By Elvire Gosnold, Director, Blabbermouth Marketing: What exactly is marketing? Some might say marketing is 'making things look pretty'. I disagree. Marketing is about making things desirable.
Most of us eat potatoes, but why don't we all buy the 'value' ones? I was a victim of the marketing game last week. I bought National Trust potatoes at a far higher price than the value ones. Why did I do that? Do I really think eating an expensive potato will get me closer to living in a stately home with perfectly manicured gardens? Aspirational potatoes, that is fantastic, and I of all people fell for it. Although I must add they tasted good.
My superior potato experience got me thinking that it was the great content marketing that the National Trust do that made me so engaged with their brand. Traditional marketing is about how to sell a product or service. The message to buy product X is blunt. Think of a TV advert or a press release.
The difference with content marketing is that it's not about direct selling, it's about informing people about how they can use the product, or benefit from a service in a way that the user will perceive the product as desirable. This makes brand value far greater as consumers are engaged with the brand rather than the product, which makes up-sell and cross-sell opportunities more realistic. A few examples of content channels are: Social networking, blogs, webinars and infographics.
Content should avoid self-promotion. It should solve a problem, address a challenge your audience faces, educate them or engage them emotionally. The idea being that your prospects are encouraged to use your content when doing their research, so when they later engage with your sales people your business has the necessary credibility for them to buy with confidence.