For a while now, Sofionik has specialized in crafting usable, findable websites that rank well in search engines and include a host of features that make doing business online as easy as it should be. For the last year, we've been specializing in something else as well: content marketing.
Don't know what that is? That's cool, a lot of business owners don't. In fact, we've noticed it's sometimes a little bit difficult to communicate the importance of content marketing, especially to clients who haven't marketed on the web before.
Believe me when I tell you that if your competition isn't already kicking your butt with content marketing, they will be soon – unless of course, you get there first.
What is content marketing?
Business in the 'net-age is all about making a connection. Companies who produce and distribute engaging and informative content not only attract more search-engine traffic, but they also provide a resource for their prospects that keeps clients and customers coming back for more. Are you looking for a way to create a community centered on your business or to develop long-term relationships with clients for repeat business? Then content marketing is perfect for you.
Types of content marketing:
- White papers
- Newsletters
- Blogs
- Videos
- How-to guides
- Press releases
- Pod casts
How does contentmarketing work for you?
"Well, that all sounds great," you're thinking, "but how does any of that mean more revenue for me?"
Great question. In fact, that's one of the most important questions to ask yourself before launching any content marketing venture. Will a blog really benefit your business? Are your clients even interested in white papers? Just because a tactic worked for one business doesn't mean it will work for yours. Make sure to talk with your content marketing company about how exactly each piece of content you produce will work towards your goal of more clients and bigger profits.
So how is it supposed to work?
Once you've established the right kind of content for your organization and your objectives, you need to focus that content on providing solutions to your prospects. What sorts of questions are they asking themselves and what keywords are they typing into the search-engine box? By fine-tuning your content to match search queries you'll be sure to put your goodies right in front of the people who need them most.
More than just SEO
The benefits of content marketing go way beyond search engine optimization. Every day, search-engine programmers get better at finding quality content and moving it up the search ranks. One of the best ways they can tell if content is useful or not is by how often it's shared. So, content marketing gives you an opportunity to create hundreds of products ready to be shared over and over. Think about this for a minute: which have you shared more? A website? Or a blog post, newsletter or funny email? Are you starting to see the benefit of content marketing now?
Content marketing builds brand authority for life
Okay, so you've been producing some rock-your-socks-off blog posts or newsletters and you've seen your search rank skyrocket and your page views explode. People are bookmarking and "Digging" and sharing your stuff and the phone is ringing off the hook. Is there anything else content marketing can do for you?
Heck yeah! We're just getting started. What do you think the logical result of publishing all that useful and entertaining content will be?
Everyone will know you as an expert in your field. Journalists will call you to interview you about industry news, competitors will imitate your services and values, clients will rely on you as a continuing source of support between buying cycles. The world will be at peace and you will move to Hawaii...well, maybe not those last two. But it could happen.
Getting' Results
When marketing software firm Eloqua realized they needed to step up their marketing and inject some of their brand's awesomeness and vitality into their marketing efforts, they turned to content marketing to attract new prospects.
They created an entire content marketing department and set to work putting their own creative spin on whitepapers and email newsletters. Within months of launching their new campaign, thousands of people were downloading their whitepapers and coming to trust in Eloqua's authority and brand.
Today, Eloqua has seen over $2.5 million in revenues from clients who downloaded their whitepapers with another $3 million in contracts for the months and years ahead. As long as they continue to produce valuable content for their clients and prospects, their rewards will increase exponentially. Read more about Eloqua's content marketing here.
How to get started with content marketing
This is definitely a topic that could fill another post. In fact, we're working on that one right now. In the meantime, the best way to explore your content marketing options is to give us a call. Yeah, yeah, it's a cheap promotional shot, but we can't help it if it's true.
Brendan McCrain is a freelance copywriter in Everett, WA. He’s on a mission to save the world from bad copy and he’s having a great time doing it.
