Let’s face it, traditional outbound marketing is losing ground at a rapid pace. Older and well-established brands who have a firm foothold in the market can expect better returns for banner ads, print ads, and email campaigns. But, a new brand trying to find its way into the market should be looking into more effective ways to market. We talk a lot about influencer marketing here, and that will be integrated in this post as well, but now we’ll discuss the importance of content and content marketing.

What is Content?

Really, anything that is produced or published counts as content. For the sake of what we’re talking about, though, we’ll set funny memes and selfies aside for now. The content we’ll focus on is the type that’ll really help drive brand awareness and bring traffic your way. Blog posts, white papers, infographics, e-books, informative videos…these are the formats where you can really get your message out. Most brands have someone on their team that can and should produce content on a regular, consistent basis, and that’s big. Making sure the subject is relevant and timely is an important part of this, so stay abreast of current topics and news, and check your facts twice (we all know how the “news” can be these days).

Make It Work for You

As digital marketing whiz Lee Odden said,” Content is the reason search engines exist and it’s the cornerstone of what people share on the social web. A quantity of quality content that answers readers’ questions in a useful and entertaining way serves everything from demand generation to lead generation.” Now, Mr. Odden has been around a long time, and had a lot of success. So, it’s instructive to pull this statement apart to examine the value of its parts. It’s true, what else would search engines search for? And you want to be at the top of those searches, so do your research regarding SEO and the terms that  might be searched for when someone is trying to find your type of product or service. Don’t be afraid to be super specific either; long-tail searches (i.e. “running shoes” vs. “trail running shoes with arch support”) are quite valuable, so make sure to consider niche words and phrases as part of your content. Next, yes, people share. In astounding volume. Often, it’s a bit of a reflex, like the aforementioned funny memes. Your friends share your sense of humor, goofy or dark as it is, and so you figure they’ll appreciate what you send. Now, take that theory and apply it to entertaining and knowledgeable content. Read a clever blog post about property values skyrocketing around highly rated schools? You’ll likely pop on Facebook and LinkedIn and share it with realtors, parents, builders, and everyone else in your network that might also find it interesting. It’s easy, free and lots of those folks will appreciate the gesture. That’s the personal and professional value of relevant content…it does a lot of the work for you.

Bring in the Influencers

Don’t forget, good content also informs and educates. You certainly want some of it to extoll the value of your brand, but don’t be afraid to venture into other relevant topics. Well-written posts that make people laugh, think, or get all the feels is valuable…it brings traffic and is shared just as often, if not more. Here’s a good place to bring in some of those influencers, also. They can share your juicy content and get it in front of many new potential consumers or brand fans. Aside from having influencers share your brand’s content, many influencers are experts and having these industry experts write a white paper or e-book for you does it all: informs, entertains, praises your brand, and is seen by all of the influencer’s loyal audience. That’s a big win for your brand. In short, get your content out there, whether you write it yourself or hire a professional to do it. Influencers and freelancers who write long-form content should be a constant part of your team. Who is doing it for you?