Traditional marketing avenues such as radio, TV, newspaper and magazines are becoming less and less effective! It is now considered somewhat old hat, rote and even boring. Audiences today are demanding more, they are more knowledgeable and hungrier for the facts and relevant information.

We marketers have been forced to find new and creative ways of promoting and pitching our products and services.

Enter Content Marketing….

So, what is content marketing? Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. Content marketing attracts prospects and transforms prospects into clients by creating and sharing valuable free content. Content marketing helps accounting firms create sustainable brand loyalty, provides valuable information to buyers, and creates a willingness to purchase services from the company in the future. This relatively new form of marketing does not involve direct sales. Instead, it builds trust and rapport with the audience. – Thank you, Wikipedia…

And according to the Content Marketing Institute - “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” – The contentmarketinginstitute.com

Those of us that are interested in marketing our businesses online cannot escape hearing about content marketing, it’s simply everywhere. Of course, like any great idea, it is accompanied by a strategy. Therefore, behind Content Marketing sits the Marketing Strategy which places the needs & wants of the client first!

How to Create Great Content Marketing

I find it helpful to think of Content Marketing as telling a story to your audience about my business and our products and services. And, every business has their own story!

Of course, like any story, Content Marketing should follow a format like any great novel. It should have a Beginning, Middle and End.

Tips to Follow when Creating your Marketing Content

• Spend some time on your article title which is as important as the article itself.
• Carefully craft an opening statement!  A strong lead statement sets the tone of the content to follow as it will help grab and hold your audience’s attention.
• Use interesting facts and quotes from well-known business leaders.
• Pay attention to your layout as this should be simple and easy to read. Don’t clutter your page.
• Add a bit of personality and flavour to your writing; you want to be able to draw people in.
• Don’t be afraid of a bit of self-promotion – but don’t make it an advertorial
• Provide a photo and let your audience see who they are dealing with.
• Add images to spice up your content.
• Don’t ramble; keep it brief, concise and to the point.

Content Marketing is all about establishing an ongoing client relationship with someone so that they know, like and trust you!

It’s not about overwhelming your audience with facts or content as this will just turn people off.  Be clear, concise, providing the top most relevant and interesting facts. Bullet points are great to emphasise these points and highlight their importance.

Content Marketing provides an opportunity to tell your business story highlighting interesting facts, anecdotes, quotes or information. Content Marketing is an excellent way educate and entertain in helping to pique your audiences’ interest.

Most of all: - Remember your call to action – tell them what you want them to do. For example,

• Click here for more information
• Down the report by clicking on the button below (which takes them to a form to capture their contact details)
• Contact Us
• Make an appointment today

Note. The bit about “advertising Made Interesting…”? As you have probably worked out content marketing is not advertising although the two approaches can be used to complement one another.

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