While content marketing may seem sophisticated, the concept at the core of it all really couldn't be more straightforward. You're simply talking about creating and distributing high-value content, all in an effort to grow an audience and build trust in them over time. The better you are at this, the easier it will be to move them through your marketing funnel - thus increasing the chances they become not just paying customers, but repeat customers as well.

Content = Value

If you had to sum up the most important quality to a successful content marketing campaign in a single word, it would undoubtedly be "value."

Regardless of what type of content you make or how often you publish it, it needs to be full of legitimate value for your audience. You need to leave them with something they didn't have prior to reading your blog post, white paper, eBook or any other type of content.

The more value you give them up-front, the more likely they are to buy from you over time.

Good content comes in many forms - from blog posts to YouTube videos to even email newsletters. But to really make the impression you're after, it needs to be free for your audience to consume. You need to make your content as easy as possible to read, listen to or watch - which means it should be free and un-gated whenever possible.

Your content should also cover a subject that your ideal customers legitimately care about. Think about what your ideal customer needs and cater your content towards those goals. Are you selling a productivity plan, for example? Then your content should cover tips for staying on task. Are you selling pairs of weather-proof shoes? Then your content could be a demo of your shoes in the mud or snow. Regardless, make sure your content is always relevant to your ideal customer no matter what.

Where to Post

Likewise, your content should be distributed on all the platforms that your customers actually care about. If your ideal customers aren't the type who tend to spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, it wouldn't make sense to spend time and energy creating content for that platform.

Make sure you're optimising your time by only creating content that will live where your audience can actually see it. This is why knowing the habits of your customer personas is of critical importance. Find the places your ideal customers are hanging out and make as much content for those channels as possible. 

Build Trust & Familiarity

In the end, you want to make sure that your content actually helps solve your customers' problems. It doesn't have to get them 100% of the way towards a solution - that's a large part of what your products are for. But the closer you get them, the more trust you'll be able to build - and at that point, you'll have the building blocks of long-term, profitable customer relationships that will serve you both well for years to come.