The basic idea sounds simple, but actually very few companies have been able to make a success of their content marketing efforts. Writing articles may not be rocket science, but effective content marketing is more involved than that, and requires an understanding of a few basic principles.
Successful Pioneers of Content Marketing
The John Deere Company began publishing The Furrow in 1895, with the goal of educating farmers on more profitable farming methods. This magazine has grown over the years to its present-day audience of 1.5 million readers in 40 countries, and has helped build John Deere’s long-standing reputation in farming machinery.
Starting in 1904, salesmen for Jell-O began door-to-door distribution of free recipe books that featured the company’s line of gelatin desserts. This early form of content marketing was credited with an additional $1 million in sales by 1906.
Leading Content Marketers of Today
McDonald’s Canada has a highly successful program called “Our Food, Your Questions” that has to date answered almost 10,000 out of 16,000 questions submitted about McDonald’s food. Questioners are required to connect to a special website through either Facebook or Twitter, which has helped build the social viral effect.
Vivint Home Security is a fast growing company based in Utah that is well known for its door-to-door sales fleet that floods the country each summer. What most people don’t know is that Vivint’s blog The Neighborhood is a solid resource for just about anything, from home security statistics, to canning, to DIY crafts. This is content marketing at its finest.
Budget DIrect Insurance out of Australia has shown that content marketing is most definitely a global strategy. The company’s “Simply Smarter” blog is producing content at an astounding rate with articles, videos, graphics, and more that usually have nothing to do with insurance. If you want to play a game that gives life hack tips for driving, or watch a video to help you prepare for Christmas, this blog has got it all.
Why Content Marketing Matters
1. Good content improves search engine rankings. Google continues to place less importance on link quantity and more emphasis on quality of content. Well written, relevant content on your website as well as on blogs, social media posts, and videos that link to your website is increasingly important to better page rankings.
2. Consumers prefer reading articles over advertisements. Research has found that 70 percent of consumers prefer to receive information about a company through informative articles rather than traditional advertising. More important, content marketing is building trust and loyalty with the consumer in ways that paid advertising cannot.
3. Your business survival depends on the loyal and engaged customer that only content marketing can provide. Over 90 percent of adults now own a cell phone, which enables them to instantly find the best price on virtually every product imaginable. So how do you compete with the discount marketers? Build a loyal following by engaging your customers with helpful and informative content.
How to do Better Content Marketing
1. Schedule consistent updates. Coasting is not an option in content marketing. At a minimum, you should be adding fresh content on a weekly basis without fail. Visitors to your website or blog expect to see something new and interesting with every visit. Updated content gives them a reason to return and to share your posts with others.
2. Write for people, not the search engines. This means well-written, grammatically correct content that helps and informs. Obtain feedback from your customers to find out what they really want to know. Use natural and basic keywords the way that your customers would use them. When visitors to your website share your content with others, you are giving Google what it really wants to see: a natural flow that proves how valuable your content is.
3. Share your content through social media channels. A bare-bones minimum of social activity should include Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Every content update on your website should be shared with your social profiles. Make it easy for viewers to share by including a social sharing toolbar on every piece of content.
