Content marketing is much different than traditional marketing. With traditional marketing, the goal is to shout “loud and proud” about a 
product or service.
However, with content marketing, there is no shouting and there is no product or service promotion. As a matter of fact, in most cases, content marketing loses its impact and power when it becomes promotional.
Instead, content marketing is about being a thought leader…. And it is through this thought leadership, that new customers are acquired; the loyalty of old customers is enhanced; and they are much easier to “upsell,” purchasing new equipment and services.
However, there are five “best practices” when it comes to content marketing. These are the following:
No Selling. As soon as an article, blog, infographic, podcast, or video becomes a sales pitch, it loses its power to create sales and marketing opportunities. People/customers are interested in their own needs and challenges. They are not interested in your company or products. But if you become a thought leader and discuss a situation they may be facing and offer ways of to resolve it, they are now in your corner and open to hearing about your company and what it has to offer.
Solve Problems. Recently a gentleman had a problem with his Sony flat screen television. There was no sound. He checked the connections but could not find out why the sound was not working. Then he Googled “sound problems with Sony flat screen.” Several pages came up marketing the TV, but then one came up discussing what could be wrong, and how to correct it. Walla, it worked! That repair service is now the company he calls whenever a problem develops.
Repurpose and Repackage. Many organizations with an active content marketing program in place find that quality content is not time sensitive. If that’s the case, it can be rewritten, repurposed, and repackaged. Just make sure it still provides value to the web visitor.
Images and videos. A study conducted by a content marketing firm found that articles and blog posts accompanied by an image “performed 91 percent better than those without them.” Another study, this time by 3M, found that 90 percent of the information that travels through the brain is visual in nature and can be processed much faster than just words. This suggests that content with images as well as the use of videos as part of a content marketing strategy can prove very powerful and have a much greater impact than postings without images.
Promotion: Content marketing sites must be promoted. This means they must be SEO optimized, with keywords, descriptions, and credible content that grabs the attention of the search engines. Plus, they should be used in conjunction with social media.
Quick Tip on SEO: Place your keywords or phrases in the title and then again in the first 100 words of the first paragraph. For a blog under 500 words, that usually is all you must do for Google to find it.
The AlturaSolutions blog is where B2B marketers find expert, practical advice to help promote the value of their products and services. Our goal is to help you become a leader in your industry. For more information, contact us at solutions@alturasolutions.com
