Copywriter on Content. Part 1. Content is King.

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With this blog, I'm beginning a series about content—primarily content for the marketing environment.

Bill Gates wrote "Content is King" in early 1996. From the article...

Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting. Those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products—a marketplace of content.

If you're a radio executive, your content comprises disk jockeys, announcers, the music, and the shows. If you're in the news business, content comprises stories, photos, columnists.

In marketing, content is just as vital but many marketers pay little, if any, attention to content. In marketing, content provides the following benefits.

  • You build trust with prospects.
  • You generate repeat visits to your website.
  • You keep visitors on your site longer and they go deeper into your website.
  • SEO improves.
  • Conversion improves.
  • You generate highly qualified leads.
  • Augment your brand.

YOU MAKE MORE MONEY!

There's a massive opportunity in marketing for companies who start generating quality content. And bigger companies are starting to allocate resources to content creation. I know at least two big companies in the Charlotte area that are hiring content creators.

These companies micro analyze their results and they wouldn't be investing in content if content wasn't a good investment.

I'm in the market for a new furnace and I've been cruising around some websites. It's astonishing to me how many companies are failing to provide me with information about what's going to be an important purchase. I'm hungry for furnace information yet none of the websites I'm visiting are feeding me.

Of course, any company of any size can invest in content. In the direct marketing environment content can be: 

  • White papers/special reports
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Books
  • Blogs
  • Autoresponders
  • Webinars/seminars

While landing pages and squeeze pages are the 'moment of truth' in marketing, content is the 'soft sell' and is proof that direct marketing doesn't have to be obnoxious or INSANE or really loud.

You can sell content or you can use it to build your database—or both.

In the past year, I've worked on several websites that use a simple but astoundingly effective technique: build a database of leads by providing a free special report or white paper. The report will include information that's important to website visitors. 

For example, if a furnace supply company would offer me a special report titled "10 Tips for Buying a Furnace" I would be inclined to hand over my name and email address and provide a furnace company with a lead.

In this series, now that I've introduced a couple of concepts, I'm going to:

  • Detail how to create compelling content.
  • Provide examples of superb content.
  • Go through the various types of content you might use.
  • Totally unsolicited advice for companies I've chosen at random.
  • Detail the dangers of 'user generated' content.
  • And more...

Send me some great examples of content in the comments.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a direct response copywriting quote.