So, while you may be familiar with the buzz words ‘Content Marketing’, are you a bit unfamiliar with what it actually means?

Once upon a time, advertising in newspapers, magazines and via flyers was the way to go. Then, as this amazing thing called the ‘internet’ took off, businesses started advertising online via Google and other online search directories – and that seemed to work quite well for a while. But these days, with consumers developing ‘banner blindness’ and ignoring advertisements thrown in their faces via various mediums 24/7, content marketing has become the new way of gaining business exposure. And the best thing for small business owners is that it’s usually free or very cheap to do!

So what is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is a technique that involves creating and distributing valuable and relevant information to your audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action. It’s a non-invasive form of marketing where, rather than doing the hard push for your products and services, you deliver ongoing information that makes potential customers more intelligent.

Content marketing includes the following:

• blogs
• e-newsletters
• e-books
• videos
• white papers
• infographics
• social media
• Plus more!

(More information about working with each of these mediums will be provided in upcoming Write Time blogs – so stay tuned!)

While people may not be ready to buy from you at the initial stage, after following your blogs, e-newsletters, social media etc, guess who they’ll turn to when they’re ready to make a purchase? You’ve already proved to them that you know what you’re talking about, so of course you’ll be front of mind. So while you may be giving away information for free at first, in the long run you may be rewarded 10 times over when they’re ready to do business!

Make it relevant

If presented the right way, your content will help to improve the lives of potential consumers and make their lives easier. But make sure your content is relevant to your business – i.e. don’t talk about dieting tips on your Facebook page if you’re actually a pest control company! Your free content should basically solve the same problems as your paid services do. Then, when potential customers give it a shot and realise they need someone with a bit more expertise, they’re likely to turn to you for further assistance.

For example, a pest control company may write a blog entry about the top pest control products on the market. Why would they encourage potential customers to go out and try to fix the pest problem themselves? Because when they try it, and the bugs keep coming back, they’ll turn to the pest control company for further expertise and an inspection – because obviously their problem is bigger than they initially thought and outside of their capabilities!

So why not give content marketing a go? It could make all the difference for your small business. And if you need any assistance, feel free to contact us.