Content marketing – or inbound marketing as it commonly referred to these days – is all about habit. There are very few overnight blog success stories, in blogging or in other spheres of life. Whenever I think I’ve found one I dig in and find years of hard work behind their “overnight success”. When you make writing a habit, when you produce content on a regular, consistent basis you will attract visitors over time.
John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing and I had a discussion about content marketing recently. We both encounter business owners who aren’t convinced that content marketing works so they approach it half-heartedly. And then when they don’t see immediate results, they give up. But as John pointed out, “Marketing is a habit; it’s not an event.” Nowhere is that more true than with content marketing!
I guarantee you – content marketing works, but you have to invest yourself in it. Whether it’s you who is putting content out there or your staff, someone needs to be putting information – good information – out there. Now more than ever people are turning to the Internet for answers. When they have a question – no matter where they are or what time it is – they turn to their computer, iPad or mobile phone for an answer. It’s imperative that when your customers or prospects are asking the questions – yours is the answer they find.
Just last week a business owner was wondering about how she should price one of her services. Coincidently she found a pointer to an eBook I had written about small business pricing. The book answered her question and that qualified me to be the person she comes to for other, more strategic issues that she needs help with.
That’s what a commitment to content marketing will do for you. When you create compelling content with good keywords the search engines will point people to it -- so you’ll be among the top choices when people search. The more you are out there talking to your customers and prospects, the more chances you have to listen to them, so you can be tuned in to what questions they need you to answer. Answer those questions in a compelling way and you qualify yourself to be the resource they need for larger, more challenging issues.
How have you built content marketing into a habit?
(Photo image: © Ben Chams #33270309 - Fotolia.com)