I’m sure you keep hearing “content marketing” all over the place and you may even think it’s just the latest buzzword that everyone is throwing around. Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s not! Content marketing is nothing new and it’s nothing that will die anytime soon. So you may want to listen up because customers today are much more savvy and have higher expectations than ever before. In addition to that, breaking through marketing clutter is no easy task now that end users are bombarded with 3,000 to 5,000 messages per day. This, my friends, is why content marketing is more than just a buzzword and something you may find useful.
So what is content marketing? Content marketing is the method of delivering valuable and relevant content (at the right time) to your defined audience in an effort to drive positive customer action.
This content can be original creations or curated from existing material, but the content does not “sell” or pitch your company or products. The content is something your audience seeks out and wants to consume because it’s informative and meant to help the customer become more intelligent. This is critical and what sets content marketing apart from all other forms of marketing. Marketers that use this method by delivering valuable and relevant content in a consistent way are more likely to gain the trust from their target audience over the competition—resulting in higher customer acquisition, retention and loyalty rates.
Content marketing may seem like the answer to all of your marketing woes, but it doesn’t come without an investment of time and resources. So it must make business sense for your situation. In order to determine if content marketing is right for you, start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What do you hope to accomplish with a content marketing plan? Is it brand awareness, lead nurturing, customer conversion, etc.? It’s important to note, ROI is not your answer here. Trying to tie content marketing to ROI is like trying to tie your computer to ROI.
- How big of a need do you have and can you justify the investment?
- What is the scope of your plan and do you have the right resources?
- What obstacles may be in your way and how can you overcome them?
- What are the risks if you don’t implement a content marketing plan?
If your head is spinning from all of this content marketing talk and you’re still unsure, just think about how many emails or ads you see that you completely disregard because the message doesn’t pertain to you. Well, your customers do the same—just put yourself in their shoes because their perspective is pretty amazing!
Ready to learn more about content marketing and Inbound Marketing? Use our checklist to see where you stand:
