Content marketing has been the silent revolutionary of the industry for years. It is an incredible form of marketing where the vendor creates valuable content that is useful to their target market and gives it to them for free. I know it may seem to be counter productive, but it establishes the vendor as an expert who cares about their customers.
Why do you think Marvel released the G.I. Joe comic book series? Because it would be inspirational reading? No. It was a promotional tool to give the G.I Joe action figures an exciting back-story that would motivate their target market to desire their products.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
The same principle is employed by many companies today and I consider it to be the most effective form of marketing because you are not deceiving the market, or simply beating them over the head with your value proposition, you are giving them value that is actually benefiting them. The byproduct of this interchange is then a positive association with your brand and an increased chance of them doing business with you in the future.
Other benefits include
- Increased search engine ranking
- Expert status can allow you to specialize
- Better conversion rates on your website
Here is a great video released by the Content Marketing Institute, that gives you a fast overview of the history of content marketing (it may even give you some ideas). Warning- the music is irritating, mute while watching for best results.
Can you benefit from content marketing? Let me know what you think in the comments!
PS: Next week we will be looking at how content marketing can dramatically boost your sales. If you want suggestions specific to your industry, tell me in the comments.