"What the heck is content marketing and why should I give a damn" is a short, 10-minute guide for business owners and salespeople who may not know what it is. It's a way to increase sales and improve your business! Is that a good enough reason? Enjoy this short guide with several tips from Craig Martin, an experienced journalist & freelance copywriter

1. What the heck
is content
marketing? And
why should I
give a damn?!
Courtesy of:

2. A short, 10-minute read for
business owners &
salespeople who want to
effectively increase traffic
and boost sales
Courtesy of Craig Martin,
a professional writer who
specializes in website content
http://CraigMartinBusinessWriter.com

3. Do you want your business to make more money?
Get more traffic? Be really successful?
Yeah.. sounds like an infomercial, right? And then they go on and on about a
product, pushing the hard sell..
Well, as you may know from experience, those techniques usually don’t cut it
anymore. Neither do some of the marketing tricks you might be doing for your
business at the moment.
Everyone loves coupons and discounts, but
customers want more than “$1 off a good
cleaner” or “20% discount in our well-stocked
sporting goods department”.
They want to know tips on what they could do for certain situations, get
recommendations based on legitimate feedback and they want to listen to
your knowledge about a particular topic in the field.
Keep in mind that consumers are barraged with advertising and hard-selling

4. marketing messages all the time. Do you speak the same way to a customer
in your store or on the phone? Probably not.. and this is the basis for the
concept called “content marketing” in today’s terms.
In this short guide, I’ll give you a few tips about writing user-friendly pieces for
content marketing purposes, as well as how this can increase traffic – and
profits – for your business.
First, what the heck is content marketing?
You might already know what it is.. have any magazines, brochures, pamphlets
or take-out menus around? It's material that convinces people to buy a
product, visit a restaurant or call for more information.
Today, the term refers to digital content – websites, press releases, blogs and
other materials you’ll see on the Internet. Even though “digital content” could
include television, there’s not much of a content marketing angle to it.. so
television commercials should be considered advertising.

5. Let me clarify this – commercials are advertising tools to merely sell you
something, while marketing helps promote and inform people about your
product. (Marketing majors can debate on this topic.. but let's go on.)
Used with Creative Commons license - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nateone/
Commercials tempt the consumer and push sales for a product or service,
while content marketing draws the audience in, educates them and helps them
understand why they need the product.
This allows potential customers to gain perspective on a product or service
before they can make an informed decision.

6. Shouldn’t customers already know about the product/service?
Don't assume every consumer researches products – and
don't use “caveat emptor” as an excuse! There are sketchy
brick-and-mortar businesses that barely provide decent
information, which makes consumers even more skeptical.
No insight.. just the product and a price.
It may be unfair to your honest and straightforward
business, but too many customers have been screwed over by sales staff who
are only looking for an immediate commission.
They prey on unsuspecting victims by telling them whatever will make the sale,
even if the salesperson barely said any factual information.
But don’t they do that on the Internet anyway?
Of course, but there are plenty of resources to counteract the pushy sales
messages, which opens up opportunities for you! Business owners &
salespeople can harness the power of the Internet and effectively inform

7. customers about the benefits of specific products or services.
Demonstrate your honorable business practices by counteracting those pushy
sales pitches. Giving more information is the thing to do!
Television commercials can drive customers to your website, but your content
marketing will help consumers understand the details about a specific
product or service.. and help them decide if they want it or not.
Um.. ‘IF they want it or not’? How does that increase sales?
Well, you can rephrase the previous paragraph to say “..help consumers fully
understand the benefits of your product before they buy it.”
But that’s not entirely true – and that’s a good thing. Yes, it really is!
By having a collection of unbiased and useful material about your
knowledge, products and/or services, your business begins to gain more
respect and credibility among current and potential clients.

8. Why? Because if your website has accurate, informative content, then
customers will look to you first when they need to learn about your services
for a particular industry or details about a specific product.
And this helps your business because customers will already be on your
website, reading additional information and insight, even if they might not
purchase your products or order your services today.
Read that again: even if customers don’t buy a particular product today, it
doesn’t mean that they won’t buy it next week! Or they could refer friends to
your website and they will buy it instead.
How about an example..
There are a handful of stores (online and offline) that I am
loyal to, even if the prices are higher compared to the
competition. But shouldn’t I go with the company that
offers more savings, coupons and discounts?
Not necessarily.

9. While these local businesses may not have a lot of sales or discounts, the staff
give me valuable advice – that's much better than coupons! For example,
at one hardware store, they give me information about different products,
even if the big box store is the only place that sells them.
Sure, they might miss a sale today for that particular item.. but it’s wise to
support businesses that offer good, old fashioned help. I’ll eventually purchase
other items that I need, which helps them stay in business – cheap products
are everywhere, but valuable knowledge and helpful staff are much more
important. Think about this when working on your marketing plans.
So content marketing is what we tell customers, but online?
Exactly! Honest, reputable information will go far, especially in this age of
online reviews that prevent someone from getting legitimately scammed.
By providing valuable insight about your background, the products you sell
and/or an unbiased statement about the company’s services, then potential
customers will know more the benefits of your business.

10. Another example..
I was hired as a waiter/bartender for a brand new
steakhouse, even though I never heard of Certified
Angus beef. Believe me.. I love steak, but
describing a prime rib or a London Broil of that
quality would’ve been difficult – until I learned that
every staff member must taste each dish before
the grand opening so we truthfully knew about the product.
Sure, the costs may have been high to provide this “information” to the staff,
but this was really an investment in content marketing. Think about it.
Have you ever heard “oh, it’s all good” or “I don’t eat here” from a waiter or
waitress? It’s one of those moments when you might actually burst out
laughing.. almost like asking them “are you frickin' kidding me?!”
If someone avoids computers and barely has an understanding what to do
with them, then it makes no sense if that person is trying to sell laptops. Same
thing with cosmetics, electric vehicles, power tools or lawn mowers.

11. Visitors to your website could ignore your material if you have generic, boring
information. And the sales brochures from the manufacturer might be too
boring or the company's sales pitch might be too polished to seem realistic.
But a valid opinion with personal insight gives you far more authority,
especially if there's a different perspective about a particular item or service.
In this sense, this is how I gathered enough details and created descriptions
from sampling all the food that the steakhouse offered.
And that’s how I ended up selling a lot of horseradish-crusted prime ribs that
were slowly cooked, leaving just a hint of blood within the tender beef.
Then they're topped with a spicy horseradish that adds a phenomenal aroma,
as well as a delightful burn on the tongue. Finally, they're broiled for just
another minute to infuse the flavor of the horseradish into the meat itself.
Maybe not be the best “content marketing” example or the greatest pitch, but
it worked when I had a table full of hungry customers! And this is exactly
why the steakhouse wanted the staff to have first-hand insight.

12. How does content marketing generate more sales?
Well, that’s the point. You can use advertising to make people aware of your
business, you can use images to show the products you sell, but your words (in
person and online) will be a more significant factor.
Well-known copywriter, Nick Usborne, said in his book Net Words, words are
“the simplest and most effective of tools” that will differentiate your
business from the others.
You can describe more than a brief description in a catalog, a menu or a
database. Fuzzy images, blurry photographs and confusing, unclear
descriptions are the opposite of content marketing. We’ve all seen “that site”
before.. where every page looks the same, there are too many pages full of
corporate jargon and it’s unclear what they actually do.
This is a repeating theme because it’s critical: creating an informative,
creative portal for customers will generate more traffic for your business.
And, logically, more traffic should lead to more leads and more sales.

13. Great! Although.. is it really worth the investment?
Business owners look to maximize dollars and cut costs.. that’s fine. But don’t
you realize that content marketing is not just a minor investment?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, at least 25% of major
corporate budgets now go toward website and social media development.
We’re talking the big dogs like Coca-Cola, P&G and IBM.
Not only that, but you know any small businesses with less
than 99 employees? Yes.. a lot of them are focusing nearly
40% of the advertising budget toward content marketing.
And we’re not talking about a simple Facebook page or a
Twitter feed, but paying for professional writers to write
blog posts and informative website content.
In other words.. if your website content and blog material generates more
sales, then your wise investment will offer great returns!

14. That’s why hiring a professional writer to help produce effective material is an
investment, especially if you quickly earn those costs back.
It’s may be harder to decipher the statistics immediately, yet content
marketing is a calculated risk that will raise your business stature – and
more people will be aware of what services you offer.
Here are some tips to get your content marketing started:
•
Take a look at your website; if you don’t have one, get one. NOW!
Think about this.. how do you choose a hosting company for your company's
website? Wait – what DO hosting service companies do? See, these answers
are provided by.. content marketing!
The information about hosting companies would likely be in an informative
post from the company – and, in very basic terms, hosting companies “hold
on” to a piece of the Internet for your website.

15. Most hosting services include basic, drag-and-drop website builders that look
professional and are suitable for many business purposes, even know they may
not be as classy or as sexy as a customized layout.
However, a decent looking website is much better than none at all!
As a personal recommendation, I’ve used iPage for several years because they
give you a lot of good stuff. Free Wordpress, free advertising credits, free
drag-and-drop website builder.. and for a good price, too.
I suggest setting up a website through iPage – they often have specials for
new customers (sometimes around $2 per month). Then, after you have a
domain to work with, start using Wordpress or the drag-and-drop website
builder to set up and create your company's friendly, informative website.
Ask for constructive criticism when you’re finished. Imagine you are a
customer browsing through your site – look at the layout and the content.
Revise it some more because many elements can be easily improved. Your
messages may sound confusing or you might need additional images.

16. •
With the website ready, you can also start a blog; do it NOW!
You probably know about Wordpress, the blogging utility
used by 1 out of 6 blogs (last I heard). Many hosting
services allow you to create entire websites, not just blogs,
with Wordpress. You can customize a lot of elements, use
many different themes.. and it can be a lot of fun!
That’s the point – a blog should be fun to read, while maintaining a level of
professionalism and respect for potential customers. You can talk about
different topics, but remember to write material for your audience, potential
clients or former associates – don't post complaints!
•
Content marketing should be informative and relatively unbiased.
I’ve seen a lot of the sneaky tricks on the web, but also well-written blog posts
that are full of information. So the concept of pushing customers toward
making a purchase is not new.
Just now, the aim is to be more helpful and transparent with your audience.

17. Businesses need to provide more details than just “red shoes” or “good
food” – tell your customers what’s good about it, what features it has or how it
can improve my life. But use realistic, everyday terms..
Don't make your blog and other content marketing materials have that
“commercial” vibe to it – just be real with your audience.
•
Hire a professional if you’re struggling to find the right words.
As a professional writer who is great with effective and insightful website
content, I’m just so-so when it comes to crunching numbers. If I had to
calculate financial projections for a business loan, then I’d definitely consider
hiring a professional accountant to work on those details.
Along the same mindset, if you want to revise your marketing message and
help boost sales, then consider hiring a professional copywriter.
You can focus elsewhere when certain business items are delegated to
professionals. From replacing the roof to designing a website, use your
energy toward other projects while the professionals take care of the rest.

18. •
Create call-to-action material so customers make a move.
You can inform readers, provide them with ways to improve certain features on
a product, and fully explain what a particular service does for a client. That
information is great for reference books, magazines and
Wikipedia, but not for your website.. especially if you're
selling things.
Why? The key difference with content marketing is that
your information should be just as helpful to your
customers as the material on Wikipedia, but you also
want to convince them to buy a particular product, use a specific service
from your business or make a donation.
Customers could use your site for planning a project or reviewing products,
but remind people that they can hire you or where they can visit your store.
Write out your elevator pitch and tell them to contact you.
For example..

19. Do you want to improve sales and increase your customer base?
Could your marketing efforts use a boost?
I’m Craig Martin, an experienced journalist who creates original, insightful &
effective content for businesses and organizations.
Save time, save money, boost sales and stop losing customers – e-mail me
today and let’s work on your marketing message!
(Note the call to action: e-mail me today. Not tomorrow, not soon, but today.)
If you didn’t already guess by now, this short guide has been an actual
demonstration of content marketing and its overall usage.
Now you can see how I wanted to give you useful tips that you can put into
immediate action first – no purchase, no sales, nothing required but reading.
Then I could pitch my writing services after I was finished explaining the
concept of content marketing and how you can benefit from it.