“Content marketing” is a term we have been hearing increasingly over the past few years.  In a way, content marketing is something we should be doing already: it refers to the marketing tactic that provides valuable information to customers on an ongoing basis in order to ultimately increase sales.

One example of content marketing: this newsletter!  Its goal is to provide useful information to our clients and prospects, and at the same time, convey our expertise in marketing strategy and market research, so when our services are needed, it’s an easy decision to choose us.

But content marketing isn’t just for B2B marketing.  Take Intelligentsia Coffee’s Brew Guides (http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/brewing-guides).  The free guides include great photography and detailed instructions about how to brew the perfect cup of coffee, while at the same time, make their customers crave Intelligentsia coffee.  And of course, purchasing the coffee-making equipment is just a click away.

The above are just two examples; content marketing can be provided through a variety of channels, as long as it provides information of value; channels such as web pages, videos, podcasts and white papers.  And it doesn’t have to be online: books and magazines can also be forms of content marketing.

Scott Abel, content marketing expert and producer of Information Development World (www.informationdevelopmentworld.com) adds:

“Content marketing requires us to think of our prospects and our customers like a live theatre audience.  Your content should serve to dazzle, inform, and entertain them and leave them wanting more.”

One reason content marketing is becoming more and more important: nowadays, people have a great deal of information readily available to them in order to help them make their purchase decisions.  You need to provide the information about why customers should choose your products or services… and do it more effectively than your competitors.

To conduct research with your prospects to uncover the information they need to choose your company, give us a call at 818-752-7210.