Apps: The holy grail of content marketing

And with a steady stream of headlines blaming technology for our distractedness and app addictions, it's no surprise that savvy content marketers are starting to use this to their advantage. Apps may distract, but the good news for content marketers is that people are still excited about them and constantly searching for the latest apps to download.

From apps that detect serious car accidents and dispatch lifesaving emergency services, such as Crash Detech, to lifestyle apps like SnapScan and UberEats, apps are taking the world by storm.

Image © http://www.oracle.com/oms/social-influencer/image-influence-steve-2255223.jpg

So how can apps positively impact content marketing strategies? Simple. By piggybacking on this popular trend, brands can generate increased content exposure.

As an example, Mastercard’s brand storytelling agency recognised that online content pegged around their ‘2Kuze’ app that connects farmers, agents, and buyers for greater pricing transparency had all the right ingredients to perform well: an innovative product that satisfied a need, and something that fundamentally changed the lives of those who use it. News around the app was so popular that it earned over 8,800 Google news search results!

You’ve probably heard of UberEats. That’s because since Uber launched their UberEats app in South Africa last year, the term ‘UberEats South Africa’ has earned a whopping 356,000 Google news results! So it should come as no surprise then, that affiliates Kauai and Food24 are pegging content on it.

And currently, nothing can top WhatsApp news. The term ‘WhatsApp’ generates 25,200,000 Google news results and the keyword ‘WhatsApp’ earns 1 to 10 million monthly searches globally. Now that’s a lot of traction! Unsurprisingly, sites like the Huffington Post are also pegging content on this popular search term.

So why is strategic content so important for marketing strategies?

Gone are the days when people picked up an enormous Yellow Pages to search for a business, because the age of tech-savvy consumers is here, and is here to stay.

If you keep hearing, “We need more online content” or, “What is the digital PR strategy behind the campaign?” in marketing meetings, you’re not alone. Brands have woken up to the power of Google and SEO companies are working tirelessly to master and optimise Google’s ever-changing algorithm to help brands rank on page 1 of Google’s search results.

Bill Gates was right when he said, “Content is king”. Sharing rich content enables search engines to index it and serve it up to potential consumers when appropriate search phrases are used.

Conclusion

Content pegged on tech news and innovations has historically performed well and with our convenience-driven, ‘there’s an app for that’ lifestyles, online users want to know what’s new and exciting in the app market.

Personal technology is more engaging than ever, so if your brand has an app (or has one in the pipeline), why not peg your digital PR efforts on it and benefit from the popularity of this trend?