Content is King, sure, but did you forget about the Queen? All the wonderful content in the world isn't working for your business unless its found, read, and shared. This is where an inbound marketing strategy works double time for you and your business. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at why Content is still the King.
Why Content is King - in case you forgot
Research conducted by the Custom Content Council with Roper Affairs shows that:
- 90% of consumers find custom content useful
- 78% of people believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them
- 77% of people understand that an organization’s goal for custom content is to sell them something, but are OK with it as long as it provides value
- 73% of people prefer to get information about an organization in a collection of articles rather than in a traditional advertisement
- 61% of people feel better about a company that delivers custom content and are more likely to buy from that company
Content is, but is not limited to:
- Newsletters
- Ebooks
- White Papers
- Blogs
- Articles
- Social Media Posts
- Infographics
Content has come so far in the marketing world, that Don Draper wouldn't know what to do. Consumers don't want just pretty ads - they want ads that entertain, inform and educate. They want a 360 experience - one that only a total integrated marketing strategy can execute - immersing the consumer with content delivered they way they prefer.
Behind every King, is a Queen.
So you have your content - a white paper, a blog post, an infographic. Now what? Breaking it down in medieval terms - the King has an announcement, the Queen throws a party and gathers an audience for him. She sends out invitations, she arranges an event, she gathers a crowd. Otherwise, The King's announcement wouldn't have the impact because the audience wouldn't be there.
In modern terms, the Queen is represented by the many communication tools available to your business. How do you get your content distributed? Here are a few examples of how to distribute a white paper:
- Create a landing page for your white paper, complete with a request form. Email this landing page link to your customer database.
- Write a blog promoting your white paper as a teaser - with a link to the landing page
- Include the white paper teaser in your e-newsletter - with a link to the landing page
- Send a direct mail to your customers, tease the white paper online for more information - with you guessed it, a link to the landing page
- Tweet memorable excerpts from your white paper - link to the landing page
- Share the landing page on Facebook
- Distribute a press release about your newest white paper - see if you can coordinate some editorial on your white paper or an interview
- Guest blog your white paper as a topic
Now that you know who's Queen - make your content marketing work for you! Read more about Illumine8's content marketing services.
