What’s all this you keep hearing about content marketing these days?
Well, basically it’s what we’ve been talking about on Copyblogger for the last three years. It’s all about using relevant and valuable information to turn prospects into buyers.
When I talk to people about the topic, however, it seems many have a hard time getting their heads around it as an overall strategy. If that’s you, or you just want to hear from some of the leading authorities in the field of content marketing, you’re in luck.
Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett have a great book out called Get Content, Get Customers. I’ll be participating in a teleseminar about content marketing with Joe and Newt, along with Rohit Bhargava, author of Personality Not Included.
It happens next Wednesday, February 11 at 3pm Eastern Time… and it’s absolutely free.
Get more details and sign up here. Should be an extremely informative call with this lineup.
Reader Comments (27)
Great content is the key to finding great prospects and I’m sure you’ll slam a home run on this call Brian!
“…using relevant and valuable information to turn prospects into buyers.”
That’s where it all happens, eh? Get people to read what you say, click into the blog / website, attract them and feed their curiosity/ need / interest, and PROVIDE answers / materials / and in the end sthng they can BUY that they will be grateful for!!!
Best wishes!
I truly don’t have time to read the book you suggested before the teleseminar, and I’d like to know more about content marketing prior to the call.
Would someone please give me a little more info on what content marketing is. Sorry to be behind the 8 ball on this. Thank you.
Let’s say you’re a Realtor, and you’re trying to attract new buyer clients online.
Instead of simply telling prospects how great you are next to your Glamour Shot, you provide home buying tips weekly on your blog. Maybe you also prepare a report or tutorial for first-time home buyers and give it away for free in exchange for an email address, so you can stay in touch with more tips and new listings until that person is ready to buy.
That’s one example of a content-marketing strategy.
looking forward to the teleseminar
Your example about the realtor is perfect. From my experience in that particular profession, many realtors tout their own horns hoping to attract customers. “If they’re so great, I really should use them to sell my house.”
But what really happens is the opposite. Potential clients think, “If they’re so great, they must be too busy to give the kind of service I want.”
We promote ourselves in the same way we’ve seen others promote themselves, but how often do we check to see if that particular method of promotion actually produced results?
Thanks for telling us about the seminar. I’m in!
Content is everything. For every blogger of whatever theme it’s content and content and content – and honesty with esteem!
As a professional hypnotist, I think I have enough knowledge to share with my readers, but I’m sure it is still important to discover the marketing side of the content, too.
So I will try to join the teleseminar.
Hypnoguy – Orxan
Ya know – I was just talking to one of my web design clients about the importance of content marketing. She is actually going to put together a free guide to generate some extra business. BTW – she is in the fundraising and lawn care business. Her guide is on how to do fundraising in churches Biblically. Her husband is a pastor and there is such a need. What a great example.
Also – by providing that tip to her and showing her how to do it, it created a content marketing opportunity for me – now I am the expert for her and she has hired me for additional offline and online marketing consultations.
Content Marketing Works!
Hypnoguy, that’s a good point. Content without strategy is not content marketing, and content without the application of time-tested response tactics is not *effective* content marketing.
It’s not easy to get the balance right between info and sales pitch. I’m just sending out three consecutive emails to get people on the ‘interested’ list to actually enrol in the Virtual Zen Retreat we’re about to run at GoodlifeZEN. (250 people have already enrolled!)
Each email includes an original article, as well as retreat details. I’ve decided to use this format:
A Start the article
B Interrupt article with short call to enrol
C Continue article to the end
D Add more retreat details
I notice that on the Teaching Sells emails, you used a different pattern: the article comes first, and then there is info about TS at the end.
But I’m nervous about following that pattern: what if people don’t read right to the end??
Content will always be king but with excellent copy added to it
is invincible.
Just signed up for the call. Not sure if I’ll be able to make it live (it’ll be on at like 7am in my time zone I think), but the dowload version is good enough for me. 🙂
Another vexed issue for me. I’ve got one group of business advisors telling me to give away my expertise & another saying to sell it in an e-book. Then Seth Godin muddies the waters further by writing an e-book and giving it away (with stunning results). Which path do I choose? Can I do all three? P. 😐
Great example of the Realtor Brian. I just spoke at an online marketing event (OMS) in San Diego and presented on the concept “Content Marketing: Marketers need to be publishers”. It’s amazing how many people saw this concept as brand new, even though it is an incredibly simple concept (although sometimes difficult to implement).
Looking forward to our call. Should be fun!
Joe, absolutely. I like to say that any company that wants to market online is a media company… that’s the mindset that needs to be in place.
i do believe content attracts potential customers if they weren’t intending to buy your products
This thread is a perfect example of why I so believe in content marketing!
A solid content marketing strategy ensures your content addresses marcomm objectives throughout the entire customer journey with your brand.
Michael posts “Great content is the key to finding great prospects,” and he’s absolutely right. SEO and keyword strategies help prospects find your brand. Brian’s terrific overall post suggests the power content can have in migrating that prospect to a buyer, later adding that without measurement, the best of content marketing cannot be ‘effective.’
But let’s not stop there: content marketing is unmatched in rewarding “buyers,” giving them reasons time and again to visit with your brand, enhancing loyalty and repeat purchase. It’s powerful as well in efforts at cross-sell and upsell, and plays the leading role in brand advocacy.
All can be accomplished with a sound content strategy that matches to marcomm objectives and has measurement metrics at every step of the customer’s relationship with your brand — and establishes it as a long-term relationship.
As an old ad agency boss used to say: “every great idea is rooted in a great strategy.”
Looking forward to the teleseminar!
I was really excited about the conference call with Joe Pulizzi, Newt Barrett, Brian Clark and Rohit Bhargava. But it didn’t happen. At least, not for me.
Quite simply: I live in New Zealand and the phone number didn’t work 🙁
My learning from this is that when I use a conference call as a marketing device – and I think it’s a good option – I plan to observe the following points:
1. Think international
Here’s a surprise for you: There ARE other countries in the world, apart from the US!
2. Offer relevant info
Make sure people know how to participate in the call. For example: can you enter at any time or is it closed after the start etc.
3. Make the call free
For example, for me to participate in such a conference call would have cost me about $20 in call fees 🙁
Ok, I’m motivated, but…
I remember a Partnership Profits conference call that was run through internet calling and thus was free: better 🙂
4. Have a help desk
Keep an organizer at hand per email and phone to deal with last minute access problems.
5. Be transparent
Let people know exactly what the conference is in aid of selling.
Can someone recap the webinar? I had to miss due to a conference call…
🙁
Hey, what’s wrong with SKYPE? I ask… I have participated iin 2 phone seminars herre in theUK with Chris Cardell; apparently 1,300 in the first and over 2,000 in the second. They lasted 1 hour each, and were stimulating, sure, but I wonder who is benefitting from all the telephone charges!
Couldn’t Skype be used for FREE in such situations? and even have some visual conference?
Best wishes, especially to those like me who don’t have 1,000 bucks to spare to go on courses or receive special mentoring!
Hi Mary,
I am sorry to hear that you were not able to access today’s call with Brian Clark, Rohit Bhargava, Newt Barrett, and Joe Pulizzi. As the host of today’s call, I regret that the phone number did not work for you. My intention is to make my calls easy to access and available for everyone. Because things happen, I do record each call and make the mp3 available to anyone that wants a copy.
Certainly, I welcome callers from all over the world (I have “regulars” from South Africa, Australia, Europe) and that I am always looking for better, faster, easier ways to deliver the content of Author Teleseminars. I will certainly take your suggestions into consideration. Thank you for taking the time the feedback – it helps me deliver better value.
Best,
Elizabeth
Hi Elisabeth!
Thanks for your response. I like your attitude of wanting to continuously improve your delivery.
I’d love to have the mp3. That would definitely mollify me!
Hi Tony!
Unfortunately Skype allows only 24 people plus host. Also, I find that the quality isn’t always professional enough.
Hi Tony – forgot to say that Skype video is lousy. The sound is not in sync with the video.
This CONTENT concept is quite new to me. I still have few doubts over this. How to get more info on this?
Content always has, and always will be king. However there so much content now available, finding high quality relevant material is getting harder by the minute. I believe the next big challenge will be finding a better way to organise and share relevant, content is key. Any thoughts on how we can improve on this?
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