by Greta Menard, Capital MarCom, Inc.
Content marketing. It's the marketing buzz phrase of the day and a leading strategy leveraged by B2B communicators everywhere. But what is it, and how can it work for your business?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, "Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action." In other words, it's about communicating value to your customers without directly selling to them, and it has the power to boost your brand awareness, attract customers and establish your spokespeople as thought leaders in their field.
Content marketing. It's the marketing buzz phrase of the day and a leading strategy leveraged by B2B communicators everywhere. But what is it, and how can it work for your business?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, "Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action." In other words, it's about communicating value to your customers without directly selling to them, and it has the power to boost your brand awareness, attract customers and establish your spokespeople as thought leaders in their field.
We see content marketing in action every day in the form of educational and insightful blog posts, social media campaigns, white papers and online videos. But content marketing is not a magic pill; it doesn't work for everyone—especially those who fail to adhere to these common best practices:
Ditch the Sales Pitch: There's no greater turn-off than blatant self-promotion in a blog post or white paper. So if your content is nothing more than a thinly-veiled commercial for your business, you're doing it wrong. Remember the basics of content marketing—to provide value to your audience by establishing yourself as a trusted advisor on a key business issue. It's a strategy that can pay off down the road when readers remember your advice and turn to you when they ultimately need your services.
Make It Engaging: Just because you publish, share, tweet or post it, doesn't mean your target audience will read it. So the secret to powerful content marketing can be found right in its title: the content! The more engaging your content, the more likely it is to be read and shared. And to that end, one exemplary practice is to...
Tell a Story: People respond to other people, places and experiences. So the best content marketers have discovered ways to weave storytelling into their online campaigns.
Interested in learning more? The Chamber's Communications Council will be tackling these, and other content marketing best practices, during its upcoming Beyond Basics seminar, "Content Marketing & The Power of Storytelling to Drive Your ROI." Scheduled from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on October 3rd, the event will explore the nuts and bolts of implementing a successful content marketing strategy and how to use storytelling in your company or organization's marketing language. Panelists include homeless advocate, Jan Michael Sacharko, and Segue Technologies' Alexa Fox, both of whom have managed highly acclaimed content marketing campaigns for their organizations. You won't want to miss this chance to learn from content marketing mavens who are getting it right. Register for the Beyond Basics seminar.
Ditch the Sales Pitch: There's no greater turn-off than blatant self-promotion in a blog post or white paper. So if your content is nothing more than a thinly-veiled commercial for your business, you're doing it wrong. Remember the basics of content marketing—to provide value to your audience by establishing yourself as a trusted advisor on a key business issue. It's a strategy that can pay off down the road when readers remember your advice and turn to you when they ultimately need your services.
Make It Engaging: Just because you publish, share, tweet or post it, doesn't mean your target audience will read it. So the secret to powerful content marketing can be found right in its title: the content! The more engaging your content, the more likely it is to be read and shared. And to that end, one exemplary practice is to...
Tell a Story: People respond to other people, places and experiences. So the best content marketers have discovered ways to weave storytelling into their online campaigns.
Interested in learning more? The Chamber's Communications Council will be tackling these, and other content marketing best practices, during its upcoming Beyond Basics seminar, "Content Marketing & The Power of Storytelling to Drive Your ROI." Scheduled from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on October 3rd, the event will explore the nuts and bolts of implementing a successful content marketing strategy and how to use storytelling in your company or organization's marketing language. Panelists include homeless advocate, Jan Michael Sacharko, and Segue Technologies' Alexa Fox, both of whom have managed highly acclaimed content marketing campaigns for their organizations. You won't want to miss this chance to learn from content marketing mavens who are getting it right. Register for the Beyond Basics seminar.
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