The Importance of Content Paradigm Shifts: Insights from Varun Mehta, AVP of Digital Marketing at OYO
In today's digital world, content marketing has become an essential tool for businesses looking to build their brand image, create high-quality content, build their dream content team, and track progress seamlessly on a single dashboard. To discuss the importance of content marketing, we have with us Varun Mehta, the AVP of Digital Marketing at OYO. In this Q&A, we will be discussing his career journey, the importance of content, and how businesses can leverage it to achieve their goals.
1. Can you tell us about your career journey so far?
I started my career as a software engineer, but soon realized my passion for marketing. After completing my MBA from IIM Rohtak, I worked with several businesses to understand their customer execution channels. Before joining OYO, I worked at Google as a senior campaign manager, helping clients generate better ROI.
2. How do you define content marketing, and why is it important for businesses?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience. It is essential for businesses because it helps them build their brand image, create high-quality content at speed and scale, build their dream content team, and track progress seamlessly on a single dashboard.
The content paradigm has shifted significantly over the years. Campaigns have become more costly, and that's why big players are focusing on inbound marketing. There are 250 touchpoints before purchasing, and content allows you to present at all stages of the funnel.
With the invention of AI and tools to tweak and drive personalization in content, businesses can create high-quality content at speed and scale.
3. Can you elaborate on the importance of creating high-quality content?
Creating high-quality content is essential in today's marketplace because it helps businesses stand out from the competition, build trust with their audience, and engage with them on a deeper level. High-quality content also helps businesses build their brand image, generate leads, and drive conversions.
4. How can businesses create high-quality content at scale?
Creating high-quality content at scale requires a well-defined content strategy, a strong team of content creators, and the right tools and technology. Businesses should start by defining their target audience and creating a content calendar that aligns with their goals. They should also invest in a team of content creators with the right skills and experience, and use tools such as content management systems, analytics, and automation to streamline their content creation process.
5. What metrics do you use to measure your content performance?
It's important to measure your content performance, but it might take some time to generate results as it accounts for different processes such as interlinking, and indexing. It also requires upfront investing and marketing. So, Some of the metrics that businesses can use to measure their content performance include website traffic, engagement, lead generation, and conversion rates.
Before making content, ask yourself: What is the purpose of this content, and what metrics do I want to measure?
6. How can businesses build their dream content team?
Building a dream content team requires a clear understanding of the skills and experience required for different content creation roles. Businesses should first define their content strategy and identify the skills and experience required for each role. They should then create job descriptions that reflect these requirements and use the right channels to attract the right talent. Businesses should also invest in training and development programs to keep their content team up to date with the latest trends and tools.
7. How important is it for businesses to track progress in terms of content marketing?
Tracking progress seamlessly on a single dashboard is crucial for businesses looking to optimize their content strategy and achieve their goals. It allows businesses to monitor their content performance, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. Businesses should use tools such as Google Analytics and content management systems to track their content performance and create custom dashboards that reflect their specific goals and metrics.
8. How can businesses ensure their content is engaging and relevant to their target audience?
Creating engaging and relevant content requires a deep understanding of your target audience's needs, preferences, and pain points. Businesses should start by defining their target audience and creating buyer personas that reflect their specific characteristics. They should then use these personas to create content that addresses their specific needs, preferences, and pain points. Businesses should also use tools such as surveys, focus groups, and social media listening to gather feedback and insights from their target audience.
Content marketing is an effective way to engage with customers at every stage of the customer journey, or what is often called the "funnel." The funnel represents the various stages a customer goes through, from initial awareness of the brand or product to eventual purchase. By creating and distributing relevant and valuable content, a brand can establish trust, educate and inform potential customers, and ultimately guide them toward making a purchase.
9. What are the common mistakes businesses make when it comes to content marketing?
The most common mistakes businesses make when it comes to content marketing include focusing too much on sales and not enough on building relationships with their audience, creating content that is not relevant or engaging to their target audience, neglecting to measure their content performance, and make data-driven decisions, not investing in a strong team of content creators with the right skills and experience, and failing to create a well-defined content strategy that aligns with their business goals
10. What do you expect from a good content marketing platform?
Ease of use and functionality - The platform should be user-friendly, offering a variety of features and tools to create, distribute, and analyze content effectively.
Content planning and management - The platform should provide a centralized location for managing content planning, creation, and distribution efforts. It should allow the creation of content calendars, managing content assets, and collaboration with team members and stakeholders.
Content creation and optimization - The platform should offer tools that help create and optimize content for different channels and formats. It should have a content editor and features for optimizing content for search engines and social media platforms, including keyword research, meta tags, and social sharing.
Content distribution - The platform should offer multiple options for distributing content across different channels, including social media, email, and other marketing channels. It should have integrations with popular social media platforms and email marketing tools.
Analytics and reporting - The platform should provide comprehensive analytics and reporting features that help track the performance of content across different channels and formats. It should provide insights into content's impact on the audience, help make data-driven decisions, and optimize content strategy accordingly.
In summary, an ideal content marketing platform should be easy to use, offer tools for content planning, creation, optimization, and distribution, and provide comprehensive analytics and reporting features for better decision-making.
Conclusion
In conclusion, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience. It is essential for businesses looking to build their brand image, create high-quality content at speed and scale, build their dream content team, and track progress seamlessly on a single dashboard.
To create high-quality content, businesses should invest in a well-defined content strategy, a strong team of content creators, and the right tools and technology. They should also measure their content performance using metrics such as website traffic, engagement, lead generation, and conversion rates. Thank you for joining us for this Q&A with Varun Mehta, the AVP of Digital Marketing at OYO. We hope you found this discussion informative and insightful.
