Killing it in Content – A brief guide to Content Marketing

According to the Content Marketing Institute , C ontent marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behaviour. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy.

At the core of your content marketing should be interesting and useful content that adds values to consumer’s lives and can help solve the problems they have.

A new Australian report looking into the B2B Marketing Outlook 2016 has this week been published by Green Hat in association with ADMA, Marketing Magazine and B2B Marketing UK.

Two of the key findings of the report were around the importance that businesses are attaching to content marketing

Quality content is required to effectively drive inbound traffic. According to Social Media Today , “Too many companies believe that only their product must provide value. But in fact their communication should provide value as well.”

Content marketing is your chance to earn trust and become a resource centre, delivering content that solves problems; answers questions and can inspire action. We need to earn the right to pitch. Today, companies need to be respectful of their customers, to contribute to their lives in ways that are relevant and meaningful. Today, it’s more important than ever to deliver value over and above your products and services.

The main purpose for your content is to be a resource for your audience – by building value and trust with your audience, you will gradually earn the right to ask for a sale.

Where do I find good content?

Start with your own internal staff and they questions they answer to customers every day. Your own FAQ guides, internal processes, areas on innovation. Share the type of information that you know your customers are interested in.

What types of content should I be creating?

Content marketing comes in a range of formats. Keep it interesting by delivering a range of different content types.

How do I “share” my content?

Social media is great for sharing quality content, posting to your company LinkedIn or Facebook pages with a link back to the full article on the website are a great way to get relevant visitors onto your site to explore your range of products or services offered.

Your corporate database is another great place to start. Create a monthly or quarterly newsletter that consistently offers quality content relevant to your target audience.

As with most things in marketing, consistency and planning are key. If you are like 77% of businesses and see the relevance of content marketing to help grow your business, ensure you have a strategy as to how content marketing will be used, how and who will create it and how you share it. Once you have decided on a plan of action, do it consistently.