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August 09, 2016

Maintaining the loyalty of your customers can come in many shapes and forms. We all know about the traditional, tried-and-true ways to keep them hooked--these methods have been around a long time. Think air miles, loyalty points, special offers for VIP customers, and so on.

While these methods still have their place, today's internet-centric world has necessitated that businesses change the way they communicate with customers. Not only is the older generation internet savvy, but the millennial generation essentially takes online communication for granted as their primary way to receive and offer information.

These internet savvy generations primarily shop and research products and services on their smart phones and mobile devices. Laptops and desktop computers, for many, have become a secondary technology.

How do they shop and research online? They seek out online communities. They use social media and blogs. They ask people for references and advice. They visit online forums and blogs to get information from fellow product or service enthusiasts. They look up peer reviews online.

Sure, people sometimes still look at ads and visit company websites, but often, these traditional ways to get information are not as influential as the information and opinions they get from people they view as the most credible--people who have used the products or services and those who have gained a reputation for expertise and thought leadership. Traditional marketing messages often only make a difference when they are corroborated by these other online content. It's all about trust.

This is why content marketing has risen to the forefront of marketing. If you are not practicing content marketing, you may be left behind.

We came across an excellent way content marketing was being described: it's a light handshake or introduction to a brand, or product. Content marketing is a way to provide information that is truly helpful to online shoppers and researchers. It's about telling a strong brand story and engaging your audience so that they view your business as valuable and credible.

What content marketing is:
- A way to share useful, valuable information to your audience about your industry, product or service.
- A process of creating a deeper level connection with a potential new customer
- An opportunity to connect with new audiences

What content marketing is not:
- Content marketing is not about pushing out a lot of key words and tags so your website gets more hits.
- It is not a "hard sell" approach; it is a consultative approach
- It isn't a different way to advertise, because it really transcends what we think of as advertising.

Content marketing doesn't have to be difficult or complicated, however. You can begin to work in some of these easy strategies when you distribute a press release through 24-7 Press Release Newswire and to help augment the value of your press releases.

Here is a simple example of how it works: You are the owner of Company A and live in a particular area or community, and produce widgets. You also write lots of content. The content is very useful to your prospective customers. It talks about the products, but it also provides tips on how to use the product, how to make the product last longer, upgrades to the product, how it can do more things than people might realize, and why your customers have become so enthusiastic about the product. You might want to include some background on the history of the product, on the people who lead your company, and success stories of customers.

You distribute this content by distributing a press release, posting information on a blog, posting to your social media and contributing content to other online sites that are devoted to your widgets or your product category.

Your press release that you write is distributed (through a press release service like 24-7PressRelease.com) and picked up by some of their partnering sites. People stumble across these sites while researching online. They even begin to share your content because they find it useful and valuable. Your content, because it has been deemed as valuable, becomes shared more and more, spreading this information across the web and into search engines, with your business as the primary source.

Now let's look at your competition, Company B. They have the 'ostrich with the head buried in the sand' syndrome and have just learned about the Internet. Needless to say, they have not published a lot of information online about their widget.

John Doe, who lives in the same community as Company A and Company B types a search into his search engine. Who do you think is going to show up first in local search results? You got it. Company A.

The reason Company A may be chosen could be for a few reasons. First, they will show up higher in the search results than their competitor who has not published as much original online information. Second, because their information is coming up online and being shared, they are looked upon as a bit of an "industry expert" and it earns them some "trust points." This holds particularly true if they continue to publish information frequently.

As the title of this article suggests, producing online content can come in many different forms such as commenting on articles, blog posts, guest posts and of course distribution of a press release. The reason why distributing a press release can help is because other sites, looking for dynamic content may publish your press release, potentially to an audience that is interested in your service. This is a practice 24-7PressRelease.com has become more and more familiar with. Not to say that every press release written is about helping with their content marketing, however the occasional one here and there.

When it comes to today's world of marketing, out of sight is out of mind. So get ahead of your competition, form a strategy and get your content marketing game going. Remember that content marketing isn't instant magic. It takes time to build up your online presence but it will definitely happen if you are conscientious about it.