Effectively promoting products is a must for any company wishing to make sales. But not every form of communication from a company has to be sales-driven. In fact, when it is, customers and potential customers soon grow tired of the message. People don’t trust companies that only want to sell them something and never want to give them anything.
That’s why it’s crucial for many companies to incorporate content marketing into their overall strategy. Providing customers with information they need to make good decisions in their lives is a great way to gain their trust. Giving them content they can use – even if it’s not directly connected with the products you sell – establishes credibility, builds rapport and develops customer loyalty.
In a recent Forbes magazine article regarding online marketing trends, the writer
predicted that content marketing will be bigger than ever in 2014.
He said that many companies are establishing credibility and gaining trust with consumers by consistently providing them with valuable content, usually involving relevant industry information providing insight or entertainment. He added that this strategy allows the company to build rapport with its demographic and develop a loyal following.
Statistics back up these claims. According to kapost.com, content marketing costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads.
At 4Patriots, our content-rich home for articles, videos and tips to help people become more independent and self-reliant is PatriotHeadquarters, which launched in early 2013.
From a business perspective, the purpose is to keep our customers engaged with our brand and to build our community. Does it work for us? You bet!
The response from our customers and audience has been phenomenal. Our visitor growth leaped from zero to 150,000 per month in less than one year, and July visitors exceeded 275,000.
The number of comments from our audience published on our blog exceeded 15,000 in July, so there’s a lot of engagement with the content too.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that content marketing is a significant influence on our firm’s continued growth.
We also publish a paid 16-page print newsletter called the Patriot Alliance Messenger and have seen strong subscriber growth too.
So, my advice to business owners is to ramp up your content marketing in 2014. There’s nothing better to stay in touch and relevant with your customers, and that investment in time and effort will pay off for you down the line.
Allen Baler is a leading entrepreneur and Harvard grad. Allen Baler is a Partner in 4Patriots LLC, based in Nashville.
Photo Credit: Danny Shaw, “Content is King,” May 29, 2014 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution
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