What is Content Marketing?

Most businesses strongly differentiate between content and marketing. They perceive marketing as the distinct process by which they sell their content. (Note: content in this context can refer to any product and / or service). They believe that giving away content is a money losing exercise.

This thinking is counter-intuitive. If your prospect does not have the chance to sample your (best quality) content, they have no means to assess its worth, and no reason to trust your value proposition.

When you think of your content, you should think of it in the following context:

1. Free Line Content . Content to attract prospects, get subscribers, build your prospect list.
2. Relationship Content . Content to connect with prospects, build relationships. (Moving parade).
3. Conversion Content . Content to make a product offering.
4. Income Content . Content that is your core income producing product and / or service.

(Note that content 1 to 3 is most often a sub-set of your Income Content).

Thinking of your content as marketing, as opposed to the thing your marketing sells, produces a significant paradigm shift. It switches your thinking from trying to 'get' something, to trying to 'give' something.

It switches your thinking FROM:

"How can I persuade or convince my prospect to give me their money?"

TO:

"How can I give my prospect the highest value; how can I get them to take advantage of my knowledge and gain some real world experience; use the content and get some results; so that when I will go and ask them would you like to invest in some of my other stuff they say YES, because they TRUST you and have first-hand experience that your products work for them. "

Businesses that use content marketing create more trusting, ending relationships with their prospects and clients, resulting in better conversion and higher client Marginal Net Worth.

Here's a 4-step process for how to use your content as marketing:

1. Move the freeline .

• Identify the most EMOTIONAL need or want your prospect is experiencing.
• Create a piece of freeline content that helps your prospect achieve their need as quickly as possible.
• Put the content into the highest perceived value package.
• Get it into the hands of as many people as you can possibly find to take it.

2. Build Relationships .

• Make a list of the top 10 problems your prospects are facing. (Note that you focus on peoples problems as people are generally more motivated moving away from pain than toward pleasure).
• Create a piece of "Relationship Content" to help your prospects get results as quickly as possible.
• Structure this content into a high perceived-value and easily absorbable format and give it away to prospects (IE emails, PDFs, reports, audios, podcasts, videos, e-courses, etc).

3. Convert Sales.

• Focus on customer problems, frustrations, desires, goals - and continue to learn by asking questions.
• Start selling individual consultations and move to groups of 3, 5, 10 or more.
• Build a "Conversion Conversation" based on asking questions and matching your materials to the specific problems your prospects mention.
• Based on your first 100 "Conversion Conversations" create conversion literature that streamlines your sales process.

4. Lifetime Value.

• Move your clients through sales funnel using content as the enticement.
• Continue to deliver Relationship and Conversion content through the lifetime of your client. IE Continue to deliver them content and value until such time as they ask you to stop.
• Remember that it's OK to ask your prospects and clients to buy from you. Delivering valuable, free content builds reciprocal obligation; your prospects will feel compelled to buy from you to return the high value you provide them.

Source by Simon Clarke

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What is Content Marketing?