An honest conversation about the power of storytelling
If you’re wondering what content marketing is, a quick Google search will surface hundreds, if not thousands, of articles, blog posts and listicles that give you the rundown of what content marketing is. But here’s a clue: the answer is in the subtitle of this article.
Did your eyes go to the word storytelling? Yeah? Nah. That’s only the half of it.
We’ll delve into why content marketing isn’t just a marketing buzzword for storytelling in a bit, but for now I want to draw your attention to the words, ‘honest conversation.’
Because at its heart content marketing isn’t just about selling; it’s about creating genuine, authentic dialogue that resonates with people on a deeper level.
Content marketing in a nutshell:
Content marketing is consistently creating and publishing relevant, valuable content that attracts, engages and retains a clearly defined audience. Content marketing nurtures trust in your brand and ultimately leads to positive customer action.
And the nut within that nutshell?
Your customer needs to find value in the content you produce. Value is whatever makes your content helpful, relevant, or meaningful to your audience. It’s less about what your business wants to say; it’s more about what your audience needs or cares about.
The best thing about content marketing?
Anyone can do it. No matter the size of your business or budget, you can still achieve great results when you create and publish valuable content that establishes your company’s expertise and provides value to your customer at every stage of their customer journey – from awareness and consideration to post-purchase, and back again.
What counts as content marketing?
Any content that aims to engage, educate, and convert an audience. You may have a preference for one, but you should look to explore and utilise at least three.
- Blog posts
- Case studies
- Customer testimonials
- E-books
- Email newsletters (EDMs)
- How-to guides
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Product demos (videos or webinars)
- Product reviews
- Social media posts
- Surveys/quizzes
- Tutorial videos
- Webinars
- Whitepapers
Content marketing differs from campaign or performance marketing in that it focuses on creating valuable, organic content rather than paying for ads to promote it.
How sharing expertise is content marketing
Okay, time for an example.
Pat’s specialist orchid shop has a simple website. It’s no fuss and no bother – just the way Pat likes it. One day he notices that he’s had five phone-calls in the last two days about orchid viruses. For a shop that usually only receives a few calls a week, that’s a huge spike in people needing his expertise. He decides to note down the advice he’d given his callers and publish it as a blog post on his website. As he starts writing it, he realises he should also explain how to tell if it is a virus or a mite infection which becomes another blog post. Obviously then he needs to explain the difference between mite-riddled orchids, aphid attacks and infestations of thrips, so that becomes a third published post.
Each article takes him about 30 minutes to write – the knowledge is there he just needs to type it all out. Pat’s unsure if this blogging stuff is worth it, but it can’t hurt. He doesn’t have any photos to hand, but he figures he’ll get some soon.
Sure enough, the next week he receives an email from Lorraine who wanted to share that her orchid was making a full recovery, thanks to his wise counsel on the phone last week. Helpfully, she attached some before and after photos. He replied congratulating her on the recovery and asked if he could possibly add the photos to his blog, making sure to credit her.
Three weeks later, Lorraine is chatting with Dave who is off to find a birthday present for his hard-to-buy-for niece. Lorraine suggests an orchid. Dave’s not keen because he thinks they’re too fussy and wasn’t Lorraine’s orchid infested anyway? Sounds like hard work. Lorraine is thrilled to be able to show Dave the blog post with her before and after photos and Pat’s clear guidance on how to conquer orchid viruses. She’s happy to see that Pat has added three more blog posts to his website: How to repot and propagate orchids like a pro, The role of fertiliser and proper watering schedules, and, Choosing the right orchid variety for beginners. This last article is exactly what Dave needs to reassure him that an orchid is just the right gift. He gets out his credit card and makes the order online. Lorraine makes a mental note to order some orchid fertiliser from Pat’s shop when she gets home.
Two months down the track, Pat has 10 more blog articles online, it’s not just people who are reading his blogs, his regular and relevant posts by their very nature mean that his content is starting to track better in search rankings. He asks his granddaughter to do the photography for his website and his business is blooming.
What’s the biggest secret about content marketing?
Remember what I said earlier? This is an honest conversation about content marketing and I could well do myself out of a paid gig by saying this, but here’s the truth: you don’t need to be a content marketer to do content marketing. You don’t even need to hire a content marketing company like us to do content marketing for you. You can get started by yourself today.
(In the spirit of honesty, the above example of Pat’s orchid expertise is entirely fictitious (although based on experience). But it illustrates my point quite nicely. Behold: the power of storytelling!)
How do I start content marketing?
Glad you asked. Now ask yourself these questions:
- What common questions do your customers have that you can answer through a blog or social media post?
- What problems can your business solve, and how can you showcase your expertise in a helpful, engaging way?
- What content could you create that would educate, entertain, or inspire your audience, while highlighting your products or services?
Once you have your answers, you know what to do!
Starting small with valuable content that directly addresses your customers’ needs is all it takes to begin building trust and visibility for your business. The key is to start – and stay consistent. If you need any help, we’re just an email away.