What is the true purpose of content marketing? Is it just sell more stuff? Or does it serve a larger purpose than the transaction?
A lot of business owners can’t see the value in content marketing when compared to paying for advertising.
After all, advertising is a very quick way to get customers to see your products and services. But it very often doesn’t convince them to buy.
Content marketing exists for a very different purpose than advertising: to help people make the best decision for themselves. It doesn’t always convince them to buy, but it does build massive brand trust.
In Service of the Customer
Content marketing grew out of the natural curiosity people have for new information.
Learning about a product or service before buying is a natural part of the process, and content marketing helps people to feel they have made the best choice.
Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports was created to serve as a source of information that consumers could use to help assess the safety and performance of products.
Consumer Reports is well known for its policies on editorial independence, which claims that the organization has “no agenda other than the interests of consumers”.
In the years before the internet, many consumers relied on the word of mouth of friends or trusted advisors. Consumer reports offered another alternative to find unbiased information that could help.
If as a business you follow this same philosophy you will be amazed how much better your business succeeds in the marketplace. When people discover your business wants to help them instead of simply selling, it makes a lasting impression.
Remove the Sales Agenda
If you did not want to sell anything to a person visiting your website, would you deliver a different message?
Wikimedia is the organization that runs Wikipedia. Their mission states that they aim ‘to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content.’
There is a reason that Wikipedia ranks so highly for almost every term on the internet. It provides information and education to people and only asks for donations in return.
They have no agenda other than to help share information. Because of this, over the past 20 years, Wikipedia has built incredible brand trust across the entire world as a result.
People Love Answers, So Does Google
Another key benefit of content marketing is that it helps grow your search engine traction. As you increase the volume of information on your website, the higher you will rank for certain keywords.
Think of Google as a big answer machine. It curates the websites that provide the best answers to people’s questions. The better quality of information you can provide on your site, the higher the likelihood you will rank well in Google results.
As with any type of success you seek, there are very few shortcuts in content marketing. The key is to start with the right approach. Remember that your goal is to educate and inform the potential customers in your business first, so they can make the best decision for themselves.
The best content marketing helps people make better decisions. It builds trust over time and forgets about the short-term gains that advertising aims to get.