For the past 13 years content marketing has evolved as a major marketing tactic companies have used to build business. There’s no question blogging, case studies, whitepapers, infographics, social media posts, email newsletters and video content all help attract more traffic, visitors, and sales to your company. The mistake many companies make when evaluating content marketing programs is defining success by the single metric of leads. Yes, content marketing will generate leads, but the value of content marketing extends way beyond lead-generation. Read on to find out why content marketing is so much more than a tactic for lead generation…
At Vector Firm, we talk a lot about the importance of system integration companies becoming subject matter experts. Subject matter experts win new business. Why? In a word, trust. Becoming the subject matter expert positions you ahead of the competition because you have earned the trust of your prospects at every stage of their journey to making a purchase. That’s the number one reason you should be focused on content marketing – to position your company as a subject matter expert.
Becoming the subject matter expert through consistent, educational content posts on social media, regular emails blog articles and video content puts your company on a different level in the eyes of prospective customers. When the customer has a need, they will call and ask you for advice … not just a price. During the purchasing process, your content adds credibility to your presentation or proposal. For long-term customers that you’ve had for years, they feel proud and secure about working with the experts. The amount of leads generated from this blog or that email is simply an output of the real goal – building your reputation as the subject matter expert.
Let’s use a quick example of how a system integration company wins with content marketing during the proposal stage. You and your competition have delivered proposals to your client and the pricing is all about the same. Your competition calls 3 times to follow up on the proposal and that’s all they do. In the meantime, your team drops off a case study, forwards a link to an article, and shares a white paper written by your video partner. While your competition is bugging them with “Hey, just checking in about that proposal”, you’re educating them and continuing to showcase your team’s competence. As the subject matter expert, you’ll win the business.
Your takeaway from this article should be that content marketing is about becoming the subject matter expert across all stages from generating leads to driving decisions and winning new business. Don’t be fooled into measuring the success of your content as how it’s generating leads. Instead focus on how it’s positioning you as the subject matter expert at every stage of your customer’s journey to making a purchase with you.
Vector Firm is here to help position you as the subject matter expert with a focused content marketing effort. Contact us today.
