Content Marketing is a broad term used to describe the creation and distribution of unique and valuable content to engage, educate (or entertain), and ultimately convert highly-targeted prospects into customers. It encompasses a growing trend where businesses openly share some of their most valuable information with clients in order to establish themselves as thought leaders and industry experts in their field. Content Marketing is a very effective way to establish trust and credibility among those who benefit from this shared expertise. In a sense, these prospects are “pre-sold” well before a buying decision is ever made.
Further, Content Marketing forms the cornerstone of any organic (natural or non-paid) search engine optimization strategy. Ideally, this information-rich content should be created around well-researched and relevant keywords and phrases. In other words, it should speak directly to – and be easily found by – those who search for it. It represents a dramatic shift away from old-school interruption marketing where the goal was to pull prospects away from what they were doing (i.e., watching TV, listening to the radio, or reading a magazine) and force feed them information about the products and services being advertised. Instead, Content Marketing is all about providing true value to those who raise their hands and ask for it through their online search habits.
Why should you care?
Quite simply because Content Marketing effectively levels the playing field between small start-up businesses and billion-dollar world class operations. In the online world, just about any business can produce and distribute large amounts of high-quality, keyword-rich content on an ongoing basis. The same obviously can’t be said for buying a 60-second spot during the Super Bowl (or even a large display ad in the local newspaper). What’s more, once that content has been created and published online, it will continue to add value into the foreseeable future. When done correctly, dollars spent today on a comprehensive Content Marketing campaign should yield positive and significant results well into the future.
When you think about it, what other forms of marketing can make the same claim?
