In my last post, I wanted to share a case study of a small, niche buisness using content marketing amazingly well. I wanted to demonstrate proof where a company saw literally MILLIONS of dollars in increased sales by using content and inbound marketing well. Sure, I could’ve highlighted the standard case studies such as Dell and Zappos. But our clients don’t have the size and resources of those two brands. So I shared the story of my friend Marcus Sheridan and River Pools and Spas.
Recently I had a chance to interview Marcus and chat about getting started with content marketing. Below the video, I share my key takeaways. What about you?
(And we shot this interview in an open room at a conference in Minneapolis so please excuse the background noise.😉
Key Takeaways / Lessons Learned
- The key to success is pretty easy. KEEP IT SIMPLE! BE GENUINELY HELPFUL!
What is content marketing?
- To be a great teacher, you have to be a great listener. If a client asks a question, answer it but also make it a blog post.
- A huge part of the sales cycle is over before a prospect calls you. Experts estimate 60-80% is of the sales process is completed before a person will contact a company or business. This means customers are self-educating by view content online. If you don’t have a strong online presence, you must understand your customers will be learning from your competitors who are online and sharing valuable content.
- Content Marketing works around the clock, educating, sharing and selling. It doesn’t take time off. It’s working when your clients are working.
- Content Marketing is NOT complicated. It’s nothing more than teaching people what we do.
- To get started, figure out the problems and questions your clients have and answer them.
- Content can be shared in a variety of formats based on what works best for your audience and you. You can use a blog format, videos, ebooks, whitepapers, free DVDs, etc.
- Content Marketing isn’t new! It has been around for a long, long time.
- He who gives the greatest teaching advice in his industry is likely to be the most successful.
