Three Guiding Principles of Content Marketing

For the last 12 years, a significant source of my income has been freelance writing to create content for company blogs (including not just text, but also audio podcasts and video content). Most of my clients are companies selling products or services related to enterprise data management. From 2009 to today, I have seen a lot of growth in my clients’ understanding that a company blog is a content marketing tool and not a sales tool. However, some companies still have a tendency to lead with, and try to build content exclusively around, the solutions provided by their product or service. Not only does this come across as sounding like a sales pitch—because it is and therefore is rightfully ignored—it also misses the point of why anyone would read your company blog (or listen to your podcasts or watch your videos).

Your audience has a problem. Not only are they looking for a solution to that problem, but they are often struggling with the difficulty of clearly and simply articulating that problem.

Which is why I always recommend the following three guiding principles of content marketing:

1. Begin with a Problem Statement — Articulate a problem statement, in clear and simple language, that will immediately resonate with your audience. Obviously, it should be a problem that you can actually solve with your product or service, but you must describe the problem without discussing your product or service.
2. Provide Solution Characteristics — Describe the solution characteristics—not the solution. Solution characteristics are the criteria your audience can use to evaluate any alleged solution. Obviously, it should be a solution that your product or service can actually deliver, but you must describe the solution characteristics without discussing your product or service.
3. End on (or Embed) a Call to Action — The form this takes can vary. One example is a “Learn More” section at the bottom of the content that clearly lists links to your product/service company webpages. Another example (considered more subtle) is hyperlinking keywords in the body of the content that links to your product/service company webpages. And the last example (considered more aggressive) is embedding marketing collateral (e.g., infographics, data sheets, demonstration videos, webinar/newsletter sign-up boxes, whitepaper/report/guidebook sign-up-to-download boxes) directly into the body of the content. Bottom-line: Whatever way you do it, a call to action is attempting to capitalize on the rarity of having captured someone’s attention. After all, even though this is not sales, it is still marketing.

I often encounter clients who resist this approach because the content it produces can seem too small, too simple, and too subtle. However, the regularly scheduled posting of useful and consumable content will not only grow your reputation as a trusted problem solver, it will also gradually build a body of marketing material that is easily referenced and more directly repurposed when your prospects, customers, or partners are ready to directly engage with you about buying your product or service.