If you search the web these days, you're bound to see references to the term “Content Marketing' in your travels. However, in speaking to many business owners and professionals, very few people truly understand what this term refers to. So I thought we would take the time today to enlighten our audience.
Content marketing refers to the 21st century phenomenon where businesses create and publish their own content, which is then shared through a variety of channels, primarily online. The objective with content marketing is very much in line with the precepts behind social media from a business perspective – to give back to one's audience in a selfless manner by providing value-added content and information.
At Sydcam Marketing Communications , we understand the true value that content marketing provides in a broader social media and marketing context. It helps to convey a real and authentic perspective for the business and its values, and does so under the context of an educational forum or article.
What makes content marketing especially powerful is the way in which it helps to engage clients, by informing them and thus building trust in your business. The latter aspect is one that's often forgotten. The truth of the matter is that authenticity is such a big issue these days as businesses try to prove to customers that they really understand and care about their needs.
Done correctly, content marketing can help to substantiate this claim by adding value to the client experience along the way. This then helps to improve brand and customer loyalty, which ultimately helps to drive repeat business, and ultimately sustainable revenues and profitability.
One word of caution – developing a “self-serving” content marketing program – one where certain tactics are used to expressly get customers to behave in a certain manner – buy your products for example - is likely to backfire as it won't pass the authenticity test we mentioned earlier.
That's not to say that businesses can't align a sales or revenue objective against their content marketing strategy. It just needs to be a more tangential relationship, one where the hope and expectation is that over time this value-added content will help to build one's brand, improve customer loyalty and ultimately increase sales.
In the end, a more holistic and longer-term approach to one's content marketing strategy, if executed effectively, will likely pay dividends over time. The key is to be both patient and diligent over this timeframe; select your content strategy carefully and stick to it. And don't let weak interim results affect that strategy, stay the course knowing you've selected the right approach. The results will prove themselves over time.
