Marketing Tip: Who Will You Listen To When You Need Good Marketing Advice?

This week’s tip is to remind you to seek a professional marketer’s opinion when you need help with your marketing.   Here’s an exercise I want you to do: Review the last five to six Marketing tips to refresh your mind as you begin to think about your content strategy  – now, take a look at what other industry experts are saying below about content marketing.  Please take note that I am not alone in my belief that great content marketing that speaks to your target audience is the key to your business success!

Here is what two key marketing leaders said at the 2014 Marketing Trends Conference on the subject:

Forbes Magazine: The Top 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014 – by Jason DeMers

One of the main ways that companies are establishing authority and gaining trust with consumers is by consistently creating valuable content through a variety of channels. This typically involves relevant industry information that provides insight or entertainment to an audience. Doing so allows a company to steadily build rapport with its demographic and develop a loyal following. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the top B2B content marketing strategies are social media, articles on a business’s website, eNewsletters, case studies, videos and articles on other websites.

By using one or more of these channels, businesses are able to build a positive reputation within their industry. This trend suggests that marketing to the masses through techniques like television ads and radio ads are becoming less effective. Instead, it’s better to concentrate on inbound marketing, by producing valuable, engaging content designed for a specific audience.

Suzanne Fanning (@SuzanneWOMMA), President of WOMMA, “The Shifting Marketing Landscape”

The key characteristics that strong WOM (word of mouth) programs have:  credibility, social component (an inherent hook that motivates consumers to share), repeatability (one hit wonders without lasting power fizzle too fast), measurability, and respectful (e.g., privacy).  She also talked about the role that a good content strategy plays in the success of all types of social engagement.

The team at Sandy Hibbard Creative can help you target your customers with the focused content they need delivered with your expertise.  Let us help you tell your compelling story.  Call me and let’s get started on putting your content marketing strategy together!