How does sharing Free Content work for marketers? [Content Marketing]
Your content is your king (and has future importance more than your imagination).
This king requires Herculean efforts to be created, and you go all out to create the best of it.
If this language sounds alien to you, either you are not doing it right or have worked your way around with a better option.
(And if you have discovered a better option, we are all ears. After all, sharing is caring, and that’s the theme for this post too. Successful marketers don’t keep secrets.)
There’s a futile chance that you haven’t observed marketers sharing all the content with the world around (most of it FOR FREE).
Silly them! Who on earth came up with the idea of SHARING ALL THE CONTENT FOR FREE anyway?
Err…not sure who that was but wasn’t us for sure.
Isn’t it more like changing your yarns back to cotton?
Well, no, it’s not. Because if it is, all the top marketers are either blowing smoke or are brainless idiots who got lucky. Apparently, they are not idiots, and you can’t possibly think they all got lucky doing the same thing (and that too for ages now). Luck is not the word here. The most appropriate expression would be *Strategy*.
Want to know the inside story?
Let’s first try and understand the term that digital marketers use more frequently than they breathe (please don’t take that literally, if you will).
CONTENT MARKETING:
The habit of marketers sharing highly valuable (less promotional) content with their audience is actually a strategic attempt to grab the prospect’s attention. They use every type of content for their audience (that benefits the audience) in an attempt to build a relationship with them.
This relationship keeps strengthening with continuous efforts, ultimately getting the audience down the funnel, converting them to customers and retaining the existing customers for long. This, at least, is how Content Marketing is meant to work.
What’s in Content Marketing for Marketers/Businesses?
As you already read, Content Marketing is simply your attempt to turn a target audience to a customer using Valuable Content (not as simple as stated, though).
Let’s dive into the benefits to find out the best part.
Provides Value to Your Prospects
Isn’t providing value to the people who need it, a benefit in itself?
Them getting what they want is not only good enough for them but for you too.
This is how you gain their trust. The building of trust is a way to start your relationship with them.
Once in a relationship, you nurture the bond to the level when they are ready to pay you for your services/products.
Ta-dah! Mission accomplished.
Establishes you as an Expert & Authority in your Market
You give high-quality content to your audience that targets their pain points (or should, if it isn’t already).
If they find your solutions better than the ones others provide, you successfully get your name stuck in their heads.
If you consistently provide solutions, predict outcomes, and give strategies that help them improve–CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE NOW PROMOTED TO THE POSITION OF AN INFLUENCER IN YOUR NICHE.
The day is not far when the world would see your name in the list of influencers in your niche.
The legend has it that a man in plight is more likely to turn to authority than to an apprentice (and we have no grounds to rule out the notion).
Yields High Level of Brand Loyalty
If you have what they need and you give it to them, you can certainly charge for it (and nothing can stop them from paying if they badly, BADLY want it).
However, when you provide a part of it for free, your customers and prospects are indebted to you.
If they are, they’d want to return the favor by becoming your loyal followers (with a higher chance of converting) and customers (who’d prefer you over your competitors).
In Neil Patel’s words, they’d want to reciprocate your action by doing what benefits you. This must mean to you a sale, cheque, or dough in any form. Right?
Increases Your Traffic Quality
People interested in your services/products are likely to be looking for information you are producing. If you tailor your content to the needs of your prospects, not only would your traffic increase but the percentage of conversions would also increase.
Social Proof Multiplies Your ROI
When they get valuable content from you that interests them, they are more than likely to engage with it.
Part of that means that they’d comment, like and share your content as well. If they do, that is enough of social proof for others to know how people are happy with the value you provide.
If this begins to happen, your social proof helps you spread the word fast as well as increase your conversions against the same investment. Wouldn’t you call that *multiplied return on the same level of investment*?
Content Marketing widens your Remarketing Arena
A blog on WordStream by Dan Shewan explains how Content Marketing is helping them to broaden retargeting with clear intent.
Based on the data, they get to know how many people have been to page A (useful for the audience) but not been to page B (useful for the audience with associated business benefits for the company too). Once they know, they can strategically retarget the same audience to gain business benefits they intend to gain.
Content Marketing helps you Rank
Neil Patel says that every piece of content you produce is a chance for you to rank in Google’s SERPs (and prospect’s good books).
The number of chances you get to rank on SERP is directly proportional to the number of your published content. Luckily, you do not need to be a Mathematician to understand this simple fact.
Helps you build your Business Fast
If you haven’t already noted, let us put it in simple English for you one more time.
All the benefits of content marketing ultimately lead to your business growth.
The brand awareness, building trust and relationship, establishing yourself as a leader, ranking higher, and getting more traffic convert more people for you. The more the number of conversions, the higher your take-home income.
Hello! That is pretty much what your increasing caffeine consumption is all about, dude.
5 UNTAPPED Methods on how to Increase Your Blog Readers for FREE
How does it look in real?
Let us walk you through a short-cut to selling your products to someone showing interest in your valuable free content (but hey! that’s CopyBlogger. They have earned all the rights to do short cuts. Others have to take long route until they get there).
The moment you step on CopyBlogger.com’s online space, they talk you into improving your content with their free training (in exchange for your Email-id and permission to keep popping up in your inbox).
Once they have your attention (and Email), you’ll be landed on a thank you page with another purchase offer.
So, even if you are not interested in the paid offer right away, it is a win-win for you both.
How so?
You get the free resource. They get your Email id and a chance to convert you in the future. And that is a SWEET TREAT in the marketing world.
Conclusion
Business growth is an uphill battle, and not everyone has the guts to win it.
However, to make it slightly easier with lasting results and to stay ahead of the pack, your game plan should comprise of a killing CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY.
Why? Because, the benefits of Content marketing show that if done right, it has the potential to skyrocket your business fast and easy.
You’re Up, Next!
Are you up for cornering your market?
Also read the following to make your content marketing more fruitful
Evergreen Marketing – A Detailed Guide to Implement Marketing that Lasts
Winning Content Marketing with Psychology – Persuasion Principles
Understanding Sustainable Competitive Advantage and the Role of Digital Media in Achieving It
Have you finalized your Content Marketing strategy yet?
(No big deal if you haven’t because they said *It’s never too late*. And rest assured that we can always help you with that if you want).
Let us know of other benefits of Content Marketing you have noticed. Is your content marketing strategy helping you the way you thought it would?
Let us know in the comments. 🙂
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