The Power of Content Marketing in a Digital World
Content marketing takes time and effort because you actually have to listen to your customers and know what their needs and challenges are.
You can no longer solve your marketing problems by just purchasing advertising, even if it’s a high profile space such as a Super Bowl ad. You must make a real connection to your current and potential customers by focusing on information that addresses their true concerns. In today’s digital marketing world, what the customer wants is more important than what you have to sell. Your message across the board must be in sync with your niche.
So how do you achieve your marketing goals in today’s world of blogs and social networking? The simple answer — and the not so simple answer — is content marketing. For many businesses content marketing requires a whole new mindset. For this reason alone, content marketing in the digital media age can be a challenge.
Here are a few points to better help you understand the power of content marketing.
– Content is more important than the offer.
– Customer relationships don’t end with the payment.
– News and press releases are no longer just meant to be picked up by the press; Official statements should be compelling and help customers find your content on the web.
– Permission transferred is permission lost.
– Communicating directly with customers is ideal. Keep in mind, content marketing can impact your influence, authority, online reputation, and SEO search rankings.
– Hiring a content editor is quickly becoming a must for many companies.
– Most business websites talk a great deal about how great the company, products, or services are but they forget about the customer.
– The blogging community can be just as influential, if not more than traditional media and news sources.
– Collaboration is critical. Work with your teams — social media, branding, PR, marketing, design, and sometimes even your technical staff and customers — when developing key content and distribution channels for your content marketing strategy.
– The old way of marketing is where businesses talked at customers, constantly interrupting their lives. Content marketing and its top trends for 2014 point to the importance of connecting with customers. Neuro-marketing and native advertising principles can also affect content marketing.
You can experience content marketing first-hand by developing a content calendar, including your “owned media” in social media networks, starting a blog, white paper, and similar efforts. Write information that your customers want to read instead of dictating to them. You learn the lesson quickly by evaluating your insights and analytics. Content marketing is art and science combined.
