Choosing a business vendor and deciding where to eat this weekend are questions that can be answered using the same thought process.
- Step 1: Search the Internet
- Step 2: Research basic information, read pertinent articles, blogs and websites to see who's talking and what they're saying
- Step 3: Read all-important customer reviews and client testimonials, or ask colleagues/friends for recommendations
- Step 4: Weigh all of the information and decide
That universal decision-making process – whether choosing a vendor, a restaurant, a new car or a children's toy – is why content marketing is so important for today's businesses and brands.
Without a content strategy, a search for information about a particular business might turn up very little information – or it might deliver information that is beyond the brand's control or simply not true.
Content should inform, impress, influence
In the example above, a business vendor with a robust content marketing plan will benefit from the content equivalent of a five-star review. A business vendor without a content strategy can easily become lost in the search or abandoned in favor of a new, more visible candidate.
When content marketing works well, it works just like that.
Content fuels search results and delivers to the searcher something new, interesting, intriguing and worth pursuing. Content lends credibility and authority. Ideally, it impresses. Ultimately, it influences.
A recent tidbit in Memeburn notes before buying a product or service, more than 80% of people do their own research and visit a company's website. Content-fueled information is an important commodity in today's online-mobile marketplace, and it arrives in various forms.
Perhaps it's an eye-catching infographic, even a pithy Tweet or LinkedIn post. Maybe it's an insightful white paper or report penned by a CEO or Marketing VP. Content can be represented by a memorable quote in a mainstream business publication, a contributed article in a trade journal, or a blog post that makes the searcher say, "hmmmm….I didn't know that."
Whatever form it takes, content should be a critical component of any company's marketing plan.
(And as for that weekend restaurant reservation, you can never go wrong with good Chinese food).
