Recently I attended the Salsa Community Conference in Washington, DC. One of the sessions I attended had to do with content marketing as a form of engagement, but the question I was wrestling with was “What if there’s not any content to market?”
One of the organizations on the panel had a lot of great content to market, from consumer product lists based on extensive research to white papers, but what if you don’t have the resources to create white papers or a large research department to create consumer product lists? There are a few things that you can do that will improve your content marketing efforts.
So first off, what is Content Marketing? Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation and sharing of content in order to attract, acquire and engage clearly defined and understood current and potential consumer bases with the objective of driving profitable customer action (Wikipedia). It is a great way to get more people interested in the work you’re doing/product you’re selling, and usually improves your brand loyalty by adding value to the services/products you provide/sell.
So what are some forms of content you can create easily or cheaply that will help you improve your connections and presence?
- The first, and easiest to do is an eNewsletter. This is probably something you’re doing anyway, but probably never thought of as content marketing (as a bonus, most email campaign service providers let you post your eNewsletter to your social networks).
- Webinars. You’re probably an expert in something, and you can share your expertise in a webinar to your consumer base. This is something my organization offers to members of its network. The most difficult part of producing a webinar is that it will take some time for you to put it together and promote it.
- You website. Did you know that updating your website and providing fresh content is a form of content marketing? If you provide your consumer base with updated information about what is happening in your network, or some piece of news that affects your industry, you’re making yourself valuable, and people are more interested in doing business with you.
- Blogging. This is something very easy to do, and along the website lines, if you’re creating and producing fresh content, you’re adding value to your brand.
These are some quick and easy suggestions that you can use to integrate content marketing into your work flow. When you create content for other venues, you can also use this content to fill your social media channels, and by providing a variety of content for your fans and followers, you’re giving them a reason to keep coming back to your pages and profiles!
Also, explore what resources you already have at your disposal and see if there is a way to leverage them. Happy marketing!
Social Media You Can Use 