What is Content Marketing?

If you are a leader in your industry, promote your expertise and offer your customers information and solutions that are really useful. Today, the Internet enables you to directly reach your target audiences. Take advantage of Content Marketing: strengthen your business relations, increase your exposure… and your sales.

Test your Web marketing

To find customers previously, (B2B) companies mainly relied on print documents, direct marketing, telemarketing, networking, and advertising. Today, 3,000 advertising messages compete for our attention each day. Too many choices, too much competition, and too much noise. Consequently, traditional media are quickly losing ground.-

Many studies (1) have shown that more than 90% of buyers turn to the Internet first for their B2B purchases. They first use search engines (nearly 70%), and then consult the online sites of suppliers, publishers, and communities. Try it yourself. Go to Google and type in general terms in relation to your company activities. Do you appear on the first page of results? What is your online findability index?

When your customers find you, do you describe the solutions you offer and thus contribute to their confusion; or rather provide information that deals with topics of interest intended to facilitate their purchasing process? In other words, in the eyes of your customers, are you a seller or a consultant?-

What is Content Marketing?

(Click here to see definition in Wikipedia)
To be found, to heighten your credibility as a supplier, and to establish solid business relations, you must offer your customers interesting, instructive, and relevant content. These can be explanations, solutions, statistical analyses, best practices, case studies, tips, forecasts, opinions, etc., that come from your employees, partners, suppliers, customers, or experts in your industry. The topics are endless, but they must first and foremost respond to the needs of your target audiences.-

Today, the Internet and the new online communication tools enable all companies to become editors of value-added content. In fact, any company can reach thousands of people (far better targeted than in the past), while no longer being at the mercy of traditional media (journalism and advertising—print, television and radio), formerly the exclusive territory of companies with big advertising budgets. Interruption marketing thus gradually gave way to relational marketing, an approach beneficial to both the company and its customers.-

Consequently, it is not surprising that more and more companies are developing content marketing strategies. Many studies (2) show that the value of projects tied to content creation and delivery increases by 20% annually, even exceeding budgets allocated to online advertising in 2007. Many specialists even talk of a revolution, in which the companies that take this route will be winners.-

A successful content marketing strategy must meet the following criteria:
• targeted - what audiences are you addressing?
• relevant - What information do they want to get?
• motivating - What behaviour are you trying to influence?-

To determine what information to transmit to your target audiences as part of such a strategy, please read What should you talk about? 

Information Centre

Give, and you shall receive… Yes, to attract and interest new customers, you must give them information that is useful and compelling, in particular, blogs, online articles, press releases, podcasts (audio), newsletters, white papers, rich media tools (videos, Web presentations), etc….-

Therefore, a Content Marketing strategy consists of three main steps:
• Creating the appropriate communication tools;
• Integrating them into a user-friendly and interactive Website; and,
• Optimizing their delivery or broascasting.

To optimize delivery of your communication tools, an Information Centre (documentation centre, knowledge centre), making all the tools available in one place, is mandatory. Here are a few examples:
• Scotiabank (1 million subscribers) Find the Money podcast, transcripts
• Master Card—articles and podcasts: Small Business Solutions
• Pepper Hamilton LLP—podcasts
• Dell—blog, podcasts, and videos on several topics
• Torys LLP—videos
• Procter and Gamble—The Home Made Simple blog-

If only I had the time…

The “new” Web communication tools are proving to be a resounding success. As an example, more than 100,000 blogs are created daily! According to eMarketer, 50% of Web surfers (94 million people) read blogs at least once a month, a proportion expected to reach 67% (145 million people) by 2012. With regard to companies, Forester says that more than 20% of SMEs (more than 50% of large companies) use Web 2.0 tools (mainly blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, social networks), a proportion that is rapidly increasing.-

So, why do so few companies take this route? Because creating quality content, designing communication tools and developing the audience require some technical knowledge as well as rigour and above all, time. In fact, Technorati reports that more than 90% of blogs (among 133 million compiled) are inactive (no new entry in the past 4 months). All in all, if you are looking for a miracle method or a shortcut, this strategy is not for you. Nevertheless, if you have the required determination, this strategy will give you important, lasting benefits.-

Sources:
(1) Marketing Sherpa et Enquiro; TechTarget et CMO Council
(2) Custom Publishing Council et Internet Advertising Bureau
(3) eMarketer : Blogs and Traditional Media (survey done by PRWeek - 1231 respondents)-

	Simon Hénault   B.Comm, MBA - Corporate Journalist - LinkedIn Profile
	I help businesses in the production and delivery of content allowing them to be found on the Web, be perceived as experts, strengthen their clients relations and increase their revenues.

 

Publié dans : MARKETING PAR CONTENU / CONTENT MARKETING
Tags : Content Marketing, Marketing par contenu