Smarter Content Marketing – All Help, No Hype

Perhaps the single most important thing to remember when it comes to content marketing is this:

Every single web user currently online globally is online for a reason.

Far too many businesses assume that the average web user is online with absolutely no purpose in mind whatsoever. Simply drifting around with no specific intention or requirements, thus open to their tempting suggestions and offers…if appropriately targeted. In reality however, this isn’t the case at all.

Whether it’s for entertainment purposes, socializing, researching products, seeking services of any kind or really anything else across the board, there’s always a reason of some kind for going online. Which in turn means that to a certain extent at least, there is something very specific an individual in question is looking for.

Exactly who it is that fulfils their expectations and requirements comes down to one thing and one thing alone – content.

Quality and Value

Online businesses and webmasters in general can throw all the hype in the world at their target audience members. But without the genuine quality and value to back it up, it’s an exercise in futility. Above all else, the critical thing to remember when going about a content marketing strategy of any kind is that web users respond best to websites that provide them with some form of help.

It could be help filling a few minutes with entertainment, help researching products and services, help buying products and services of any kind and so on. Consumers in general like to feel that after each experience or engagement with any given online entity, they somehow come away better off for the experience.

Which is precisely why the most successful types of content at the heart of superior content marketing strategies are those that deliver value and benefits of some kind. Tutorials, how-to guides, infographics and pretty much anything unique that cannot be found elsewhere.

Marketers who exist to simply separate consumers from their money rarely succeed – those who strive to satisfy the needs of their target audience perform much better.

The Psychology of Selling

Countless studies and the experience of millions of businesses worldwide continually remind us that stronger connections can be forged with customers, if and when you help them solve problems. If you are willing to provide them with advice and support that’s useful, relevant, transparent and easily accessible, you stand a much greater chance of standing out as an authority in your field. 

Meaning that nexttime they require any help or support along the same lines, they’ll instinctively gravitate in your direction.

In a sense, it’s the classic example of the art of selling without selling in practice. Rather than throwing an endless bombardment of marketing materials at your audience members, you instead focus on giving them what they actually want. And in doing so, stand out from the crowd as a leader in your field.

So rather than investing in and focusing on generating the kind of hype that leads to nothing, consider instead how you, your business and your website can offer genuine and valuable help, for the benefit of your customers.