What is Content Marketing?

The premise of content marketing goes against the grain of many marketers. For years, companies held information close and only shared with good clients, sometimes even keeping their own clients in the dark. An ignorant market was easier to sell to - or at least that was the idea. In recent years, information has become king. A company that refuses to share information that helps the buying decision will suffer, if not disappear completely. Content marketing definition.
Content marketing is publicly and freely sharing information about your business and industry. It can include text (blogs, ebooks, press releases and tweets), video, audio and online events.
The most common and often the most easily produced content is in written form. And the most common written form is the blog. Learn how to start a blog.
Blogs are easy to begin. A blog can be started for little to no money. Blogs are easy to maintain. From writing daily to a few times a week, an effective blog can be run in a matter of a few hours each week. Your readers are used to the blog format. And are probably comfortable navigating them. The comments on individual blog posts have become a fundamental part of the blog, allowing readers to create content on your platform.E-books: Can answer a specific question for your readers and must be free. Press releases: No longer just for large corporations, a well written press release can significantly help increase exposure to your site and your message.Social Media Content (including tweets and Facebook posts): An excellent medium for sharing news. Works well when combined with the evergreen nature of blogs.Videos and Audio: Can be in the form of a tutorial, a simple explanation or even a rant - as long as it helps educate the reader. These can be distributed through video sharing sites (like YouTube and Vimeo) or as a podcast (using a service like iTunes). Training: While this can be done via pre-recorded method, like the video/audio method above, this is often best done live via a webinar. Students can signup (or enroll) for your course, given at a specific time/day where you will show then how to do something valuable. A word of caution: be sure to test you webinar software/service before you begin offering it to the public. This has the potential of irritate and alienate your students if it doesn’t work properly.
A critical component of content marketing is that it remain free. If it isn’t free, it isn’t marketing - its a product. Which isn’t necessarily bad - but the distinction must be made. To bring in new clients and prospects, you need good marketing which is always provided for free.
Have you ever wondered "How can I use content marketing?" For more information, check out my review of Content Marketing for Dummies.

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