Tell your story through content marketing

In any industry, the best sales person is the one who convinces you that you need their product or service and has you asking for it, instead of it being forced on you.  It’s about walking away from a sale without feeling as though you’ve been sold to and that buying that service or product was your idea in the first place.  These days the most convincing way to attract customers is through information that is relevant. It’s no longer about the hard sell.

Over the course of the last year, content marketing has really stepped into the spotlight.  While the importance of good quality content has been talked about for a long time, it’s now proving to be a significant part of the digital marketing industry and beyond.

Content marketing is not advertising or a direct sales tactic. It is a method of engaging with customers through insightful, engaging and interesting written content in order to position a company as an expert in their field, and avoiding jargon that isn’t relevant.  By connecting with the public through content marketing it helps the public’s understanding of who the company is and the product or service that it offers.

It’s important to remember that it’s not just about creating content and simply hoping customers will read it, look at what your customers truly want to know: share who you are as a company, offer advice or tips that aren’t self-promoting and push out through social media channels.  The more people that share your content, the more it’s recognised through search engines as being high quality and relevant content, leading to higher website visits and increased rankings.

Many companies struggle with the concept of content marketing and still treat digital content as an ad campaign which is detrimental to what good quality content is trying to achieve; content marketing is not self-promoting – “our company does this…”, “our company has won awards….”  Yet whilst content marketing and advertising share similar goals for brand association, only content marketing can develop brand advocates – people who trust your brand and understand it through content that demonstrates how passionate you are about the services you offer as a company.

It’s essential to understand that the goals with content marketing activity is about continuous engagement and should be part of a long term marketing strategy. Google recognised the importance of content and thanks to their Hummingbird algorithm implemented last year, searches are now adjusted to a more conversational search.

So where will your content marketing strategy take you?

This article was written by David Clarke – director of DBS Internet Marketing.
www.dbsinternetmarketing.co.uk
Tel 01522 811688

To support local businesses, Wright Vigar are delighted to be hosting a number of FREE seminars on how to grow your business through personal and team development, content marketing – delivered by David Clarke – and prospecting in the 21^st Century.  To learn more about these events please visit our Upcoming Events section by clicking here, or alternatively please call the events team on 01522 531341 or email us at events@wrightvigar.co.uk