Driving Results Through High-Value Content

 Recently, we did a presentation on strategic content marketing for the 2016 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) International Conference, and we thought the continued and growing interest in the subject bears further discussion, especially for entrepreneurs.

Many entrepreneurs may have heard the term content marketing without much context or elaboration. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The definition above can largely be boiled down to one word: value. Content marketing differs from traditional marketing in that the message’s audience wants to consume the content being provided. Instead of changing the channel when your commercial comes on the TV or angrily clicking away from a pop-up ad, potential customers seek out quality material provided by savvy content marketers.

Here are some simple examples:

Although we tend to think of content marketing as a 21st century, digital marketing endeavor, the truth is that it’s been around for a long, long time. Jell-O was an early adopter. Its audience was young mothers, and what that audience valued was tasty, time-saving recipes that they could whip up quickly to serve the needs of their family. Today, their website maintains that same focus.

The website Marketing Land points to some more recent examples. Coke’s “Share a Coke” campaign, for instance, found a way to add personalization to its product by picking about 150 common names and putting them on Coke labels. Doesn’t sound that valuable? Don’t doubt the attraction of personalization to many consumers.

Whatever the source of value, content marketing is powerful because consumers are engaged. And engagement will ultimately drive sales. For a new business, giving your audience something they value is a great way to get your brand out in front of an interested audience without spending a lot of money on expensive advertising your customers would rather ignore.

We’ve written a number of blogs posts on content marketing, which you can find here.

 

Recommended Reading:

Best Practices in Influencer Marketing

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