Why it’s time to crown ‘content’ as your king.

For too long marketing has spent it’s life in the fluffy edges of business, designated the bright and loud, nice-to-have for companies, but actually placing an emphasis on quality content can deliver the trust you need to delight your soon to be customers. This is why crowning content your king is a must in 2019.

Isn’t marketing really who can shout the loudest?

Quite an odd opening remark, but you’d be surprised about the number of business leaders who are convinced that marketing is about shouting loud and proud why your product, service or solution is the best.

The words ‘white noise’ immediately come to mind.

Pause for a second and think about what attracts you to a brand and what it offers:

Is it their bold proclamation that they’re the number one choice?
Is it their flaunting of countless amounts of money spent on perfecting one tiny element of their offering?
Is it putting a sales pitch into a piece of content and saying ‘there you go, there’s plenty of reason – buy now!’?

Hopefully the sarcasm screams through the page, but, again, it’s something I’ve faced in my career countless times.

The answer is no. Emphatically, and I stress this, no one cares about how amazing your product is. Well, at least not on its own.

The art of marketing is understanding your audience, the key segments within, and then matching everything about your brand back to telling a tale about who you are, delivering experiences of value which earn trust, and ultimately delighting your audience with what you’re selling.

It’s a simple approach, and one that content kings HubSpot champion:

“According to a recent Edelman Trust Barometer, 63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3-5x before they’ll actually believe them”

HubSpot, The Interactive Guide to Inbound Marketing

You wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on a first date, would you? Don’t be that person…

Modernising marketing

Marketing has taken plenty of twists and turns since its inception. We’ve progressed from a time of ‘if you build it they will come’ ruling the roost, followed closely by flashy sales people dominating radio waves, back to where a consumer/end user is in control.

We’re bombarded with more marketing than ever, which leads back to what I mentioned earlier – white noise. Indeed, there are slight nuances. Take influencers, for example. That’s a refreshing take on marketing, paying someone to talk to the masses about your product being amazing. Oh, wait, that sounds familiar doesn’t it?

But the answer is right in front of us.

It has been there since the time we wrote in caves and told stories by the campfire.

It’s what Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, Michael Jackson, and every great story teller has kept alive for millennia.

We crave stories. We need that fix of fresh, invigorating takes on everyday things to engage us and break through the mundane scroll on Facebook or early morning search through our inbox.

What is content marketing?

If you haven’t met content marketing then it’s really simple: “Content marketing is a marketing program that centers on creating, publishing, and distributing content for your target audience — usually online — the goal of which is to attract new customers.

The most common components of a content marketing program are social media networks, blogs, visual content, and premium content assets — like tools, ebooks, or webinars.”

HubSpot, Content Marketing Strategy, A Comprehensive Guide for Modern Marketers

Unfortunately, the focus is all too often on thinking about creating a blog which tells someone to purchase your product. It’s easy to let hubris take over, instead of stepping back and asking what does my audience care about, how can I answer this, and what is my take on this?

And if you’re thinking that you don’t have any original content to create, just pause and think about an original story you’ve encountered in your life. Truly question if it was 100% unique.

I’d bet that’s not the case. But it was a fresh approach to the issue, be that the form the content took, the conclusion, how it looked or felt etc. Your view is valuable, so don’t be lazy and think it an excuse not to create content.

Need advice when it comes to content marketing? It’s our job as a marketing agency near Birmingham to give that – just get in touch!

What compelling content looks like

Modern marketing is about creating compelling content which makes lives easier, brings a smile to our faces, shocks our assumptions to the core, or helps us learn new skills.

Don’t believe me? Just look at this awesome content that makes my life easier:

Not one ounce of selling. It’s all about value. I’ve asked a question, I’ve received an answer, and boy is that answer valuable.

They Ask, You Answer, Deliver Value

Earlier this year I had the fortune of being introduced to a powerful book – ‘They Ask, You Answer’.

Having spent 10+ years practicing content marketing, amassing marketing qualifications and working in marketing agencies in Birmingham, you’d be correct in thinking that I may have assumed I knew everything I needed about content. I was very wrong.

Enter Marcus Sheridan’s book. Boiled down to its bare bones, it covers:

Businesses need to think about marketing as a machine. If someone asks a question such as ‘how much does your consulting cost per day’, you create content to answer that. By answering the question you’re delivering value.
Transparency and honesty about what you do and making your reader aware of pros, cons and competition is central to earning trust
Trust in your brand cannot be bought. No matter how much you spend on Ads, LinkedIn, Facebook etc., creating quality content is what creates that awareness of who you are and the trust that you deliver what you’re offering
There’s an art to taking questions you hear every day and creating content to answer them – and the great news is that we love asking questions, that’s why search engines like Google and Bing exist after all

I thoroughly recommend that you pick up a copy of that book. It was a game-changer, and for any marketer struggling to align sales, marketing, product and the whole business towards crowning content as your king, it’s going to work wonders.

Head over to this link to pick up a copy. Do it. You won’t regret it (and no, I receive no benefit in kind for recommending this!).

Content marketing stats to go crazy over

Always a sucker for compelling evidence to back up an approach, content marketing has plenty of statistics proving why it’s worth your time. Check these out:

Put content marketing against paid search, and content marketing gets three times the leads per dollar spent. Content Marketing Institute
Bloggers that post big articles are more likely to get “strong results.” 1142 words. Elite Copywriter
47% of internet users read blogs daily. Statista
Blog traffic generation increases up to 30% after you post 24–51 blog posts. Traffic Generation Cafe
88% of content marketers agree content makes their audience view them as a credible and trusted resource. Point Visible

Where to get started with content marketing

Writing, shooting or designing your first piece of content can be daunting. We’ve all felt that fear, so don’t shy away from it. Research your audience, find the templates and examples you need to inspire your creation, and take these as a great place to start your content journey:

How do I crown content as king?

It’s a great question. Hopefully this blog has offered reason enough to explore content as a machine to drive awareness, build trust and deliver value for your audience. Coupled with the free resources within, there’s plenty of food for thought and a direction to head in.

Unsure on where to go next? Reach out to Flamingo Marketing Strategies Ltd and they’ll find the right size crown to make content your king.