Following is an edited excerpt from my latest book, Content Marketing for Dummies, which teaches individuals and business owners how to create and publish online content that can help you reach your goals.
The primary benefits of content marketing are building brand awareness and developing relationships with your target consumer audience and online influencers. The idea is to understand how content marketing can enable you to build your brand and business by putting you in front of audiences that matter.
By publishing content, you can put yourself on the map. As you build your business’ online presence through consistent and persistent publishing of interesting and useful content, more and more people will find you or hear about you. If your content is relevant and interesting, they’ll want more of it. They’ll remember who you are, and they’ll share your content with others. They’ll want to talk about your content with you and with their own online (and offline) connections. In other words your content opens the virtual door between your business and a global audience.
Your content helps people understand your brand message and promise, and it allows people to develop their own perceptions for your brand and business. They develop expectations for your brand based on the information you consistently share. They reach out and communicate with you via social web conversations, and in time, they become loyal brand advocates who talk about your brand, creating a form of word-of-mouth marketing that business owners could only dream about years ago.
Think of it this way — two decades ago, business owners would have done just about anything to get together with an audience of engaged consumers to talk about their products and services. Today, a larger engaged audience than you can imagine is available to you, thanks to the power and reach of the social web. You just have to discover what they want to hear from you, and then deliver it again and again.
Are you tapping into the powerful reach of the social web through content? Keep in mind, content can include long form ebooks and articles, short form Twitter updates and images, or conversational content such as forum posts and blog comments. Content can help you build your business, your brand, and your career. You just need to determine your goals, the type of content you want to publish, and join the world of online publishing!
You can learn more in Content Marketing for Dummies, which is currently on sale on Amazon for $16.25 — that’s 35% off the retail price. You can also find it through Barnes and Noble, where it is currently on sale for $16.47 (a 34% discount), and through other book sellers.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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