To Be Successful at Content Marketing Stop Thinking About Yourself

If you are in charge of content marketing for a company (or you are the company and content marketing is something you’re trying to do) what’s the first thing you think about when you sit down, pick up the pen (yeah, I know, no one uses those) and start writing? The first thought that probably goes through your head is “How can I get someone to care about my product?” and that’s how you’ve just begun and you’re already doing it wrong.

Content marketing is marketing. Let’s not forget that. But you can’t go about content marketing the way Huggies goes about filming a tv commercial. Everyone already knows that Huggies exists, so their marketing is designed to make sure you’re thinking about them the next time you need to pick up diapers, and they do that by appealing to your emotions (they’ve got it easy; babies and all) and sense of practicality (they emphasize quality a lot).

In order to be successful at content marketing it’s necessary to stop thinking about your own needs. Generally those needs are going to be “sell more product”, so I understand if it’s easier said than done, but it’s a necessary step. Instead of thinking “how do I sell more?”, it benefits you (and your readers) to think “how can I help more?” or “what interesting things do I have to say?”.

Everyone has the ability to write content that someone, somewhere (hopefully your target market) will find entertaining and informative. That’s because no one else knows exactly what you know or sees it exactly the way you do, and that’s pretty cool. Your knowledge may be shaped by your education, career path, area of expertise, experiences with customers and your position in the market, but no matter what, it’s going to be unique and you have knowledge to offer.

That’s what content marketing is; knowledge. Because you have this knowledge and you’re happy to share it, consumers are likely to return the favour through an act of reciprocity and buy your product, or at least consider it. On the other hand, if all you can think while you’re writing new content is “Sell more product. Sell more product. Sell more product”, and your content reeks of self promotion, your efforts will likely fail.

It all goes back to the simple principle of the consumer needing to feel like they are always getting more value out than they put in, something I talked about in a blog post a few weeks ago. And, honestly, wouldn’t you like to talk more about why you do what you do? The chances are that you got into the business you’re in because you saw a need for it, and you were able to see that need because of knowledge you gained (if that’s not the case you could be in the wrong business). So fill that need with knowledge, and let reciprocity do the rest.