Our favorite position “1” Google-result encyclopedia, Wikipedia says, “Content marketing creates interest in a product through educational or informative material. Successful content marketing relies on providing “consistent, high-quality content that solves people’s problems.”
And Matt Cutts, of the great and omniscient Google, says that good quality content trumps SEO. It seems that Google is trying to move towards an Internet where sites will be rated primarily on content and not on the quality of their SEO.
This just illustrates how important the actual content of your website is. As you probably realized by now, content marketing is the future of your website.
The real question becomes, how does one provide “consistent, high-quality content that solves people’s problems?”
Plan
The old adage “He who fails to plan, plans to fail” holds true even in today’s instant solution age. Seeing that your content should both be consistent and consistently good quality content, you need to plan.
Know where your brand is, where you want it to be, and who you hope to take with you on this journey. This will help you to give your customers what they want.
Relationships Grow Slowly
Content marketing is about building a relationship. In “real” life we generally build relationships with people who, in a way, socially reward us. A smile, encouraging words, or just by being fun to be with.
A traditional ad campaign tries desperately only to grab your attention. Content marketing is about retaining the customer’s attention.
Interact with your readers and potential clients in a candid manner. The “we thank you for your interest and will get back to you shortly” email might instantaneously appear in their Inbox but we all know that it was effectively a meaningless gesture by a mixture of resistors, transistors and capacitors.
Remember, you are aiming at building trust between the consumer and your company or product. Keep your content customer-centric, meaning, when writing keep their perspective in mind and clarify any points that might be obvious to you but not to the reader.
While traditional ads are pushy, with good quality Content Marketing, you are slowly but surely showing a potential customer how much value your product or service will add to their lives.
Social Media: Tell your story
If your content is the story, then Social Media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest, are the fire around which we sit and listen.
Using Social Media correctly, creates a certain amount of intimacy between your brand and the client. Research has found that 36% of people trust a brand when they have a social media presence.
Be careful that you do not turn your social media marketing into spam. One of the surest ways to get unfriended, unfollowed or hidden on Facebook and the rest, is to send out too many promotional status updates.
Good Quality Content is King
Instead of ten mediocre articles, rather just publish one outstanding article. Think, Days of our lives vs. Breaking Bad. Or The Bold and the Beautiful vs. Game of Thrones.
One show you can ignore for months and essentially miss nothing. Blink during the other shows and you might miss something vital. We’ll let you decide which is which.
Conclusion
What you say, how you say it, and where you say it, are the three most important factors when it comes to good quality content marketing. This confirms once again, that conceptualizing content marketing as how to build a relationship is a valid approach.
Each of these questions can be examined in great depth. We will, over the next few months, get out the magnifying glass and have a look at some of the facets involved.
