Who Cares about Content Marketing?

If you care about the success of your organization,
YOU should care about Content Marketing.

But what is it? and how is it any different from traditional marketing or advertising methods?

Content marketing uses online content for promotional purposes leading to a profitable customer action — this could be clicking a link, filling out a form, or buying a product. While this might not sound like a groundbreaking concept, it’s this very idea that drives online marketing, and generates profits for B2B companies and organizations utilizing it.

Why are you online in the first place?

Chances are you understand the importance of advertising online, and want to reach the greatest amount of potential customers possible — the fact is: your customers are online. Unfortunately your website is probably not enough to broadcast your message to your target audience…especially if they can’t find you.

Content marketing helps extend your reach by creating content that your target audience wants to read — content including: blogs, white papers, case studies, ebooks, etc. This is what sets it apart from other forms of marketing. Instead of copy focused on the benefits of your company or product, content marketing seeks to solve issues and answer questions important to your customer base.

For instance, if you own and operate a home and business alarm security company, content marketing would focus on security issues that your customers would find interesting. This could be safety tips, guides, how-to’s, etc. NOT how good your product is, or why it’s better than the competition (the main pages of your website are good for this kind of direct-sales information).

Why would you want to do this?

At first glance, it may seem like this is counter-productive to increasing sales for your company. Traditional marketing focuses largely on self-promotion, but the Internet has not only changed how businesses need to market themselves…it’s changed how consumers think about businesses and make buying decisions.

Your customers are already researching your products online (and the products of your competitors). So why not give yourself a leg up?

Sticking with the example of the home and business alarm company…if a customer looking for a new home security system stumbles upon your blog post about 5 Summer Fire Safety Tips, they not only know of your brand as reputable and knowledgeable in the field, but this goes a LONG way in convincing a potential customer that you are a company worth doing business with.

Let’s face it…we’re all getting better at seeing through sales jargon. Content marketing aims not to use overly ‘sales-y’ language — but instead to foster relationships with potential customers. By showing your audience that you care about the problems that your products or services help solve (instead of simply trying to sell YOUR SPECIFIC PRODUCTS), they will trust your brand.

And even though you weren’t overtly trying to sell them…you will.