We love effective content marketing – it’s a core part of our secret sauce and the R2R three-touchpoints approach. However, content marketing is a vague term, covering everything from keyword-stuffing blog posts to case studies and social media videos.
Regardless of the end goal, content should add value to whomever encounters it. An old adage states: “In any encounter, you can leave the other person feeling better or worse than they did before the interaction.” Good content marketing leaves people feeling better from the experience.
That “better feeling” comes from providing value. Examples include:
- Information that helps someone be more informed about a current or future decision (insulation R-values and energy costs).
- A tip that makes a task easier (time-saving technology tip).
- Information that someone can use soon (a recipe).
- A story or tasteful joke that makes someone smile.
Why is value important? From a strictly business sense, it’s because people make buying decisions based on emotion, not logic. When you provide value, no matter how small, you create a positive emotional reaction, even if it’s at the subconscious level. That positive response also leads to favorable reviews, referrals, and repeat business.
If you’re already providing value-added content, keep up the good work! If you’re not, let’s talk about whether effective content marketing is right for your business.
