5 Ways Content Marketing Can Benefit You

Today, the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) published my first guest blog post – The 3 Big Myths of B2B Content Marketing. I’m excited to join the CMI blogging team and to be part of a community that includes so many talented marketers.

Content marketing is one of the hottest B2B marketing developments. According to Compendium, content marketing will be to 2011 what social media was to 2010. That’s because marketers are discovering how important it is to use compelling content to educate and entertain their target audience.

Here are 5 benefits you can achieve when you implement a content marketing strategy:

1. 1. Generate more leads – Marketers are realizing that blasting their audience with sales messages no longer works. People don’t want to be “sold to” all the time. However, they will view content that helps them solve one of their key problems. That’s why offering white papers, videos, e-books, research and other content is a great way to get someone to subscribe to your list. The better your content can address your target audience’s key concerns, the more they will download and share your materials.
   2. Shorten your sales cycles – Once someone subscribes to your list, you’ll want to keep sending them relevant content to move them along the sales cycle. For example, showing leads case studies can help them envision themselves in the role of your happy customer and eliminate some of their concerns about working with you.
   3. Become recognized as a leader in your industry – When you provide your community with advice on how to solve one of their most pressing problems, they’ll see you as a helpful resource. Over time, they’ll associate you with the answer to their problem. This can help you build credibility, land speaking gigs and attract customers.
   4. Better search engines rankings – Keyword-rich blog posts, articles and reports can bring more visitors to your website. Plus, the more your community shares your content, the more links you will get back to your site. However, be sure to read The 3 Big Myths of B2B Content Marketing to learn what not to do to try to improve your search engine rankings.
   5. Give you an advantage over your competitors – Many companies are still stuck on the old way of doing things – pushing out sales messages to people who aren’t ready to buy. You have an opportunity to attract some of these potential customers by helping them, rather than selling to them.

Now that you know the benefits of content marketing, you should also learn about the biggest mistakes you can make when you jump into it. Click here to read my post for the CMI blog – The 3 Big Myths of B2B Content Marketing. The post also offers suggestions on how to avoid these mistakes and develop a content marketing strategy that helps you engage your audience and generate more leads.