Instead of pitching your products or services, provide truly relevant and useful content to your prospect and customers to help them solve their issues.
Looking back in the 1800s content marketing has always existed, there were quite a few companies literally learning how to build lasting relationships with their customers not by talking about products and services but by trying to provide value to customers, a good example is John Deere. John Deere is a manufacturer of agricultural equipment and tools for mechanized farming and they based in the US. They started a magazine called Furrow magazine in 1895, in this magazine, farmers could get accurate and unbiased information about farming tools to improve operations in their farms. The strategy here was to give more value rather than directly selling, Fact is in today’s market people know when they are being sold to, people are more aware, more socially conscious about trends and marketing tactics.
Now, the strategy of content marketing helps to build connections before a sale. This is exactly what John Deere did with the Furrow, if you look through each edition of Furrow magazine the name John Deere was probably mentioned maybe 10 times or slightly more in over 120 years of publication. Essentially, this how content marketing works, the brands that actually get it are those that focus on being part of the information and the value it brings.
Content marketing is all about the consumers. consumers are looking to consume high-quality content that inspires them to buy something they didn’t know they needed. Another brand that puts this well is Procter and Gamble. P&G sells a lot of household consumables, and in the early 50s P&G wanted to reach more mothers and stay-at-home moms, they knew their target audience is moms, but how do they get them to use more of their products? To pull moms closer they created content that will be immersive in strategy, so, they created soap operas on Tv with immersive content and characters. Their products where been used in the soaps and moms were able to connect themselves with these characters who used the products and unconsciously were also using the product too at home, this increased product sellout at retails stores nationwide in the US. The soaps gave moms something to look forward to when they need to catch a break from daily home chores.
Today, Brands must understand that they need to focus on the audiences and what is important to them.
Let the consumers see the value you bring to the table, while the brand is also saying we can give you this product or services too. Focus on the audience and what they love and what they really care about, trying to build off a value in that space is something any brand should be doing.
Regardless of what type of marketing tactics you use, content marketing should be part of your process, not something separate.
Business Goals of content marketing.
Brand awareness or reinforcement
This is almost always the first thing that is thought of when you look at content marketing. The goal may be that you are just trying to find a more effective way than advertising to create awareness for your product or service. This is the long-tail strategy. Content marketing is a great vehicle for that, as it’s organic, authentic, and a great way for you to start driving engagement with your brand.
Lead conversion and nurturing
How you define a lead will vary but from a content marketing perspective, this is where you have (through the exchange of engaging content) encouraged someone to give up enough information about themselves that you now have permission to “market” to them. This can include signing up for a “demo”, registering for an event, subscribing to your e-newsletter, or gaining access to your Resource Center. Once you have the prospect’s permission, you can use content to help move them through the buying cycle.
Customer conversion
In many cases, you already have a ton of content in this area. This is where, as marketers, we have traditionally focused. The “proof points” to the sale. Examples include case studies you send to your prospects that illustrate how you’ve solved the problem before or the “testimonials” section on your client page. Ultimately, this is the content you’ve created as a marketer to illustrate to the hot prospect why your solution is better or will uniquely meet his or her needs.
Customer loyalty/retention
Just like you have a planned lead nurturing process to turn prospects into customers, you also need a planned customer retention strategy. If your ultimate goal is to turn customers into passionate subscribers who share your stories, this area needs major attention. Options may be a customer e-newsletter or printed newsletter, a print or tablet magazine, or possibly a user event or webinar.
Customer upsell
Marketing doesn’t stop at the “checkout” button any longer. If you’re particularly good at using content to service the customer in a subscribe model, you also have the opportunity to be effective at creating ongoing engagement for the other products and services you offer. Why stop communicating with prospects once they become customers? Instead, communicate with them more frequently and engage them with additional value.
Passionate subscribers
If you can successfully move customers to this stage, you have really accomplished something. Content and especially content generated by satisfied customers can be one of the most powerful ways for us to reach any business goal. This is when content marketing starts to work for you exponentially. Apple is the quintessential example of this. Ask yourself what their content marketing strategy is. They have no social media presence. They have no blog. But they have successfully built their passionate subscriber base and these people create fan sites, write, share, and evangelize the Apple brand. Your ultimate goal should be to create a community of evangelists who are prepared to fight for your brand.
So which of these goals makes sense for your content marketing?
