“Content marketing” is all the hype these days, part of the frenzy surrounding social media. While content is important and relevant to the world of marketing, it isn’t necessarily anything new. Public relations and marketing professionals have been delivering content through the media, various marketing materials and programs since the beginning of time.What is new is how it’s being used, and how much further that content can reach in a world where both the number and types of social media outlets to deliver that content have grown. While this is where the buzz comes from, content marketing should be focused on the content itself rather than its vehicles for dissemination.
Content marketing is used to generate interest in your business and services, and draw your target audience in by providing them with interesting and/or important information you choose to share with them. The key is sharing information that is helpful, relevant and interesting, and that establishes you as an expert, someone your target audience would like to receive more information from in the future. The combination of content and a host of new media provide both an extraordinary opportunity to attract business, as well as a potential repellent if you don’t provide pertinent content and disseminate it strategically.
A few ways to strategically provide and deliver content:
- Case studies or white papers on your website can help educate clients and prospects about in depth aspects of your business.
- E-newsletters can update your clients and prospects as to your opinion on market events, happenings, news or anything important that is for them to know. Additionally, you can use them as a vehicle to offer case studies and white papers.
- Bylined media articles can be submitted to publications your target audience reads.
- Social media outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, can be used to point your clients and potential clients to your case studies, white papers and bylined articles and to sign up for your e-newsletters.
The opportunity to get your messages into the public domain and seen by a greater number of eyeballs has never been greater; yet neither has the opportunity to offend, annoy or repel a greater number of people if that content is inappropriate or its vehicles are not used in a way that is well received by your audience.