So, what is content marketing anyway? The idea was this: If you spend your time in your business trying to do the right thing, to do good for your customers and your employees, to be honest and forthright in your business dealings, to try to actively do good in your community, to help others, you can’t help but do well in the long run. Most Marketing Is Self Centered, but Content Marketing Is all About Helping Others The idea behind content marketing is simple: Instead of creating a beautiful advertisement to persuade customers to check out your business, product, or service, create a useful piece of content, something your customers actually want. Content Marketing Is a Free Gift in Exchange for Website Traffic or an Email Address Content marketing is a term that can be scary, but it’s just a piece of content (written, video, or otherwise) that people want, that answers a question, that teaches them a skill, that contains valuable information that they want, that helps them learn more about something your business specializes in. Content marketing is how you get people to your website and on your email list. If You Start a Relationship by Giving a Gift, You’re Helping Your Potential Customer and Demonstrating Your Value in the Process And I think this is the most critical part about content marketing that many folks miss. It’s not just about giving away something valuable for free, about showing your potential customers that you’re a good company and do nice things for nice people. You start with the smaller, less valuable pieces and lead your prospect to larger, costlier (relatively speaking), more valuable ones. For others, these ever-more-valuable content chains lead to a product or a service, something that the prospect finally realizes they want, that they have to pay for. It’ll walk you through the process of creating language that connects with your customers, language you can use in all your content marketing efforts.
So, what is content marketing anyway?
Content marketing is all about helping people (and helping yourself along the way).
One of my favorite professors of all time really pushed this idea into my thick little skull:
Don’t just do well: Do well by doing good.
The idea was this: If you spend your time in your business trying to do the right thing, to do good for your customers and your employees, to be honest and forthright in your business dealings, to try to actively do good in your community, to help others, you can’t help but do well in the long run.
Content marketing is the physical manifestation of this idea in the marketing space.
Most Marketing Is Self Centered, but Content Marketing Is all About Helping Others
The idea behind content marketing is simple: Instead of creating a beautiful advertisement to persuade customers to check out your business, product, or service, create a useful piece of content, something your customers actually want.
Something they’re searching for.
Something that will draw them in.
Make them interested.
Move them to action.
And, hopefully, inspire them to look at the other things you have to offer.
(Now, this is not to say that advertising is worthless, but it has its time and place, and increasingly, there is less time and fewer places for advertising — people are sick of it).
Content Marketing Is a Free Gift in Exchange for Website Traffic or an Email Address
Content marketing is a term that can be scary, but it’s just a piece of content (written, video, or otherwise) that people want, that answers a question, that teaches them a skill, that contains valuable information that they want, that helps them learn more about something your business specializes in.
You’re giving that valuable information away for free, and in exchange, the person comes to your website.
It’s like giving away free samples of your product to anyone who comes into your store, advertising the giveaway far and wide, and then watching as potential customers stream through the door.
You’re doing something nice for potential customers to get them to notice you, and in return, some of them become actual customers. Some of those customers become lifelong customers, justifying the cost of the promotion and advertising.
So, What Is Content Marketing (and What’s the Point)?
Content marketing is how you get people…
COMMENTS