This new era of marketing in a digital world is the most exciting ever for its diverse challenges and constant progressions. To succeed in markets where savvy potential customers conduct their own research and networked consumers influence each other’s buying decisions, companies of all sizes must be authentic, creative, and have great content.
This process and practice is called content marketing and it’s now an essential component of any company’s marketing plan.
For those more familiar with traditional marketing, the transition to a more transparent and active stance will take some guidance and education. That’s what this blog is about, as well as being an introduction to my thinking and upcoming website.
Web Background
I’ve been helping people tell their stories on the Web since 2002. In the majority of cases, it’s been done via lead-generating websites that combined content strategy (what gets talked about and why and in what tone) and sales psychology.
Here’s my first website from 2007-2012, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.org i.e. Internet archives.
The foundation for my effectiveness and insight as a web writer-marketer is based on my commercial-corporate sales career. During those years, I mastered sales psychology, determining my company’s or a service’s value proposition and thinking strategically (a method for achieving specific goals along the way to closing sales). Making a sale is a process involving micro and macro conversions – just like on the Web.
A few similarities of sales to content marketing:
- Introducing new ideas and gains
- Changing people’s perceptions
- Researching then defining a company’s value proposition
- Engagement with educational, relevant, varied content
These points are a good start towards summing up content marketing and it’s what you’ll be learning more about each time you drop by.