It is no secret that the Internet has become the main source of information. The Web is the largest marketplace for information seekers and information providers. No matter what your business is, everyone should have a website. If you don’t, you can be sure you’re one step behind your competition.

What should be included on your site? At a minimum, you must state who you are (About page) and what you do (home page and products/services). All this is fine and elegant. But how do potential customers find you?

Two simple words can answer this question: “Content Marketing”. The second word is easy to describe. Marketing is simply promoting/advertising your product or service. However, traditional methods (brochures, TV ads, flyers) are being replaced by more cost-effective methods. That brings us to the first word: content. Many of us have heard the term before. But what exactly does it mean?

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is defined as “a marketing technique for creating and distributing relevant, consistent, and valuable information to a defined audience.” The keyword here is valuable, which means it’s something the end user wants and would pay for. Compare that to advertising or junk mail (spam) that someone immediately turns off or throws away because they see no value in it. Content marketing does not explicitly promote a brand like a Nike or Coca-Cola commercial does. The information is directed at a specific group that wants or seeks it. Thus, you are building a long-term, personal relationship with your (potential) customers rather than treating them like a sale. Nobody likes to feel like they are being sold. They want to feel like they are part of a story, and people love stories.

The next question is why would a business create content in the first place? The main answer is to build your BRAND. Your brand is your number 1 asset. It may take years to build, but only minutes to destroy. Your brand shows that you are an expert in your field. It also sensitizes consumers to issues they may not have previously considered. Traditional marketing is only effective after the consumer has made the decision to buy. Content marketing moves them through the buying process.

Content creation is much more profitable than traditional marketing, resulting in a higher return on investment. What are some of the key characteristics of good content?

It’s FREE: users don’t have to pay for it

· Attract and retain audiences that will eventually become customers. Your typical :30 radio or TV ad is forgotten almost immediately

· Contains backlinks to your website, creating a compounding effect as your content is shared with your users’ users and your users’ users.

It must be mobile friendly as many internet users browse on smartphones and tablets.

It should be keyword-targeted for the SEO algorithms used by Google and other search engines (a keyword is something you type into your browser when you want to search for something specific. I’m a writer, so I expect to show up when someone types “freelance writer, editor or simply writer”

Finally, it must contain a call to action (tell the user to do something)

What are some examples of content marketing?

blog

Success stories

· Podcasts

Youtube videos

white books

· Items

Social Media Posts

e-books

· Newsletters

I hope you found this information useful as I hope that content marketing will replace traditional marketing in the not too distant future. I am sure all of you will now become marketing savvy and see your visitors multiply exponentially resulting in more conversions.