You’re missing too much, if not using effective content as a marketing tool
“We want to create Coca-Cola stories and not stories by Coca-Cola. If the story can be told without Coca-Cola, then it’s not a Coca-Cola story”, Kate Santore says while sharing Coca-Cola’s storytelling approach.
Before we delve more into the content and its impact on the current marketing strategies of the brands, let’s look at some of the staggering facts and figures –
“More than 95% of the B2B service and product buyers consider content as trustworthy while evaluating a company and its offerings.”
“Almost 75% of the marketers consider branded content more effective than traditional magazine advertisements.”
“Content marketing achieves twofer gains — reduces the marketing cost by 62% while generating almost three times the volume of leads as compared to traditional marketing approaches.”
What is the content and content marketing?
Cambridge dictionary describes content as “the subject or ideas contained in something written, said, created, or represented”.
Further, the Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action”.
If you carefully analyse both the definitions, you can identify how content marketing is so underrated in today’s business world.
Few points to ponder
· Content is not confined merely to written articles and blogs. It can be in any form and style, written or spoken;
· Content marketing aims at solving the problems of the audience rather than pitching the products or services;
· Content is all about CONSISTENCY — consistency drives profitability.
· The final objective of the content is to persuade a customer to take action.
How can content transform the business?
What is the primary objective of a business? — To sell the products or services and earn revenue. It will remain intact always.
However, something has changed drastically now — the approach of business towards prospective and existing customers. Customers are no longer interested in hearing specifications or benefits of a product or service.
They come to a company to get a sure shot solution to their queries — if they get it, they become permanent customers; if they don’t, businesses vanish.
How does content help here? — Content helps the businesses to quench the customers’ thirst by providing everything they wish to know.
A useful content adds values to the customers’ lives and portrays you as an expert and a one-stop solution. Customers see you as a “problem solver” rather than just an entity selling products and services.
The problem-solving approach results in deeper customer relations and trust building which are indispensable for continuation.
Storytelling — the future of content marketing
Jimmy Smith once said, “There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling”. Those days are gone when a business would place a product before the customer and expect him to know what it is and why it’s there. Storytelling is transforming the businesses and their approach of selling the products and services.
Airbnb doesn’t offer houses and rooms; instead, it provides home and a feel of the local experience. Before booking rooms for staying, customers already know whom they will stay with. Airbnb has made the customers a brand by showcasing their stories and experiences in “Stories from Airbnb community” section on the website.
Content marketing is different for every individual, company and objective. What suits A may not suit B. Rather than comparing the content strategy, it is advisable to formulate unique and business-oriented plans which can fetch success and profitable actions.