Understanding Marketing Volume VI: Content Marketing
Posted by Stanley Malyszka, Marketing Manager, fi360, Inc. on September 28, 2015
2 competing products exist in the same marketplace- Product A and Product B. Product A is priced exactly the same as Product B and both products contain identical features and benefits. Product A’s marketing team sends out an email to their prospect list touting their product as the best in the industry and emphasizing the benefits it provides. At the end of the email, prospects are told to “Not wait any longer” and to click on a link to “Purchase Now.”
Product B’s marketing team also sends out an email to the same prospects but does not mention anything about the product itself. The email, instead, contains a short blog about an issue facing the prospects, an issue the product helps solve. At the end of the email, prospects are told to click on a link to “Download a Free Report” that the product produces.
Sales pitches surround us everywhere and have engulfed our everyday lives. Get in the car and switch on the radio- buy this product. Drive a mile down the street and see a billboard- buy this product. Get to work and hop on the internet- buy this product. Go home and turn on the TV- buy this product. This never-ending cycle of advertisements makes it hard for us as consumers to differentiate and distinguish a good product from a bad product. It also conditions us to become “ad blind” and block out as much noise in our everyday lives as possible. Thus, the trend in marketing has shifted from selling consumers a product to getting consumers to buy a product. What’s the difference? Selling a product to a consumer is Example A above- present the benefits of your product and create a sense of urgency to buy it. Getting a consumer to buy a product is Example B above- provide information to a consumer that will aid in their decision-making process to buy. Just take a look at some recent stats. The average time of research prior to a consumer purchasing a product is 79 days and 81% of them begin their product research online.1 This means that consumers are becoming more diligent in their buying process and we need to adjust our marketing process accordingly.
So how do we do this? Content marketing. Content marketing focuses on providing your target audience with meaningful, relatable information that: 1) Positions you as a subject matter expert and an authority and 2) Invokes consumer thought on a subject that directly correlates to your product/service.
The 1st step in the process is to begin creating and gathering content and become active in the digital and social media space. Start a blog and/or podcast that touches on subjects and topics that are pertinent to your target audience. Create discussions or participate in current ones on social media platforms and online forums in your industry. Share interesting articles on social media that your target audience would enjoy reading. Create a monthly newsletter. Setup a few webinars or demonstrations. The list can go on and on but the key takeaway is to provide content that focuses on key issues that your target audience faces and that your product/service solves.
The 2nd step is creating a correlation between the content you’ve created/provided to the product/service you offer. You need show your target audience how your product/service solves the problem that they face. How do you accomplish this? Say your product creates reports that helps monitor investments. Write a blog on the importance of monitoring investments and then give a few free reports that your product generates. Maybe an important service you provide is annual audits. Share an article about how audits are beneficial and then provide a free audit checklist. The key here, if possible, is to provide this free content in exchange for consumer information i.e. in order to get the free report you must fill out a form on the website with name and email address. You’ve now created a correlation between the problem faced and your product/service, as well as collected valuable prospect information.
So let’s revisit the email examples at the beginning of this article. These are two real life examples. Which performed better? If you guessed Example B, you’re spot on. 23% more of the recipients opened Email B, 190% more of the recipients clicked on the link in Email B, and 133% more of the recipients submitted their contact information in exchange for the free report in Email B. To put it simply, content marketing works. And, when used in conjunction with other marketing techniques we’ve discussed and will be discussing in this series, you’ve got a dynamite marketing plan.
Be sure to keep an eye out for our next installment where we will focus on Email Marketing.
1GE Capital Retail Bank’s second Major Purchase Shopper Study 2013
