We all know about those sites that you click on and are instantly bombarded by pop-ups, flashing ads, and videos. We’ve all seen advertisements in magazines, plastered on billboards, and broadcasted between plays of the game you’re trying to watch. This is what we call “Traditional Advertising”. They’re annoying and irrelevant to your main objective in clicking on that site, opening up that magazine, or turning on the TV. Obviously, the goal of the people behind these ads is not to annoy potential customers, but to get their name out there. People ask us all the time over at ST, “What is content marketing?”. We’d venture to guess that your goal for your company is also to get your name out there while avoiding being labeled as obnoxious; that’s where content marketing comes in. Content marketing is a marketing strategy that involves putting forth relevant, valuable, easy-to-access information with a goal of not only growing your business, but informing your customers. The difference between content marketing and plain advertising lies in the fact that content marketing is, quite frankly, useful and not at all irritating. Your content marketing should be based around the products and services you offer as a business. The goal in content marketing is to educate the target audience about topics relevant to both your business and their motives. Informing your customers in a way that is not pushy, but genuinely helpful, should hopefully result in the customers trusting you enough to want to do business with you.
Benefits
We’ve trained ourselves to skip right over advertisements, especially if they’re online. The information in advertisements is rarely relevant enough for us to want to find out more about the product or company, and aside from the fact that ads are a nuisance, it’s generally pretty obvious that the company is only trying to market their product, not help the customer. The thing with content marketing is that we don’t skip over it the way we do with ads; because not only are we deliberately seeking out that information, but it’s genuinely helpful and not over-the-top persuasive in trying to get more customers. With content marketing, the customer has a choice in whether they want to hire you, and the likelihood is that they will. Either way, though, they’ve benefitted from your information, and you’ve benefitted from their visit to your site. The benefits of content marketing are basically endless, and the best part is that it is hugely beneficial to both the company and the consumers. When a potential customer is searching for help with something, that person is most definitely going to try to find a company that they trust; if they don’t want to do things entirely alone. By making your information accessible to them, they have been helped in a way that is relevant to their searching, and their trust in your company grows stronger. The more information you have, the more they will see that not only are you credible and trustworthy, but that whatever they are trying to do would be easier with help—and who better to ask than the source of the information they’re seeking?
Examples of Content Marketing
The more content you have on your site, the more often your website will be pulled up by search engines—increasing the number of hits on your site, and, inevitably, the number of customers wanting to hire you. There are many different ways to get your information out there. Blog posts are one of the most common methods used by businesses in content marketing. They’re helpful because most of the time, the blog is a separate page within the company’s website, and therefore it seems less like advertising. Videos and free e-books are becoming increasingly popular, and they’re a good option because they are more engaging to view than reading a blog post. If there is a best option when it comes to different forms of marketing, social media would fit the bill. Social media facets will reach the largest audiences, and it’s an easy way to get your name out there and increase your customer service quality at the same time. You should also keep in mind that whatever you post doesn’t necessarily have to be a “how to” guide. A company that makes tennis racquets and other tennis equipment might make a short video based around a famous tennis player. People who are interested in the tennis player will watch it, and even though the video isn’t strictly an advertisement, those who saw the video might think of the company the next time they need a new racquet. Videos and blog posts featuring fun “behind the scenes” clips, Pinterest boards, contests involving followers, and apps are all great examples of great content marketing.
Content Marketing: The Future of Advertising
In today’s fast-paced world, the search for a product we need or want is available right at our fingertips. Regular advertisements are becoming easier and easier to filter out and ignore—but content marketing in all its forms is flourishing. People like getting relevant information and feeling involved with their favorite brands and companies on a more personal level, and content marketing is the perfect way to provide the customer with these services while still advertising your products. It’s a pretty safe bet that if you want your business to stay afloat in the ever-changing world of advertising, you will need to get very familiar with content marketing. Remember to stay up-to-date about the latest forms of content marketing, always put out information that is valuable to the consumer, and above all, have fun with it!