Use Content Marketing To Boost Your Business

The content you produce and share can take many forms: a video, a blog, a Tumblr. Whatever it is, it should be high quality and useful. It should engage potential customers, convince them you’re an expert in your field and leave a lasting impression, so that they remember your company the next time they have a purchasing decision to make.
Here are five tips for effective content marketing.

1. Put in the Time
Lee Odden is the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and has written an authoritative blog on digital marketing since 2003. He’s fond of saying that “if you’re not creating content on the web, you don’t exist.”

A survey by RainToday found that websites influence 97% of customer purchasing decisions. That means your business site had better be a good one, and it had better feature quality content — which means you must invest time on a regular basis. Would you do business with a company if you went to its site and saw that the most recent blog post was published three years ago? Neither would your customers. Put in the time and be patient. The results will come.

2. Get Creative
A blog is the most obvious format for content, but there are many others. Videos are fairly easy these days, as most laptops now come equipped with editing software. Videos personalize your business by putting a face to your name. You can publish case studies at your site, describing how you helped a customer solve a problem. This is especially effective if you’re in the B2B field.
Lists are another easy way to attract attention online. If you have a fashion boutique, think about putting up a “top 10 new looks” list every season.

3. Tell a Story
When I was a kid and my family went on vacation, my brother and I would use up rolls of film snapping photos of squirrels, statues and landmarks. Every time our mother would say, “There has to be a person in the picture!” Put a person in your picture, whether it’s you, your employees or your customers. That will humanize your business and give customers the feeling they know you — and that will make it easier for them to trust you.

4. Have a Plan
If your content efforts are aimless and scattered, you’ll give the same impression to your customers. Figure out what message you want to convey to your audience, build a strategy and a schedule and stick to them. This will tell people you’re a well-organized and efficient businessperson.
Download a content management system that enables you to do your own publishing and updating. It’s a good idea to consult an expert when drawing up your strategy, but you do not want to be entirely dependent on some third-party SEO outfit. If that company goes under, you’ll be starting from square one.

5. Listen
Content marketing is not a one-way stream. Take the time to tune in to what your customers and competitors are saying, and use that information to shape your message. You should constantly be reading tweets, setting up Google GOOG +1.3% alerts, checking out LinkedIn LNKD -0.19% Answers and reviewing comments at your Facebook Facebook page. (You must have a Facebook page.) And never, ever respond angrily to negative reviews of your business. Be polite and patient, just as you would when dealing with a dissatisfied customer in person.