The idea of content marketing may seem foreign because it doesn’t fit within many marketing paradigms. But every company has the opportunity to create a position in the marketplace!

Content Marketing – Showing Customers You Can Walk the Talk

For some business leaders the idea of content marketing seems foreign because it doesn’t fit within their marketing paradigm. But today every brand is a publisher and by creating compelling, shareable content, companies have the opportunity to create a distinct position in the marketplace. By publishing content within pre-established themes, businesses can show customers they can walk the talk and add credibility to their value proposition. For example, a distributor selling primarily to industrial manufacturers could establish a content strategy focused on supply chain management solutions, trends in manufacturing and product and service innovations. This broad structure allows the content marketer limitless options to create or identify content that fits within their overarching plan.

The following are a few opportunities that might exist in your content ecosystem:

1. Marketing Assets – Make CAD files, product configurators, product selection tools, infographics and whitepapers accessible.
2. Strategic Partners – Describe their role and why they matter, including project success stories and business outcomes.
3. Repurposing Content – Using content for a purpose other than its original intended use.
4. Newsjacking – Using someone else’s content that fits within your themes and content strategy.
5. Suppliers – Promote high impact products or services and application success stories.
6. Employees – Form teams from different functional areas to publish human interest stories, high performing individuals and teams. Promote key projects and corresponding results. Remember, the right people are your greatest growth engine. Use and promote them.
7. Customers – Highlight a customer’s business, value proposition and explain how your product/service is creating value.

Although creating original content is necessary on some level, marketers have other options to publish content as long as it fits within their themes and strategy. Once marketers decide what content to publish, making it available in the appropriate mediums and publishing it through the proper channels is essential in reaching the right audience.

The idea behind content marketing is to attract the right audience by demonstrating your company’s specialized knowledge to drive profitable action. As you create compelling content and distribute it in different mediums and platforms, companies have the opportunity to create a distinct voice and message in the marketplace. A sound content marketing strategy can also improve both your search engine optimization and paid search campaign initiatives. 

What about you? Do you believe content marketing is worth exploring and investing in? I’m interested in your comments.