Because of Google, everyone today has access to research that we have never had before. So when you are considering a purchase, what’s the first thing you do? Google it. Therefore shoppers (B2C) and buyers (B2B) are armed with more data than ever before. And its going to get worse, thanks to social media.
In Web 1.0 we saw companies create websites as outposts of their companies and immediately everyone had to have one. But in today’s Web 2.0 world all you have now is your content.
I used to hate hearing in the Web 1.0 world …. content is King. But you know what? It came true. It’s been a game of whoever can create the most content wins.
Everyone is into thought leadership, custom content, podcasts, videocasts, community …. which I think is great. And this hasn’t gone unnoticed …. a recent B2B Magazine article mentioned the top M&A target is a marketing company strong in integrating custom content and live events!
So what? So that means the entire first experiences of your brand online are all around the quality of content you put out there AND what people have to say about it. It’s time to crank on the quality of your content machine not just the quantity!
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Tags: Content Marketing, Web 2.0
When I read the title of this post, I thought to myself, “No, character is your brand.”
Then I remembered the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King, and I realized content *is* character. In other words, what we do (our content) makes up who we are (our character).
Recognizing the simple syllogism, we can deduce that, indeed, content is your brand.
Well spotted.
Yes having unique content can go a long way. Relevancy is also key.
Relevance to the consumer and quality are the magic combination for great brand content. Start with what the consumer cares about most, both in the information you provide and the format(s) you use. Sometimes that means moving far away from product information to lifestyle content (taking great pictures instead of camera features) to build consumer interest and trust. Quality often means spending a little bit to put the right content together, but high-quality, relevant content pays for itself in brand affinity and propensity to buy.
One last thing, be sure you have a mechanism in place to measure the success of the content so you be sure you’re delivering on relevance and quality. Don’t be afraid to optimize based on the data.
I’ve always agreed that quality content is the ideal. Yet, with the proliferation of blogs and social media sites, Web 2.0 is getting as cluttered as old media used to be.
So, Paul, even with great content and SEO, how do you recommend standing out online when there are a gazillion others doing the same thing?
@ Cam – thanks and thank you for commenting
@ Web20 – agree
@ Elaine – to borrow a phrase from Marc Hausman from Strategic Communications Group I would say the 3E’s of Content – Engage, Educate and Entertain
those are the keys to creating “pull” with your content
Thanks for the post Paul.
Having spent the last seven years creating content and unique methodology we’re in the phase of getting into the blogging networks and distributing it through some free and paid channels.
It’s comforting to hear that content (provided it is unique) can draw a crowd. I guess it’s always been that way but some have plagiarized others material to try and make themselves seem more than they really are.
I have spent more hours than I care to remember developing content that drives traffic to a website.
But content, however valuable to the researcher, doesn’t often produce sales.
As Natanya mentions, relevancy is what matters. The goal isn’t to “win” by having the most traffic. It’s to get the desired response from those who visit to view our carefully targeted content.
All that said, I’ve found that my famously unfocused professional blog has become by best sales tool. How can that be?