Marketing is the ongoing struggle to get people to receive and act upon your message. You want those butts on seats, eyes on websites, and dollars in your business' coffers. The Internet age hasn't made the struggle easier, since it seems that people's attention spans are shorter than ever.
Fortunately, content marketing can help increase your numbers. So sit back, strap in, and enjoy this short but informative primer on content marketing.
Good content means more business
What Is Content Marketing, Anyway?
According to a reputable online resource for content marketing, "Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience - with the objective of driving profitable customer action."
In other words, it's good content, smartly aimed at your demographic, that induces people to become customers. Pretty simple, right? Well, it's simple once you figure out how to do it properly. And how does one do that, you ask?
Define Everyone's Needs ...
First of all, you need to have a plan, and in order to have a plan, you need to outline what your needs are, and what the perceived needs of your audience are. In terms of defining your business' needs, you need to figure out what your business goals are, how your products and services can do this, and how do you measure whether or not you succeeded.
In terms of ascertaining customer needs, you need to decide on what demographic you're going after, what kind of things that particular demographic wants, and what obstacles you need to overcome in getting people to become customers.
With defined needs and goals, you can put together an intelligent strategy.
... Then Incorporate Content Marketing Tools Into Your Strategy
There are many ways of practicing good content marketing. As you try out different means, you may eventually find that there is no one clear right answer, but rather a well-balanced combination of several methods. Those methods include:
Web Content. Good content marketing includes web pages that practice good Search Engine Optimization (SEO), exemplified by elements such as well-chosen keywords, and original content that's both interesting and informative. You may have heard the expression "Content is king"; it's more than just a catch phrase. Good content brings in users and is persuasive enough to result in conversions.
Podcasts And Videos. Podcasts are everywhere these days. Consider putting together audio presentations that make a case for your goods and services, then embedding it on your website. Or, since most people are motivated by visuals, consider making short, five-minute videos that can be uploaded to YouTube (in fact, it wouldn't hurt to create a YouTube profile for your business!).
Infographics. Infographics are an eye-catching way of passing on vital information. Most of these come in a long vertical format and are chock-full of charts, interesting statistics, and informative graphs. They are an excellent way of getting persuasive information across to casual visitors to your website.
These are just some of the ways you can use content to market your business better. "How to Generate More Leads than Ever in 2015 with Content Marketing" goes into even further detail on the subject. Just remember; the key is to keep it short, sweet, direct, and relevant. Clever content marketing means more business, so make sure it's a key element of your outreach strategy.
John Terra has been generating content in one form or another for the past 30 years, and counting.