to encourage "discrete" actions (like taking the user to another piece of content) or to encourage a concrete next step (for example: Subscribe to our YouTube channel).
There are many strategies for coupling digital publishing and content marketing to grow your business. No matter how you want to reach your audience, our solution offers all the features you need to share your expertise.
To experience the full scope of our exceptional web publishing platform, request your 14-day free trial now!