Smart Content Marketing for Business

In continuing our June theme of sales and marketing, we will take a look at online / content marketing and the types of activities you may need to focus on to improve your chances of getting the results you want for your business.

Content marketing is more important than ever, but getting it right can require a bit of a balancing act. On the one hand you need to produce quality content regularly, but on the other too much could result in ‘content fatigue’. On top of that, there are many types of content you could use, and a range of publishing platforms – and you need to know which to concentrate on in order to improve engagement with your audience, and of course, to influence those purchasing decisions.

Studies have shown that consumers can be influenced by a whole variety of sources when making purchasing decisions – including social media, user reviews, online advertising, expert reviews and official brand websites and blogs. However when this is looked into at a deeper level it is possible to analyse which types influence people at the different stages of the decision-making process.

Measuring the impact of content types

A recent live in-lab study conducted by the Nielsen market research company measured the impact of three types of content at three different levels of decision-making. The content types were: 

• Expert content – from unbiased third-party sources such as journalists;

• Customer generated content – for example product reviews; and 

• Companies’ own content – including blog posts, research reports and other types.

Each of the above was measured against brand familiarity, brand affinity, and purchasing intent – with a number of different types of industries / products being included in the mix.

The results indicated that expert reviews were the highest influencer in all three areas. However the other two types also had influence on all areas, depending on the product in question – i.e. whether it was a smart phone, new car, insurance, video game, a camera or other product. The takeaway from this is that a mix of content strategies is best in order to increase the chances of influencing buyers’ behaviour.

The importance of focussing on your audience

In saying that however it goes beyond just producing great content. Only the third type (your own content) is the one you have complete control over. This factor serves to emphasise the importance of engaging with your audience, continuously focussing on what it is they want and need and of building trust with them. By doing this and also providing the best in all you do you are more likely to secure expert content and testimonials or user reviews that are positive towards your business.

By making use of all types of content types while building trust and relationships with your audience you are better-placed to get the results you want. You can find out more about the Nielsen study here.

Aiming your content at the right target

Another important point to make about content marketing is that of focussing on your core audience (or audiences) rather than just making it generic and hoping it will hit the target. And of course, it’s pretty hard to hit any target when you are not sure what or where it actually is!

To improve this scenario you really need to ask yourself a few questions such as:

1. Who you want to target in your marketing strategies – you may have different client types for different products and services.
2. What you hope to achieve in real terms.
3. How your products or services are solving problems or helping people.
4. What you have to offer that is different from and better than the competition

In other words know who your target market is, what you have to offer, and what you want to achieve and why.

Sales & marketing strategy workshops in the Sydney Hills

If you need a little guidance in online marketing for your business, you might be interested in some of the Hills Shire Council’s business workshops. These include ‘Smart Digital – Selling Online’ – a free session scheduled for 9 October.

There are also Business Chamber workshops that relate to sales and marketing strategy. In July, we have Network Coaching (Veronica De Paoli), Sell Pleasure First, Price Last (John Lees) and Introductions with Impact (Rod Matthews).