Linn and staying relevant to their customers
December 20, 2012The relationships you have with your existing customers are your key to success
December 31, 2012
Content and inbound marketing is not new but is rising in importance for businesses of all sizes. To see some evidence of this, check out the Google Trends graphic below:
A lot of this, I believe, comes on the back of Google’s Panda and Penguin search algorithm updates in the last couple of years. You can read a great summary of it’s effects on the Kikolani blog here.
However, I also think that it reflects how we as customers, consumers and clients search for, find and learn more about what we want to buy, whether it is for business or personal reasons. I also think it reflects our preferences for how we like to buy and not be sold to.
But, content marketing is not just about creating your own content, it’s about creating an eco-system. Valerie Maltoni, a leading blogger and digital strategist, in an interview that originally appeared on ExploreB2B puts it really well when she explains her own content strategy:
“The blog was always the last thing I did during the day – or should I say, night – and the first place where I tried new ideas in digital marketing, studying the results for potential use. It’s the place where I took all the risks, every day. But writing on the blog was only part of the equation. Commenting on other blogs, extending discussions, helping others with research and content via interviews, and writing for other sites with higher visibility…made it all work.”
So, it’s not just about creating your own content and sitting back and waiting for the leads and customers to roll in.
Yes, you need to create content for your homebase, whether that is your website, blog etc. But, you also need to get out there (like the worker bee in the picture) and pollinate the work of others by sharing their content, participate and extend their conversations.
By being interested, useful and social first are you more likely to earn the trust needed to get a chance to be interesting and show off your stuff.
So, if you’ve decided that 2013 is going to be the year that you get really stuck into content marketing, don’t forget to figure out who is going to be in your content marketing ecosystem and who are going to help pollinate.
Thanks to SteveNakatani for the image.
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5 Comments
Adrian,
If I was Mr Google I would want to send my customers to sites that were interesting.
I couldn’t read every site and decide if it was interesting, but what I could do is look at the numbers and data
My guess is that Mr Google looks at 2 things
1. How long visitors stay on that site
2. How many people reference a site
That would tell me how interesting the site is
So if I am right I suspect there are 2 things you need to do to be an expert content marketer
1. Be interesting
2. Let people know that you are interesting
Or as you say, get out there and try not to bore the pants off people, (let me know how I am doing)
James
Hi James,
I have a funny feeling that the rocket scientists at Google will keep coming up with ever more fancy ways of measuring interesting-ness. However, in the meantime, here’s the things (as I understand them) that seem to matter right now:
– Bounce rate
– How long people spend on your site
– Visitors and their type
– How many people are sharing your content
– Links pointing at your site
So, you’re pretty much spot on with the things that you mention.
In terms of becoming an expert content marketer or a business that engages with, helps its customers and delivers great service……I would suggest the following (not exclusive to marketing or content marketing but applicable to all parts of business):
– Do good stuff
– Be helpful to others (not just your customers)
– Show up
– Keep showing up
What do you think?
Adrian
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but, I’d like to send you an email.
I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
Contact page….look at the top right hand corner of the each page.
Thanks,
Adrian
Absolutely agree! Building a content marketing ecosystem is key to success in today’s digital landscape. It’s not just about what you create; it’s about how you engage, collaborate, and contribute to the larger online community. Sharing and helping others is the way forward.