What is content marketing? I hear people ask time and again, they ask is it viral videos, sticky content or social posts?  In more ways than one, it can be all of these and more, but it’s nothing new it’s been around for centuries in its simplest form.  This post is quite simply a look at what simple content marketing is and how you can implement it yourself.

First, let’s forget about the internet and rewind a little bit back to the times of good old-fashioned shopkeepers.

The content marketing story begins

A shopkeeper selling general hardware sells a range of items from screws, nails, hammers, screwdrivers, drills and wood etc.  On the front of the shop is a big poster telling people what’s on sale.

Each day some people enter the shop and ask the shopkeeper directly for the items that they want to buy, they pay and leave, the items are good quality and great value so they return time and again, loyal to the service, quality and value of the products they buy.

From time to time a person will walk into the shop and ask for advice such as, “how can I fix a crack in the ceiling?” The shopkeeper, wise about these things will point out they will need plaster filler, a small trowel, some sandpaper and perhaps it’s wise to have a dust mask, all of which can be purchased in the shop.  The customer states that they haven’t time right now to buy the items and make the repair but thanks the shopkeeper for the free advice.

A month or so later the same customer enters the store again remembering the good advice and tells the shopkeeper they have a leak in a pipe and asks how it can be repaired.  The shopkeeper offers advice “stating it’s best to get a plumber in the long term but some special sealing putty will help in the short term”, the customer buys the sealing putty and is saved from being flooded out.

From that day forward the hardware store became the go to place for that customer for all DIY supplies, the customer even understood that the shop may be a little more expensive than some other competitors but they trusted the wisdom of the shop owner and remained loyal.  What’s more, the customer also told friends and family they knew about the superb hardware store and so that initial bit of free advice grew to be even more important.

So what’s this short story got to do with content marketing?

The answer is quite simple, the advice was given freely without pushing any sale, it was helpful, friendly advice.  All the same, the advice wasn’t wasted it was an investment in the individual, and that investment paid off as they became a loyal trusting customer, who referred others.  It’s really as simple as that, the advice was content marketing, the shopkeeper gave free advice (or content) and reaped the rewards from it.

Content marketing today is simply the same thing, understanding your customer, your industry and your business enough to be able to answer questions, build trust and gain loyal customers.  With the power of search engines, potential customers ask questions each and every second.  If your website answers one of those asked questions potential customers may visit your website, remember your advice and return, each time they return you gain more brand awareness, loyalty and more than likely more custom.

The trick is understanding or better still second guessing your customer.

The obvious problem with a website compared to a physical shop is you can become inundated with questions about xy or z ensuring you spend all your time and more answering questions from all over the globe.  The trick is as already stated, second guessing your customer by producing content that provides the right answer to the right question they may have.

This may sound like website owners need to have some sort of extra sensory perception, predicting potential questions that customers may or may not have.  In some ways, ‘special powers’ do exist if you are able to understand search engine traffic data, but what if you are simply an average business person who wants to dabble in content marketing?

Here’s an easy way to do a bit of simple content marketing on your website.

So you have a website and want to do a bit of content marketing or in plain English, answer a few potential questions.  How do you do it?

Firstly take a look at the type of products or services you sell.  You’ll already have an understanding of how they are used and how they can benefit a potential customer.  Next, think about the instances each product or service can be used and how.  Once you have that all sorted start writing a piece of content, maybe produce a new page on your website, add it to your blog or otherwise.

Let’s look at a simple example.

Let’s say you sell only fruit, you sell apples, oranges and bananas.  If we climb into a potential customer’s head a little we can then start to generate some content ideas, let’s look at just apples.  The type of questions generated from the topic apples may be –

1. How do you get the core out of an apple?
2. Are cooking apples the same as eating apples?
3. Is it safe to eat the pips in an apple?
4. What can I make with 6 apples?
5. Are apples healthy for you?
6. If I eat too many apples will I get sick?
7. Where do apples come from?
8. How much vitamin C is in an apple?

That’s just 8 examples, I could go on and on.  The key thing to remember here is just because you may think it’s a stupid question it doesn’t mean other people know the answer to the question.  Remember people are being born each and every day, and eventually, they end up asking questions about stuff we learnt a long time ago.  No question is stupid!

Once you’ve settled on a content idea let’s say we choose idea number 5 “Are apples healthy for you?”  Start to write your piece, you can write from your own experience of course but it’s always a good idea to back up claims you make or support them with other research and point people to the research you found.  Maybe add a few pictures or if you can draw add a diagram, add some links to other websites that cover the topic in greater detail, just try and answer the question in the best way possible.

Some people like answers short but sweet, others like details and lots of it.  Don’t assume anything!  It takes all sorts to make a world and the internet has more different sorts of people than we can ever imagine, be honest, helpful and truthful.

At the end of your piece obviously include a little note that states you sell apples and a whole range of other fruit, it would be silly not to, lets face it the customer is on your website so why not point out what you sell, it’s what you would do if they were stood in your physical shop.

When you’re done writing, publish the piece, make sure there’s a link to the piece on your website and then sit back knowing search engines will eventually pick it up.  Ok yes, there is a whole host of other stuff you can do to help it be found in search but if it’s there it will get found eventually, remember this post isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list on content marketing it’s just a starter.

More than anything, when you do publish your piece if nothing else, that one piece of content could help someone and helping people is probably the lifeblood of the human spirit, it’s what makes us all feel better about ourselves and the world around us.   Yes, you may get a sale, it may go viral, and it may even make you millions but the goal is to help one person first the rest is just ‘gravy’ as they say around some parts of Wigan.

So if this has been useful then great, if you have a fear of blank pages, have no idea how to write, no time, a desire to do other stuff or otherwise and would like some content written for you I can help.  You’ll be surprised what I can write about, over the years I have written about all manner of things from power flushing central heating systems to fences, tyres, building materials and everything in between.  It takes some imagination and a lot of research to write about many different topics but I’m sure you’ll be happy with what I produce for you, your website and more importantly your potential customers.

Get in touch I’m here to help you and your business grow.