{"id":1903,"date":"2015-06-25T19:31:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T01:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twprod.wpengine.com\/understanding-the-mythical-beast-of-content-marketing-osp-097\/"},"modified":"2024-10-15T07:37:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T13:37:08","slug":"understanding-the-mythical-beast-of-content-marketing-osp-097","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tailwindapp.com\/blog\/understanding-the-mythical-beast-of-content-marketing-osp-097","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Mythical Beast of Content Marketing OSP 097"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Content marketing is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot but what exactly is it? Does your business really need it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the second installment of my four-part Summer Super Fun Digital Marketing Spectacular with Ian Anderson Gray. Last week we talked about what businesses should know about websites<\/a>, this week we\u2019re going to take a look at the content marketing side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Understanding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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In this week’s episode<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Ian, content marketing is telling a story, it\u2019s creating something that will engage with people. We both see it as something that has been happening since the dawn of time only the mediums have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well-produced content can display knowledge or expertise on a topic and can build trust, which can lead to sales. One of the oldest examples of massed produced content marketing is a magazine called the Furrow begun in 1895<\/a> by John Deere. As a manufacturer of agriculture equipment, the company\u2019s target market is the farming community. The magazine includes articles that are relevant to commercial farmers and is still being published today. Throughout the magazine John Deere products are featured which helps keep the company top of readers\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Content Marketing isn\u2019t:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One aspect of content marketing that can be confusing for businesses is that it isn\u2019t necessarily about directly selling. Ian mentions the dreaded tweets that read, \u201cSee my latest testimonial\u201d or \u201cBuy my latest product.\u201d Most people wouldn\u2019t do this in real life but somehow find acceptable to do online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian shared a story of a previous job and a manager who taught their employees to use very pushy, in-your- face sales tactics. Ian being the cool guy that he is didn\u2019t go along with what his boss was teaching. What a rebel! <\/em>Ian took a more patient approach. He asked customers questions, he let them take their time in deciding to make a purchase and ultimately sold more than his coworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a time to ask for a sale and offer your product but there has to be time spent listening and engaging with your potential customers for both sides to end up feeling good about the transaction. No body likes to be sold. Nobody likes to be \u201cconvinced\u201d to part with their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently my family and I went to a theme park for a vacation. After a loooooong day of walking we were headed back to our hotel and came upon a guy offering rides on a bicycle driven rickshaw. We were exhausted but had already spent so much money during the day we questioned if it was worth saving our feet the extra steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before talking with the driver, my husband and I set set a cap on the amount we would be willing to spend. If it was going to be more than $30 our feet could hurt just a little more. When we asked him how much it as going to be he surprised us by saying it was all done for tips, whatever we wanted to pay. Woohoo, mama was getting a deal!<\/em> My feet would be spared and all for a $5 tip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the short ride back to the hotel, the friendly young man started a conversation with us. He told us about things to do in the area, how long he had lived there and what he was studying in school. In a few minutes he gave our feet a rest, he gave us helpful information of what to do in the area and he shared some of his personal story. We ended up liking him and gave him more than the $30 limit that we had set for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian has found that in this world of perceived \u201cperfect lives\u201d shared on Facebook that people are getting tired of this false picture. He\u2019s found that when he\u2019s been honest about some of the things that haven\u2019t gone smoothly or when he\u2019s made a mistake in his business that people really resonate wit it. Ian sees this as an honest way to share his story, to start conversations and build relationships with people. Perhaps at some point down the line they will need the kinds of services he offers and look to him for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media, what was old is new again.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ian points out that for over 100 years mass media and huge corporations controlled the information we received. Now it seems that social media has taken us back to the way things were in in the 17th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup> centuries. Back then, conversations and business transactions happened in cafes and pubs. Prior to that, in medieval times, business was conducted in public markets where people would often build up trust and relationships with their favorite vendors. Now, these kinds of face-to-face conversations are happening virtually and globally. The best part is that it\u2019s open to businesses of all sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brands used to only work with big name celebrities and athletes to endorse their products. Now, some brands have recognized the following and strong connections that \u201cregular\u201d people have build with their social media profiles that they are being sought out to endorse products. Influence is no longer limited to the rich and famous. It can be a blogger who blogs from their kitchen table but has built a following and gained their trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content marketing and its many forms<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"Content<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Content marketing can happen in different formats including print, audio and video. What\u2019s important is that you find the format that works for you.<\/strong> For me, writing is a challenge. I prefer audio and in the past year I have put a big focus on my podcast. The show notes that you are reading now help keep my website visible to search engines but I have removed the pressure of writing blog posts from my schedule and focus on creating content in a format that I enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently met a woman who showed me a YouTube video she had made for her business. It was amazing!<\/strong> In the video I could sense her enthusiasm and passion but when I read her blog, that passion and enthusiasm just didn\u2019t come across. She said she was able to do the video in one take and had a lot of fun making it. I strongly encouraged her to do more videos and if she was concerned about the SEO factors she could have the videos transcribed and include the transcription in her blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian loves to write and goes into a lot of detail in his writing. The drawback to his approach is that it takes a long time for him to write each blog post and it\u2019s difficult to publish his work on a regular basis. He\u2019s found that he can create short videos quickly and easily. He\u2019s decided to incorporate video in to his content schedule so he can publish content on a more frequent basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to the form at of content you\u2019ll produce, it\u2019s also important to consider where your audience is likely to be and what type of content they\u2019ll be likely to consume. For example, with my business, I know some of my community only listens to my podcast while others prefer to read blog articles. To find a happy middle ground between the content I like to create and the ways my community wants to consume it, I create an audio podcast with detailed show notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find inspiration and content to share<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ian and I both use a tool called Feedly<\/a> that lets us know when content has been published by websites and blogs we choose to follow. Keeping up with other content gives us insight into news and industry trends and helps to inspire ideas for our own content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BuzzSumo<\/a> is another tool that Ian uses for finding inspiration for content to create. It helps you find the top shared content around a particular topic. With this information you can see what it is people are interested in and in what format it was published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course my favorite tool to use is Pinterest. Through Pinterest searches I can see the what\u2019s being pinned about a particular topic and what kinds of images are being used. From the number of number of repins, comment and shares I can get an idea of its popularity. I then use this information to guide some of the topics of my podcast episodes. Even if a topic has been written or talked about before, I can still add my perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Sharing and repurposing your content<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve created your content you\u2019ll want to share it across your different social accounts but once you\u2019ve shared the link or pinned the image that doesn\u2019t have to be the end. You can create different forms of spinoff content from the original piece. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n