What Is Content Marketing and How Can It Help Grow Your Business?

VIDEO: Jottful's Marketing Made Easy Podcast, Ep. 9 Featuring Hilary Kirchner

Last week, I had the honor of joining Jottful’s Dawn Verbrigghe on the Marketing Made Easy podcast to discuss all things content marketing — from how to get started with limited time and budget to strategies for growing your audience.    
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Watch the full episode or use the guide below to skip straight to the segment of your choice!
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Episode Segment Guide (With Timecodes)

What Does Content Marketing Include? (2:10)
Content marketing can be any format — text, photo, video, audio, courses — and can be posted to any platform. However, what makes it different from brochures or advertising is the information it conveys.

Content marketing must be:

• Relevant
• Valuable
• Educational

​Think of content marketing like mentoring — mentor marketing, if you will. The goal is to help your target audience understand a concept or gain a skill, not just promote your product/service.

What Can Content Marketing Do for Businesses? (4:00)
With content marketing, you not only can grow your brand and bring in more customers, but you’ll get better-qualified customers — ones who trust you and believe in what you do.
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Content marketing allows you to build trust, rapport, and a relationship with buyers from the moment they start to realize they might have a problem through to the point where they want to hire someone to help. 

How Does Storytelling Fit In? (5:45)
“You’re the hero of your own story” does not apply to content marketing. Your company is not the hero here; your target customer is the hero. You’re the expert who guides the hero along the way to victory.

How Do You Balance the Time It Takes to Create Content Versus the Time Spent Distributing It? (6:55)

• Don’t try to do it all right away. You don’t have to have a presence on every social media platform.
• Focus on creating content and post it to your website.
• Then, choose the 1 or 2 channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) where your target customer is AND where you feel comfortable posting. 

What Are Lead Magnets? (10:54)
Lead magnets are pieces of content that occur at the very beginning of the buyer’s journey and include a call to action that compels the audience to take the next step. Lead magnets are also often fun and personable.

Example: Our quiz “What Style Is Your Brand’s Voice?”

Why Our Brand Voice Quiz Works:

• It’s fun, quick, and informational.
• It helps the audience determine the scope of their problem. (For example, if they get a result that doesn’t align with what they WANT their brand to be, they know where to focus.)
• It provides actionable tips and a call to action to schedule a free content strategy session.

​How Do You Ensure Your Content Is Compelling? (13:30)
Always ask yourself, “What does the audience care about right now?” Don’t bury the lede; get to the point quickly. Audiences need to know what’s in it for them at-a-glance.

Is Creating Content for B2B vs. B2C Different? (15:30)
No. Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) content marketing works the same way. Gone are the days when businesses need to be so “professional” that they lose their humanity.

Whether you’re creating B2B or B2C content, be personable. Be real. Everyone wants to work with and buy from PEOPLE they trust. 

Why Should Small Businesses Focus on Content Marketing? (16:55)
Content marketing is the one way small businesses can easily compete and stand out from larger companies with more resources.

Writing a short blog post or filming a quick video on your smartphone then posting it online allows you to prove your expertise and get in front of potential clients early and often (and on the same platform as the big guys).

How Quickly Can You Start to See Results? (17:55)
This depends on how you define “results.” If you gauge success simply by how many views, clicks, or shares you get, then you can see results relatively quickly (within hours or days).
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However, it may take several months from when someone starts following your posts to when they reach the point where they’re ready to buy. That’s because your information is reaching them much earlier in their decision-making process. You’re helping them from the moment they realize there might be a problem, not just at the point where they’re looking to purchase something.

What If You Have Limited Time and Limited Budget? (21:48)
Not having enough time is often what stops people from utilizing content marketing.

So, here’s a strategy that maximizes your efforts and budget:

1. Get Focused. Identify your target audience — the more specific, the better — and the 1 or 2 platforms where they spend their time (Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium.com).
2. Record What You Already Know and Do. Keep a record of what people ask you and how you solve their problems. Content that answers frequently asked questions or solves common challenges are the best pieces to publish first.
3. Repurpose What You Create. Don’t try to create 100% unique content for each post and platform. Start with an information-rich piece, such as a longer blog or video, then extract highlights from it to post on social media. If you record a Zoom call as part of a video podcast, use the transcript as a blog post or newsletter. Post short clips on social media. 

What Are Some Examples of Content Marketing Done Well? (25:27)
Content marketing is actually over 100 years old, so there are tons of examples. One early example is Johnson & Johnson’s 1888 publication of Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment.

A more local and contemporary example is Russell Tree Experts in Ohio. Their Instagram posts include helpful information, and the first thing you see on their website are educational articles and videos about caring for trees. Because of their expertise (as evidenced by their content marketing), they were the company I turned to when it was time to have two of my trees removed. 

Excite. Educate. Empower. Your Content Can Do It All. 
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About Hilary Kirchner:
I believe that just because something’s complex doesn’t mean it has to be complicated. That’s why I founded Dream Write Creative, a writing and editorial services agency specializing in content marketing for science-based industries. Dream Write Creative is proud to be a member of the Jottful Community.

About Jottful:
If you're self-employed or a small business owner who needs a new website, Jottful can help. They're unique because they build the website for you BUT it's really affordable AND they don't disappear once the website is launched. Get your first month free with this link.