… and you should too!
The “content is king” sentiment has been around for a while now, and for good reason. There are all types of materials that can be considered “content.” Articles, white papers, case studies, newsletters, press releases, blogs and stories are all great examples of content. Giving people lots of options on how they want to interact with your business, better understand what you offer and your depth of understanding in the field, lets the viewer pick the choice that works best for them.
Types of businesses where the content approach works well:
- Technical companies with difficult to explain or complex products – software, systems, or technology products (laser-based therapy systems, blue light therapy for mares, synthetic material horseshoes)
- Medical-type companies, such as veterinarian practices, massage therapists, or farriers.
- Service type companies, such as saddle fitters, trainers, or fitness instructors.
Benefits
The more related content that you offer on your website and link to from web ads, Pinterest, Instagram or other social media channels, the more people will be able to find your service or products and get familiar with your brand at the same time.
Creating a library of pertinent information for people to refer back to creates a destination site and grows links from other sites (high-value SEO builder). Over time, this creates return traffic.
Adding new material to your website on a regular basis is also an SEO builder. Search engines like new information and look for that when creating rankings for all of the pages on your website.
You prove your depth of understanding and your expertise level in the industry by writing on related topics. If you are a service provider, this can be very important. Marketing is a great example. Basically, you want to build trust with each new visitor so that they feel you know what you are talking about and will want to give you a call.
Writing good explanations on how your technical product works (without giving away trade secrets), helps you create a comfort level understanding for a prospective buyer that may be on the fence, which is why I try to release a new article on a regular basis.
Sharing is caring. Good information is passed from person to person. If you knew how many NY Times articles my mom sends to me… Engineers send information to buyers, to help their purchase selection approval. Horse owners share new findings on equine health and rider fitness findings. If your target market is mainly female, this is even more important.
Drawbacks
Time to write it all. If you are in an established company, this can be a bandwidth challenge, especially as your most knowledgable people are usually the most senior, with the most daily responsibility.
Investment. Technical writing fees vary significantly from area of specialty. Normally, a technical or higher education level required writer will command more for their time, as they have the additional experience and understanding required to tackle it. If your audience is a Ph.D./ DVM, then your topics are likely to require a writer with a specific background. Plan an outlay anywhere between $300-$1200 per article, depending on length. Most writers charge by the word count and allow a specific number of editing rounds before it is considered complete.
How to manage it all
Create an editorial calendar to map out what you need to say and when. There are timely topics in your industry, as well as evergreen topics that can be posted anytime.
Leverage your internal knowledge first and then hire out what you can to fill in the gaps. Guest blogging gives others that you may want to partner with an opportunity to cross-market.
Understanding and defining the keywords that people use to find your type of business can be used carefully to give your pages more pull.
Integrate the plan into your master marketing plan.
Now that you have a better understanding of what content marketing really is and how to get the most out of it, you can start looking at ways to add it to your planning. If you have a need for a content marketing strategy or technical writing and would like to talk more about this, please contact me at hello@fullgallopcomm.com.
