It’s a bit of a buzz expression I know, a bit like social media and the like. So do you really need to pay attention or will ‘content marketing’ go away in time?

Here’s a quick heads up – we’re all making our buying decisions differently today to how we were just a year or so ago.

We’re cynical about traditional advertising – advertisers are increasingly desperate to use clever CGI graphics and mind boggling creativity to grab our attention – have you noticed? Does it make a difference to what you think? Or what buying choices you might make?

More likely, you’re interested in what your friends, peers and thought leaders think. You trust them more and value their feedback.

Enter content marketing – here to act as that ‘thought leader’, propagating winning websites with relevant, topical, interesting content that customers and prospects will seek out when they’re in the market to buy.

And yes, you need to sign post to it – otherwise only your loyal following will read it. So, content marketing is about generating great content and using the right social media channels to promote your content in areas where your target audience hang out.

So, find out what matters to your customers, what’s their pain, their lifestyle choices, and career ambitions? What would make their job easier? Identify the things that matter to them, then hone in on the ones that your company can do something about.

Now we’re talking!

Read the above paragraph again – it’s important – because if you do what it says, you’ll cut the unnecessary wordy blurb, and start producing content that matters – the ‘killer content’ everyone wants.

The facts

Research* shows that B2B companies that invest in content marketing, and focus on customising their content to their target audience, generate 67% more leads than their competitors.

And content creation is ranked as the single most effective SEO technique right now. Plus it costs 67% less than traditional marketing!

What more can I say? If you’re seeking to grow your business, find new customers, gain a competitive edge etc etc, you do need it. Content marketing is here to stay for as long as we all wish to be treated as individuals and are acting with independent minds. I don’t see that changing for some time to come yet.

For advice or a chat around the subject and how it can help you, call me, I’d be happy to help.

P.S Don’t get bogged down with thoughts of  ‘I don’t know what to write’, or ‘I don’t have the time’, that’s what I’m here for, just pick up the phone 🙂

*Source: actonsoftware.com