Four reasons to give away your know-how (for free)
While content marketing is part of accepted best-practice among online marketers, we notice time and again in our everyday work with our customers that many people have great resistance to giving away their know-how free of charge. How can it make sense to simply give away their greatest resource — their expertise?
“As soon as someone in your market takes this step, you’re one step behind.”
If you don’t do it, somebody else will
It is not just the advantages that speak for giving away your know-how. Rather, content marketing is simply a necessity if your service is dependent on consulting. The reason is simple: as soon as someone in your market takes this step — and the incentives are there — you are left behind.
Build a relationship early on in the process
In very few cases the customer buys directly. Often, the customer will be thoroughly involved with the product or service beforehand: for example via Google, blog entries, forums, or Youtube videos. Studies assume that over 89% of all purchase decisions are made online.
Providers of freely accessible information have an excellent opportunity to build relationships. With good articles, whitepapers, and videos you shine with competence and offer added value. This creates trust. Additionally, with pixels, cookies, and opt-in systems, you have further possibilities for establishing communication channels. In this way, information seekers can be approached again in a highly targeted manner.
Get to know your customers better
What pains do your customers have? What triggers them? What doesn’t?
With content marketing, you are even closer to potential customers. Search queries, page views, and user flow give you information about such questions. In addition, you can use A/B tests to test and refine various titles, formulations, images, and tonalities. Feedback in the form of emails and comments will also help you to perfect your communication with your target audience.
Increase organic reach
In addition to all the advantages of building relationships and understanding the target group, content marketing also increases your organic reach. Relevant articles are the way to reach a higher ranking in search engines and increase search traffic. There is also a chance that content will be shared or referred to. This organic traffic is generally of very high quality and often shows much better values in commitment and willingness to buy.
Show presence in the market
Not to be forgotten at the end: A dominant presence in content also signals competence and size and has a positive effect on the deals.