Is your marketing organization on the fence about using content marketing? If so, consider recent research from Cone Inc., which shows that across formats consumers are increasingly going online to find content that will help them make purchase decisions.
While Cone Inc.’s research highlights that consumers continue to turn to ratings and reviews and that blogs have gained customer interest, the reality is content marketing can support every step of the purchase process. If you don’t provide useful content, your competitors, other consumers, and the public will.
To support the purchase process effectively with relevant content, at the very least, you need to:
Include a relevant call-to-action
Include a unique promotion code to be able to track results.
Socialize your content marketing
Below are thirteen online options you should also consider beyond these essentials.
Your Website
Consider content-rich product information, company and executive backgrounds, location (with maps), and customer-driven FAQs.
Photographs
Here’s where your offering can strut its stuff. Remember, consumers want to see your product in action, as well as what they’re getting. Don’t forget to associate relevant text for searchability.
Videos
Increasingly, videos are being integrated into product content offerings to help online shoppers get a 360-degree view. Develop how-to videos to show prospects the basics (and even the not-so-basic ways) of using your product). Don’t overlook video’s storytelling or entertainment value, which companies like Will It Blend (aka Blendtec), Orabrush, and Mentos versus Coke Experiment discovered and leveraged to great success.
Presentations / White papers
Presentations and white papers have long been at the core of B2B content marketing offerings. To increase their allure, include relevant, usable information wrapped in attractive graphic design. This content shouldn’t be one-sided or purely promotional. Otherwise, it won’t break through today’s information overload. Increase your reach by placing these materials on slide sharing sites that have broad visitor traffic.
Ratings and reviews
While Amazon’s the granddaddy of customer reviews, prospects are increasingly checking what others have to say about your offering through dozens of major and niche sites. Further, Cone Inc. found that prospects look for both positive and negative information. Remember, if you decide that you need to edit your comments on your own site, consumers will turn to third-party sites like TripAdvisor and your competitors to get unbiased reviews.
Testimonials
Direct marketers have used this form of customer reviews for years: “Don’t take our word for it; here’s what your peers say.” The benefit is that these customer comments can be hand-selected to highlight your products’ best features.
Blogs
While blogs should be at the center of your content marketing offerings, make sure you create blog content that can support your products with information that helps consumers use them. The goal is to provide non-promotional information, such as recipes, patterns, and helpful hints.
Discussion boards
Use product forums to answer customer questions before and after they purchase. Furthermore, get help from other consumers and the public who can answer your prospects’ questions based on their experience.
eBooks
Provide useful targeted information for public consumption that’s sexy by compiling it into an eBook. Increase your reach with strong design and social sharing. While widely used by B2B marketers, don’t underestimate their value for B2C and not-for-profit use. You can also consider creating an eBook to supplement your product manuals or to provide public information for not-for-profit (NFP) efforts.
Podcasts (audio content)
Does your product lend itself to the spoken word? If so, why not create a podcast? Increasingly, investor relations professionals are using this content format. Think outside the box, especially for kids who love to hear stories or for visually impaired audiences.
Email newsletters
While email is a core element of many marketers’ plans, you can offer a tailored newsletter that focuses on giving prospects and customers fun and useable content. Basically, you act like a sponsor of your own content and link to relevant products where appropriate. This works for all types of marketers.
Articles on third-party sites
Support your offerings by writing about product-relevant topics and submitting these articles to other media entities. B2B marketers have traditionally submitted content to trade publications; B2C and not-for-profits can also use this tactic effectively by writing about topics that address their prospects’ challenges.
Press releases
The beauty of press releases is that their keyword-rich content can attract broad audiences. To be effective as content, don’t think in terms of the traditional, must-announce-internal-or-regulatory-information releases. Go for intriguing approaches to your product.
Regardless of your target market, consider how you can provide content that your audience wants and is seeking to help them decide to purchase your products. And as I mentioned earlier, make sure you track results from each form of content to determine what’s most effective for your offering.
Is there any other content marketing format that you’d add to this list? If so, please include it in the comment section below.
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