“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.”
― Leon C. Megginson
This quote is often misattributed to Charles Darwin. How do I know that? I spend hours every day on the web, reading, searching and learning. I’m an active web user; I’m intelligent and purposeful. I may not always know exactly what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it.
When there are lame advertisements blinking in my periphery, I ignore them because they’re an annoying intrusion on my search for content. Content that’s relevant to my interests and to my mission. I’m not going to say content is king – it’s more like a Mongolian Warlord.
Though you may have heard that’s it’s a king before. Bill Gates said it in 1996, when he first predicted that creating and distributing good online content was the single most profitable activity that companies could invest in. His prediction has proven undeniably accurate.
Why is online content different? South African customers are a little more savvy, and a lot more demanding, when they’re consuming online content – far more so than when they’re flipping through a magazine, listening to the radio or watching TV.
When they’re online, they like being entertained, they love being empowered, and they hate being patronised. If they don’t like what they see, they know that there are loads of other channels to explore at the click of a button.
So when I’m online and looking for a good travel package, I’m far more likely to hire a travel agent that’s giving me interesting articles about destinations and safe travel tips, and who writes a humorous travel blog. If I see an ad on a telephone pole for a travel agency, I’m likely to ignore it completely.
Are you contributing good content that will empower and entertain your audience? If not, your company’s about to vanish into thin air like Houdini’s Jack of clubs.
The good news is this: content marketing is a far more cost-effective, interesting, fun and effective way to promote your business than outbound marketing.
Content marketing involves empowering your customers with interesting, useful information that they actually want. It can come in the form of blogs, ebooks, infographics, videos, or articles.
When good content meets social media, its ROI increases exponentially.
If just one customer likes the content you’re putting out there, and shares it with his/her connections on Facebook, it can spread virally and increase the visibility of your company – and this happens at NO cost to you.
When your content is being shared, it creates a network of links that improves your ranking in search engines, and drives the right visitors to your website – the ones who are already looking for your products and services, and are much more likely to buy them.
From the moment you start implementing a good content marketing strategy, you’ll reap rewards. It’s an essential part of your future success, and hiring a professional to handle it for you will put you ahead of your competitors right now.
As a South African business, what challenges do you face when marketing your business online? – Inge
