Well, there is no doubt that both are equally important. With a proper backlinking strategy, more readers will visit your website. Also, with good content, you can grow your audience and engage them.
Source – BKA Content
So what’s the problem?
The problem is, which one should you start with?
It is hard to build hundreds of links and also create good quality long-form content at the same time.
The ideal thing is to do both at once, but what happens when you can’t?
In this blog, we shall present you with two scenarios.
Keeping content first
Keeping links first
And then we shall come to a conclusion which one should you start with when it’s not possible to continue both at the same time.
A digital marketing agency in Kolkata can help you with both content creation & link building.
But before we get into that, let us tell you that it is going to be a tough battle.
If you’ve already picked a side, try to keep an open mind because both of them have huge pros and this is a gray area.
Now, let’s have a look at each of them.
Opinion #1 – Content First
Let us consider that content comes first because good content increases the value of everything. It has a lot of benefits.
First, good content will help in making a great long-term marketing strategy.
If your content is evergreen, it has got an eternal lifespan and that is great!
You’ll have people coming to your content increases the number of web traffic.
This is called cornerstone content.
It is the content that people will link year after year.
For instance, Brian Clark of Copyblogger created just two blogs and a free report. That was his cornerstone content.
If you Google right now, you’ll see the same post in the #1 position.
Source – Google
Thus, creating long and detailed content will become an invaluable resource and it’ll give you long-term success.
Secondly, good content from a digital marketing company in Kolkata provides value.
This is an obvious reason not to start with links. Because if you start off with a heavy link strategy without any content, you’ll give your viewers no reason to link to your site.
Third, content gets your people talking.
If people like your content, they’ll share it and that is where true power is.
Did you know that 2 out of 3 people visit a website just because someone recommended it?
Content from a digital marketing firm in Kolkata can help you do that.
Now, let’s explore the scenario 2, which is keeping the links first.
Opinion #2 – Links First
A lot of people think that links should come first because they offer you an audience.
This is true and there are a lot of benefits of this.
First, content is of no use without an audience.
Even if you have excellent content on your website, it won’t matter if there is no one to read about it.
Links help you get that audience.
Source – ahrefs
With the right network of backlinks, your website will be exposed to thousands of people from all over the globe.
Simply writing and publishing content will not get you a lot of viewers. You need a backlinking strategy.
Secondly, links will help you with SEO.
Yes, you can focus on SEO using your content, optimize keywords, and more.
For instance, you can link similar content more than once. But you cannot write the same content more than once.
Basically, you can amplify your link-building strategy when your website grows.
Third, linking can help in establishing you as an authority.
As we mentioned earlier, 2 out of 3 people visit a website because of recommendations.
Thus, there is a lot of power in social proof and that goes for links too.
Source – susangilbert.com
For instance, if someone visits a website and sees that the site is linked to your content, they’ll think of your site as an authority.
This is a great way to get lifelong fans.
What do the SEO pros have to say?
Here’s what the SEO pros have to say about whether the content comes first or the links.
Mark Jackson who is an author at SearchEngineWorld.com says,
“I’ve overseen approximately 200 SEO programs from digital marketing companies. From years of experience, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. I’ve witnessed websites rank without a lot of assistance from off-page labor. About the only case, I’ve seen where websites rank only off-page factors in an SEO competition or the miserable failure experiment from some time ago“.
Jayson DeMers, who is another SEO expert says there are dangers in building SEO without content.
As you can see, these are some major factors in favor of content-first.
Source – Neil Patel blogs
Adam Bruk from Digital Third Coast says to start with content and then shifting to link building.
In his words, “But content comes first since great content makes earning links way easier“.
From all of these pros, it is clear that links are important but the foundation of your website has to be content.
Now, before we declare a clear winner, what about the search engines?
Search Engines on Content-first or Link-first?
So what do the search engines care about more?
For the search engines, we have to focus on On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO.
On-Page SEO refers to the SEO which happens within the content. Off-Page SEO refers to link building and social media sharing.
Source – Neil Patel Blogs
So what do search engines care about more?
Google talks a lot about links. If you check the Google Support page for a “Google-Friendly” site, you will see there is a lot written on links.
Thus, it might convince you that the search engine favors links.
Think again!
The reason is, if you look at the top of the page, you’ll see that Google officially says, offering high-quality content from a digital marketing agency in Kolkata is the #1 thing that you have to do to make a website Google-Friendly.
Source – Google Support
The mission of Google is to help the users in finding the best possible content.
Yes, links are great, but in the end, the links lead to content.
If you don’t have content for the links, you are sending your visitors to a site that doesn’t have any value.
And Google is not going to do that!
Wrapping Up
So, the decision is pretty much clear.
Ideally, you have to work on both content and links, but if you have to choose one, you must start with content.
Content is the backbone of every successful marketing campaign.
People these days want to check the content of anything, be it a TV commercial to a digital marketing ad.
They don’t want a ton of spammy ads. They want to support the brands that can connect with. And you can connect with people through good content.
Good content is how you start with and good content will get your visitors to come back.
Thus, in the end, we can officially declare that it’s not content vs. links, it’s ALWAYS content first!
Get in touch with Skyram Technologies – a pioneering digital marketing agency in Kolkata, for premium content for your website.
India is a land of festivals. Every festival in India is celebrated with passion, be it Diwali, Durga Puja, Eid, or Christmas. Festivals are a time of celebration, sharing happy moments, and most importantly, shopping. This is why these are the best times for the brands to leverage this to showcase their products.
Festivals or occasion-based marketing and advertising campaigns have been the tactical nature with brands. The focus is on discounts or freebies to trigger a purchase. A wide array of brands has started crafting festive and occasion marketing. Thus, it is important to create a content marketing calendar.
At present, the marketer’s job is no longer to rush a prospect through the funnel for purchasing. Instead, it is important to educate and empower the customer to make their own decisions. We need a content strategy for it.
In general, the “ideal” customer journey is the one that results in a quick purchase with the least touch-points. However, the ideal customer journey today is the one that presents the right content, at the right time, in the right place with a seamless transition between assets and channels.
How to create a content marketing calendar – A generic approach
SL. NO.
Facts to remember
Brief summary
1
Audit
Audit your social calendar! Develop a clear picture of your present social media efforts and identify the areas for improvement.
2
Social channels
Choose your social channels wisely and review the best practices for every social media channel you publish your content.
3
Tracking your data
Decide on what data your content marketing calendar needs to track, like time zone, visuals, insights, and more.
4
Content library for assets
This will be your content repository or media resource database where you can re-use existing content for the festivals.
5
Establish a workflow
Once you have collected all possible information, start sketching your daily, weekly, and monthly activities for the festivals.
Creating an approach towards relevant festive marketing and advertising
There is no doubt that every festival witnesses a surge in marketing efforts. There are innumerable brands that try to spread awareness and bring more sales by creating campaigns leveraging the festive spirit.
Yes, discounts work but they are not a long-term plan. Also, with so many brands offering similar types of discounts, you will get lost in them. Also, most of the freebies come from the manufacturer’s perspective. This is why they will have little relevance to what the customer would actually like.
The best marketing and advertising approach for the festivals is to create an emotional and intangible connection. This is how you can make your brand more relevant in the crowd. Gen Z is a business opportunity that you cannot miss out on.
40% of the population commands over $40 billion in spending power. Thus, modern marketers need to build compelling strategies for engaging with Gen Z. Personalized, authentic and experimental conversations and content are important in a purposeful engagement. However, this is where most marketers struggle.
Everyone wants to go viral these days, but not everyone can do that. So how do you execute your content marketing and advertising plans perfectly? Any content marketing campaigns should promote your product, build brand awareness, and also engage with humility.
To do that you have to be shareable! Any campaign is all about shares, especially on social media. If you can make people share your content, you can rest assured that people will notice your brand.
Some unique festive content marketing campaign examples from the last few years
Mochi
Recently, Mochi, a very popular shoe brand did something interesting for Raksha Bandhan. They collaborated with Indian standup comedian Akash Gupta and created a video on “how can a guy avoid getting into the bro zone on Raksha Bandhan”. This is one of the best examples of festive influencer marketing. There was no Happy Raksha Bandhan message, discounts, or offers, just a simple and insightful communication that connects with the chords of the millennial culture. This drove better engagement and conversions compared to any discount.
Pantaloons
Whether it is about spending quality time with your friends and family or catching up with your old friends after a long time, or starting a cute romance with your crush-next-door, this beautiful advertisement from Pantaloons will make you want to leave everything and get into the festive mood. This was one of the best festival ads in 2019.
Bajaj Allianz
Bajaj Allianz, one of the prominent financial institutions of India came up with an advertising campaign with an ad film. It was circulated with the hashtag #ProtectSeZyadaSupport. The idea behind the campaign was to bring a change in the perspective of society. We live in a world where men who have sisters, are always taught to protect their sisters. In this content marketing campaign for Raksha Bandhan, Bajaj Allianz presents a strong message of offering something more than protection and supporting women to achieve their life goals.
Oh! Calcutta
Specialty restaurant Oh! Calcutta created a video for the occasion of Durga Puja. It perfectly captures the essence of how someone feels if they cannot return to Kolkata during the “Pujo”. Not only it created a video, but the brand further went into Instagram for driving engagement asking customers to visit their outlet, capture a moment with their family and friends and upload it with the hashtag #AddaAtOhCalcutta to win vouchers.
One of the most popular jewelry brands, Tanishq narrated a beautiful story about how a woman, who is organizing the Durga Puja for the first time. She is anxious to make sure that everything goes fine. Her father gifts her a pair of bangles as a blessing and comforts her by saying that she has done a brilliant job.
Century Ply
Century Ply is a furniture and wooden products manufacturing organization. It celebrated the unsung clay artisans of Kumortuli without which a Durga Puja would be almost impossible. They created an advertising campaign by urging people to send pictures of the idols being made or the finished idols of Durga Puja along with the name of the artisans making them. Three of the artisans getting the maximum entries were awarded and the top five photographers would win prizes.
GoAir
GoAir leveraged Diwali activation to create digital engagement. They planned a surprise Diwali for the passengers at 30,000 feet. To curate a campaign that will bring a feel-good moment for the GoAir passengers, the brand wanted to make sure that every passenger feels a part of the festivities. It was just another day for the passengers of GoAir because they were boarding the Mumbai flight from Delhi on the eve of Diwali. The cabin crew on completion of the mandatory task of ensuring the safety and comfort of every passenger on the aircraft lit over 180 fireless LED lamps, 30,000 feet above the ground for celebrating the festival of lights with everyone on-board.
Vodafone touched the right chord with their Diwali Ad. The advertising campaign showed how people have forgotten to use their own words to connect with people. Instead, we have switched to forwarding messages to our loved ones. Vodafone encouraged us to connect with our loved ones on a more personal level. They started using the hashtag #YourWordsNotForwards.
If you want more such examples, here is a compilation of the top 10 Durga Puja themed India Ads.
Few things to remember while creating content marketing calendars for festivals
In the above section, we shared some of the best content marketing for festivals in India. Here are some of the factors to remember while creating a content marketing calendar for festivals.
The idea of creating a content marketing calendar for the festivals should be based on a theme, something that connects. You can also make your festival as the theme itself. Start with the existing content assets.
While creating a content marketing calendar for the festivals, a lot of the marketers focus on creating brand new contents from the scratch. Instead, start by taking notes of the existing contents and resources to see what can be repurposed and remixed.
Since you will be creating a content calendar for the festivals in India, you will have a lot of time to plan, schedule, publish, promote, track, and tweak the contents. Start by creating a hyped content about something upcoming in the festivals and post it on different mediums.
You can plan your own unique hashtag. Keep regular editorial meeting plans for editing and bringing new content before the next publishing period. You can also use these meetings to track engagement, conversions, and revenue.
Don’t get stuck into ideas that you cannot implement immediately. Also, don’t get hung up on the “we’ll never be able to do those ideas”. Instead, create a repository of content ideas which you can tap when needed.
How COVID-19 will change the face of the festive content marketing this year?
Advertising is the mirror of society. With the onset of the festive spell, the second half of the year in India is always full of opportunities for small and large scale brands and startups as well. Meeting with friends and family during festivals has been a part of the Indian culture for centuries. This has been captured by the brands in most campaigns. However, this festive season is not the same as the previous years and we know why. This is why the brands have to focus on a new narrative keeping in mind the safety, hygiene, and the need to be careful.
According to Ashish Ohlyan, the Head of Marketing at Cholayil (make of Medimix soaps),
“Our brief to the agency always includes being careful and sensitive to the current environment“. It is important for the brands to be positive and high on hopes. People want to be free from the shackles of the current situation and live a life in the way they always have. He added,
“While we cannot change the situation, we can prepare our mind to be ready and take it head-on. A low-cost FMCG brand can create a new narrative for itself and touch upon the lives of consumers rather than just the usage of the product”.
Shirish Agarwal, the Marketing Head of Communications in Panasonic India, stated that with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the brands will be more aggressive in offering as far as festival schemes possible. At the same time, IPL is also scheduled in this period. Advertising agencies feel that this phase is an opportunity for creative storytelling along with integrating social distancing messages, work from home norms, and hygiene protocols in the marketing campaigns.
Sandeep Sreekumar, the Managing Director at Media Moments mentioned,
“As an agency, we are brainstorming on creative ideas to craft digital campaigns for our brands to promote social messages along with the brand products. Following the idea to be creative yet contextual, we are emphasizing on giving out the message in a manner that sounds interesting to the listener. We are demonstrating innovative communication to support such social messages through our campaigns“.
According to Bhatt, the ads that brag too much about luxury will not be appropriate because the economy has gone down. This is why showing too much luxury and grandeur in the marketing ads will not go well with people this year.
“This year we won’t promote how the festival should be celebrated but we will show how it was celebrated in past years and tell consumers why this year is different and how people in all kinds of situations should and can cherish it in multiple ways,” Bhatt mentioned.
How startups and SMBs can create an effective festive content marketing calendar 2020?
To create an effective content marketing calendar for the festivals, startups and SMBs need to focus on the following factors. Optimal usage of the online mediums is the best way for startups and SMBs to create a great content marketing campaigns within a limited budget.
Embrace user-generated content
There is no doubt that any user-generated content will encourage a whole community to create and share the content of your brand. The content can be anything. It can be photos, videos, infographics, blog, or even a GIF. Thus, brands can create user-generated content campaigns around festivals or create an ongoing activity to keep things rolling.
For instance, Apple started the #ShotoniPhone hashtag to help users in sharing their photos and videos with an iPhone. To date, over 10 million posts have been shared in this hashtag. Using Twitter Moments is also a great alternative for featured content, with, for example, #PujoMoments or #FestiveMoments hashtags.
This is very useful for the brands during the festivals. Instagram allows brands that sell physical products to tag them in Instagram posts and stories. When anyone taps on the tag, the user is redirected to the website to complete a purchase. As brands, you have to get your store approved by Facebook and then publish the inventory on Facebook. This feature is available in more than 40 countries.
Make use of Spotify for Marketing
Display ads during the festivals are something that you cannot miss out on. It is important for any brand. When it is about social media marketing, Spotify will not come upon the marketer’s radar. If you don’t use it, you will miss out on 217 million monthly active users. Brands with brick and mortar outlets are using Spotify for creating custom playlists for their retail stores. You can experiment with sponsored playlists, audio, video, or display ads on Spotify. B2B organizations can show the humanitarian aspect of the organization by releasing curated playlists for their employees or dedicated to their customers.
Engage with Instagram influencers to host contests or giveaways
For the startups and SMBs, it is crucial to identify the micro-influencers of your niche, with good following and engagement. The next step is to run social media festive contests and giveaways. Feel free to experiment with multiple platforms.
Build a hype
This is especially useful for festive marketing advertisements and campaigns. A successful pre-launch campaign on a product or an offer will get people to talk about your brand, increase product anticipation, and ensure that your product sells well. Have a dedicated hashtag, create cryptic posts or you can simply take pre-orders.
Feature your customers and find a way to inject humor
While creating content for marketing and advertising campaigns for the festive seasons, make sure to add your customers and inject a bit of humor into the content. Adding your customers will increase credibility and inject a tinge of fun will help you engage your future audiences. It can be a playful jab at your competitors, goof-ups at the company events, and so on. A little humor never hurts anyone!
That’s it guys. These are the ways to create a content marketing calendar for the festivals in India. We are pretty sure that this blog will help you in crafting your unique content marketing calendar for this festive season.
Content marketing is one of the most important aspects of any business organization that drives growth and boosts results. Creating and delivering valuable content for users will enhance the online reputation and help you build a community for your brand.
There are a lot of reasons to choose content marketing strategies rather than traditional marketing. It helps in generating 97% more backlinks, 55% more traffic, 5X times more leads, costs 62% less than traditional marketing, and 13X times more likely to generate more ROI.
Why is content marketing important?
Apart from the statistics mentioned above, digital marketing educates the prospects and leads regarding the products and services. It helps in enhancing conversions; build relationships between the business organizations and customers. You connect with your audience and create a sense of community through content engagement.
Content engagement and social media marketing are applicable for every sort of business. Brainstorming and creating your ways to pursue a target audience and convert your audience into customers is possible by analyzing the kind of content they prefer. Now that being said, let us share a brief on the different types of content marketing.
What are the different types of content marketing?
There are different forms of digital marketing engagement through content. These include the following:
Social media marketing with contents
Social media platforms have more than 3.7 billion users which is more than half of the world’s population. There are several digital marketing and social media platforms at present (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and more). All these platforms offer a myriad of opportunities to promote different forms of content to different people.
Create and share photos, videos, podcasts, stories, audios, live sessions, blogs, articles or any form of content to connect with your audience. All these platforms can take your audience reach to a whole new level if your content can draw attention from your target groups.
Infographic content marketing
Infographics offer content and information in an easy-to-comprehend and graphical format. Creating simple words, short statements, and clear images, the Infographics are an effective way of expressing your content to your target audience.
Infographics are perfect if you are trying to share any educational content or a bit complicated topic by breaking them up so that the audience can understand it. Infographics make things easy for even a layman to understand things.
Blog content marketing
Creating articles and blogs are extremely important for inbound marketing and sharing information with your target audience. Blogs are useful for converting readers into customers, enhance brand awareness, and build relationships with your audience.
Depending on the goal of a particular blog, you will be able to choose which blog content to promote. Link the blogs in different posts; share the links to social media pages, link your partner’s websites, products, and write about the product line.
Podcast content marketing
For those who are not aware of what a podcast is, it is a media file in an audio format that can be shared and promoted on different social media platforms.
More than 6 million people listen to podcasts at present. Doesn’t it sound amazing? Podcasts have become a popular way to create and share content because of convenience. You have a chance to enjoy them while relaxing on the go.
This is exactly why so many businesses have started creating podcasts. They help businesses enhance brand awareness, develop a relationship with the audience, members, promote the products and services.
Video content marketing
More than 50% of the consumers want to check out videos from the brands that they prefer. Video marketing boosts conversions enhances ROI and helps you in building relationships with your target audience.
You can also share different video content on multiple social media platforms, site pages or video marketing channels and websites to enhance the reach. YouTube is one of the best video marketing platforms available at present.
Paid Ad Content marketing
You can generate organic traffic by creating content but paid ad content is also an effective way to engage your target audience. Paid contents help in reaching a broader spectrum of audience.
There are multiple ways to create and share paid ad content. You can opt for paid ads on social media marketing platforms, publish digital ads on websites like banners or sponsored content.
What are the steps of a feasible content marketing strategy?
The first step is to set up smart goals. These objectives should be in sync with the company objectives. Whether it is to improve brand awareness, boost revenue, enhance conversions, improve loyalty, or draw customer engagement, make sure you work one specific action at a time.
The next step is to determine the KPIs (Key performance indicators). Analyze the data points (brand awareness, revenue, conversions, engagement, and more) to evaluate the actual performance against your goal.
Now, you need to sort out the type of content you want to share for the kind of audience. Start by focusing on the target audience and their buyer personas. Think about what do they want, why do they need you, how can your product/service help them achieve their objectives.
Next is, choosing the right content channels. When you know what to share, it is time to think about where to share. For instance, if you create blog content, your channel will be the website or the blogger account. If you want to post engaging/funny/promotional media content, then opt for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Whereas LinkedIn is perfect for a tad bit more professional, job-related posts, organizational promotions, and services.
Then you have to set up a budget you want to spend. Think about the kind of content you will create and the amount you want to spend on the channels for marketing the content. This is specifically true if it is a paid ad content.
The next step is to create and distribute the content. Create a social media marketing calendar to ensure consistency between creating and sharing content periodically or regularly. It will help you and your team to stay on top of content marketing, especially if a post needs to be scheduled ahead of time.
The final step is to analyze and evaluate the results. It will let you know where to make the necessary changes and what is working as expected. That’s how you fine-tune your content marketing efforts to reach more audiences.
Effective content marketing enables you to reach your target audience and enhances conversions with time. Determine the type of content that works best for your audience and create a marketing strategy to reach optimal ROI.
If you are in search of effective and professional content and social media marketing company, get in touch with Skyram Technologies here!
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