Wednesday, October 3, 2012

How many people or organizations have marketing strategies that boil down to self-serving claims of greatness? How effective are these LinkedIn profiles, ads, websites, TV commercials, or billboards? Talking about how great you are doesn't sound good on any channel.

"There is a trust hierarchy of marketing strategies," Says Randall Craig, Web and Social Media Strategist, author of the Online PR and Social Media series, and President of 108 ideaspace Inc. "The higher the trust, the more likely they will transact." So how do you generate trust? You build relationships with your audience and prospective clients. One way to do this is through Content Marketing.

Content Marketing may be new to many marketers. While a particular marketing strategy might move up or down the hierarchy based on how it is implemented or the strength of effort put into it, Content Marketing should rank high as a priority of investment while keeping these four key assumptions in mind:

1) The content holds value in the eye of the reader. If not, it can have the opposite effect.

2) Demonstrating expertise is more powerful than claiming it.

3) Making it available for free – and particularly by encouraging propagation on the social web – will reach more prospects.

4) Trust will increase as more content is consumed, eventually leading to a transaction or a referral.

The most obvious examples of content marketing include certain types of blog posts, white papers, how-to videos, and books. An important benefit of content marketing is that each piece of content, once created, has an incredibly long shelf life. The cumulative impact grows exponentially over time, and can become a strategic differentiator.

Adds Craig: "If you want people to think that you or your organization is great, then show it – don't just tell people how great you are."

Since 1994, Randall Craig has been advising on web and social media strategy. He is the author of six books including the newly published Social Media for Business and the Online PR and Social Media series. For more information visit www.randallcraig.com.

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For more information contact:

Randall Craig

416.256.7773 x101 / Randall@108ideaspace.com

Carolyn Bergshoeff

416.256.7773 x 103 / Carolyn@108ideaspace.com