Content marketing has caught on with businesses in the last few years.  Funny enough, the basic principles that encompass the realm of content marketing are things that most businesses have already been doing.  Giving away free content in order to attract attention from potential consumers is nothing new - although ‘content marketing‘ as a discipline is a new way of looking at the subject in the digital era.

Major corporations have used the idea of ‘free content‘ for decades to entice people to learn more about their brands.  The Internet makes it even easier to do the same - since it’s a near-perfect platform for content distribution.  When you combine content marketing with lead capture, you have a real chance to acquire targeted prospects who are a fit for your company’s products.

Today’s content marketing requires companies to follow a few rules in order to succeed.  Focusing on high-quality content, direct engagement with consumers, and remaining committed to continuously producing fresh content will ensure your company maximizes it’s foray into the content marketing arena.

Your Content Has To Be Good

The Internet is literally awash with information. There’s no shortage of it.  There is a shortage of extremely well-constructed and high-quality content, though. If you can focus on offering unique content that explains concepts in a way that consumers can easily understand - you bridge the gap between you and your clients.

It’s a good idea to include charts, graphs, images, and videos in your content marketing plan all designed to help people understand your business and your message.  You’re dealing with a very fragmented audience so it’s important to target your campaigns as strictly as you can.  If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is!  Content marketing is the opposite of ‘slapping something together‘ once and praying for results.  You’ll need to commit to an ongoing, relentless campaign that builds upon the work you’ve already done.  Content can go stale pretty quickly online, even if it’s great.

There’s no point in committing to anything less than the highest quality when it comes to content creation.  There’s no way for you to stand out unless you do.  You won’t command much of the attention span of the average person so you have to really dig deep to make the most of your one opportunity with them.

Your Content Should Make It Easy For Users To Engage With You

Forget the idea of ‘broadcasting‘ your content to the world.  Instead you’ll need to follow social media marketing best practices that include direct engagement.  Hopefully your content will be shared a lot.  When it is, numerous people may be influenced enough to contact your company. When you engage with them you can directly answer their objections and lead them into your sales funnel.  All your content marketing efforts should be well-integrated with a tightly-defined sales funnel.

These days, there are hundreds of potential platforms where you can distribute content.  There’s no limit to the different media you can use, either.  Videos, images, infographics, blog posts, and eBooks are all formats that can attract traffic. It’s always a good idea to create specific content for the platform you’re targeting.  YouTube users are different from Facebook users who are completely different from Twitter lovers.  There’s no way to craft a ‘one size fits all‘ message for the modern Internet.

If all of this sounds like a ton of work - it is!  There’s no getting around it.  Content marketing takes a lot of effort to do successfully.  The good news built into that statement is that it’s also very hard for your competition.  Chances are high they’ll give up before you do, if you’re truly committed to success.

Keep It Coming!

Once the basic elements of your sales and marketing funnel are set up - you move on to the ‘consistent effort phase.’ Online content goes stale quicker than a three day old loaf of bread!  Anyone who embarks on this journey needs to understand that one piece of content will rarely be enough to capture leads consistently.  Even if something is successful, it tends to die off quickly.  An efficient system of content creation is needed.  Studying your industry and niche in detail can help you identify the types of problems clients and prospects are having.  Structuring content around those issues is an easy way to maintain a steady stream of new marketing pieces into your many distribution channels.

By now you’ve probably accumulated quite a few ‘social accounts.’ All of us have.  Although it’s a pain to do so, updating these networks by hand is effective.  Crafting your update statuses in a way that speaks to the audience at that site is a must. These networks are designed for sharing so no one is surprised to learn there’s a new blog post available. If they’re interested - you have a decent chance of engaging with them.

Content marketing a long war of attrition.  Many will be called - but few will be chosen.  Most companies that set their minds to marketing this way will give up quickly when they realize how hard it is to gain attention from an online audience.  Others - who are open-minded and sensitive to the nuances of their target market - will stick with it, even when the results are minimal.  They always are at first.

A Note About Mobile And Content Marketing

Before I end, I’d like to mention the importance of creating content that is mobile friendly.  In the last few months I’ve noticed a large swing on multiple websites I managed towards a mobile audience.  Mobile marketing is no longer the future - it’s clearly part of the present.  Make sure you’re catering to this audience and the special needs of their mobile devices. Responsive design and a bit of planning go a long way towards ensuring you’re getting the most out of your mobile content marketing efforts.

Content marketing is here to stay. It’s a complex process of acquiring clients - but no organization can afford to ignore it.  Internet use continues to grow.  Businesses that hope to exploit this huge market will have to play by the ‘new rules’ of marketing - even if they borrow heavily from the past.

Thanks for stopping by and reading! Good luck with your efforts.