In 1996 Bill Gates Wrote an essay called ‘Content is King’ in which he stated:
‘Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting’
With a handful of exceptions it holds more true today than Bill could ever have imagined:
Content is the single most important marketing tool and sales tool for any business in the world.
Does content rule for your business?
Before we discuss why content is the ultimate marketing tool for a business, let’s first assure ourselves that your business is one to whom this applies.
The easiest way to do this is to look at the exceptions and note that if you are not among them then this article is for you.
Businesses for whom content is irrelevant:
Large global corporations
Many businesses with significant TV ad spend
Businesses without a website – e.g. ice cream vans
For the rest of us – i.e. anyone who values being found on Google – then content is the single most important tool in our armoury by a long way.
Nothing comes close to the power of content to grow our sales dramatically, makes those sales easier and to position us as the trusted supplier in the space.
Close your eyes and remember the last time you shopped online.
First, forget about your own business. Instead think of the last time you went on to the internet in search of a new product or service to buy for yourself or your company.
What did you look for?
Information. Good, unbiased honest information. Price, reviews, customer reviews etc.
What did you not look for?
Adverts. Biassed, over-blown sales copy.
Were you impatient and often disappointed with what you found?
Probably.
So what you actually looked for was content. Good content.
80% of your buying journey, your decision-making process, was complete before the company you bought from knew you existed.
Of course this means that the vast majority of companies you considered never even got to hear about you. Their super-smart sales people never got to convince you of their value.
Think hard on this point: if your content is not great then the overwhelming majority of people who could be customers will never connect, never engage.
If your prospect pool grew by 500% would that change your business?
Did you ever hunt for ads when you shopped online?
Many online ads are now so aggressive and unrelenting that they border on harassment. And consumers are simply sick and tired of being advertised to.
This is why content marketing is such a great opportunity in this day and age: it puts the consumer at centre stage, rather than pushing an advertisement down their throats.
Every piece of great content is chance for you to impress Google with how useful people are finding your website
Every piece of content is a chance for Google to identify something in your copy that somebody is looking for. If Google shows your page on its results page and a bunch of people are interested enough to click on your link then that’s already a win.
If Google then sees them sticking around to consume more then it will send you more people to view more content. And so on.
This becomes an incredible spiral of success and people on our content training programmes regularly see their traffic multiply by 2000% or more.
Find out: How trusted is your organisation right now?
Content is king because it builds trust and sales.
If I, as a website visitor, have a problem and you help me solve it, do I warm to you?
Of course I do.
If the content on your website is honest and useful and teaches me, your site visitor and prospective client, about all the different attributes of the products or services in your sector will I trust you more?
Of course I do.
If I have already read 15 of your articles and watched five of your videos by the time I actually meet you then will I feel more warmly disposed to listen to you or not?
Of course I will! Our studies have shown that prospects who’ve read 30 pages or more are likely to buy about 85% of the time compared to around 20% if they haven’t.
The perfect content is honest, unbiased, useful and authentic.
Using Marcus Sheridan’s ‘They Ask You Answer’ framework is the best way to ensure you are writing the perfect content.
This framework focuses on five big areas for your content they are cost the price problems comparisons versus and best of
Each one is explained in more detail in the videos below
Learn to be a wonderful teacher and see your sales rocket
Your expertise in your business area is quite extraordinary. Really it is. Your experience and opinion is vastly greater than mine or indeed any of your site visitors in all likelihood. So share your knowledge with a sense of abundance and enjoy being a wonderful teacher for all your site visitors.
Your content should be full of your expertise and where appropriate, your opinion. Certainly your authority should shine through.
Our coaching programmes are helping companies all over the world to dominate in their sector
Let us train everyone in your company to be part of the content production process find out more here
Content builds relationships and trust
Content can also help you build trust with your audience, relationships and brand loyalty. You can use content to create helpful resources, such as blog articles and videos. These resources give your audience useful information on how to solve problems they may be facing and provide them with the tools they need to achieve their goals.
When your audience sees that you’re providing value, they’ll want more of what you have to offer. They’ll seek out more of your content because it helps them in some way or another (whether it’s by educating them about a topic or simply entertaining them).
The right content will establish you as an expert
Content is king for your business.
- It can establish you as an expert in your field.
- It builds trust with your customers, which leads to more sales.
- It builds relationships with your customers, which means they’ll be more likely to buy from you again and recommend you to others.
- It helps build your brand and reputation online. That’s important if you want people to buy from you in the future (and today’s consumers do).
To make your business stand out, content marketing works
- Content marketing is a long-term strategy.
- It works when you take the time to create relevant and valuable content for your audience.
- You’re not just writing articles for the sake of it, but rather creating content that will help your readers solve their problems and achieve their goals. This approach shows you
- understand what they need, making them more likely to trust you and buy from you.
- If someone has researched a topic before contacting me, I know there’s an interest in the area which means I’m probably going to get a better chance at converting that person than someone who hasn’t done any research at all!
Conclusion
Content is how you can stand out from the crowd and build trust with your customers. It’s also a great way of showing them what they can expect from your business, so that they know they’ll get value when they come to you. When it comes to your customers, don’t forget that any content can be used as a form of advertising: if it helps them solve their problems then why wouldn’t they share it with others?
