In writing this blog post for the Custom Publishing Council on the content marketing/custom publishing sales process, I started to think of how challenging it is to sell the idea of content to marketing professionals. The whole idea behind selling a large custom media package from a sales standpoint is to create a series of yes answers that lead to a close.
Content marketing is perhaps the fastest growing marketing element (Yes, you heard me). Everyone talks of the internet and its growth (which is true), but we must realize that a large portion of the growth in online spending has to do with website content, webcasts, branded video, blogs, wikis, podcasts, article marketing, white papers, etc. All of these are delivered online, but they are successful based on two things – content + online marketing efforts.
The frenzy of online, continued in 2007 and into 2008 around Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon and more, is almost always based on getting better, more accessible content into the hands of targeted users. Yet, most marketers think of social media or the internet, and not necessarily the creation of content, which is a must for a content marketing program to be successful.
Here are some basic thoughts that come to mind:
- If the brand is our relationship with our customers, that relationship is molded by what we or others communicate. Thus, it is content that essentially creates (and influences) the brand.
- Want better search engine placement? – be a better content marketer. Better content will score you an increased Google page rank, will induce more people to link to your site, and, because of the process itself, update your website more frequently (which helps in both previous items).
- The internet is a baby at this point…so young we aren’t even sure what to make of it. It is right now that the great brands of the world are creating their lasting online brands through content. You could never make the case that it’s too late to get into the content game.
- Businesses need to assign a content evangelist, perhaps a chief content officer or director of content strategy. Much like the importance of the internet sprang a slew of CIO’s and CTO’s, brands must internally support the importance of content and assign a champion.
- Media has us hooked. Almost like being brainwashed, we naturally prioritize traditional marketing first when launching new products or initiatives. Break out of that cycle now. Leverage traditional marketing to promote your content initiatives!
Possibly if we were less prone to think of anything besides content, we would be more apt to find an expert content partner and get us to communicate faster and better with our customers. After all, perhaps more than any other media, content marketing is all about your customers. Could focusing on your customers be so wrong???
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Related Articles:
- Corporate Content Will Take Over Media As We Know It
- Media Companies Are Waiting to Make You a Publisher
- 42 Content-Building Ways to Attract and Retain Buyers
- 16 Questions to Ask Before Launching a Content Marketing Project
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One Comment
Great post as always Joe.