Content Marketing Made Simple

Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse

Lots of companies are getting on the social media bandwagon.  They’ve heard about how it’s the new way to market stuff and they want to try it out.  Armed with statistics and testimonials from their peers, they boldly dive headfirst, tweeting, friending, updating their fan pages with the latest news. 

 

It’s fun to log in and find a whole bunch of new messages waiting, thrilling to think about how many people you’re reaching with your tweets and your socially bookmarked pages and your friend invites.  Soon, the orders will come pouring in…

 

Not so fast, my little social butterfly.  Think of the house built on sand, the house of cards, the cart before the horse.  In the history of man, were any of these things ever a good idea?

 

Trying to implement a social media marketing campaign without first having a solid content marketing strategy is no better.  Why?  Well, content is the foundational element of all of your marketing efforts.   It’s the thing that comes first.  It sounds like common sense, but so many companies are simply not starting out with content.  They are not taking the time and effort to create useful content for their customers.  Their tweets are salesy, uninteresting and non-targeted.  In other words, useless.

 

If you understand content marketing, you know why it’s critical to any Internet marketing campaign.  Without it, social media efforts are unsustainable, because even your interactions there require a constant supply of fresh, relevant and useful content for your customers, followers and friends.  Good content targets your market, and provides them with what they need to develop a business relationship with you.  Content is ultimately what brings you results.

 

In our upcoming content marketing ebook, we refer to social media as a “content product”.  We do this because we have always believed that it’s really just one of many vehicles for content.  Without it, social media is a fun way to pass the time, a way to connect with people, and a place to get a recommendation for the best sushi bar in town.  With useful content, it becomes a powerful marketing tool, a way for people to pass on your information to others, and a great asset to your business.

 

So, if your social media marketing efforts are lagging and you don’t know why, ask yourself how much time you’re putting into creating great content.  Start thinking about what your potential customers want, what pushes their buttons, what interests them.  Take the time to figure out who these people are and how you can help them.  Engage with them.  This is where content marketing begins.

 

Soon, your social media accounts will start working for you, instead of the other way around.