“Profit isn’t a purpose, it’s a result. To have purpose means the things we do are of real value to others.” ~Simon Sinek

In today’s climate of radical transparency where everything your business says and does is subjected to scrutiny, the most valuable way to attract leads and sales is through education and trust. The vehicle for education and building trust is content marketing.

What Delivering Real Value Means Today

Real value is manifested in the content you inspire, create and publish.

• Informative, helpful content that educates your buyer and helps them decide on their purchase.
• Informed customers make better decisions.
• Better decisions make happy, loyal customers.
• Happy, loyal customers are inspired to tell others.

Quality content drives search ranking, demonstrates integrity and credibility, and engages buyers that WANT to buy your product. However, it takes a solid commitment in order to produce quality content.

Consumers have come to expect to find all the details about any product, service, company, individual, cause or challenge they face by simply turning to the search engine of their choice. If they don’t find content you’ve produced that provides them with that information, even if someone referred them directly to you, there’s a good chance you won’t be worthy of their trust.

Think about all the information readily available with a product on Amazon: detailed description, buyer reviews, comparable products, additional products bought concurrently, even questions asked and answered by the seller and in some cases, other customers. It’s what you expect when you buy, right? Your customers expect the same from you so content marketing must be part of your overall action plan.

The simple fact is this: If you don’t educate and build trust with quality content, someone else will.

A commitment to content marketing involves the development and implementation of an action plan. You must put strategy before tactics if you want your hard work to pay off.

You’ll need commitment from your employees too because they’re trusted more than anyone else in today’s environment. They have a wealth of information your customers crave.

Trust, education, integrity and engagement must be delivered through the creation of very specific forms of content and not simply through sheer volume. In a world where content drives leads and sales, every business must become a publisher.

There are 4 cornerstones from which to publish content that builds trust and educates buyers. These 4 platforms are the basis for content marketing:

1. Blog

Your business blog is the launchpad for your content action plan. It’s the place to organize your “editorial” thinking; where you’ll plan out the information that’s important to your buyers and how you’ll publish it.

Your blog is a major player in SEO now that Google has made it clear that quality content ranks higher and initiates organic traffic to your website.

Blog platforms (aka: WordPress) make content production, employee participation, syndication and sharing simple and workable.

2. Social Media

If you haven’t yet decided that Social Media is an integral part of your content marketing action plan, today is the day you fish or cut bait. Here’s a few stats to chew on:

• One in five Internet Page Views occurs on Facebook.
• 4.75 Billion pieces of content are shared everyday on Facebook.
• Average time spent on Facebook is 20 minutes.
• Brand interaction is a major part of life on Twitter. 42% learn about products/services. 41% provide opinions about products/services. 19% seek customer support.
• 17% of all online adults now use Instagram. 57% access Instagram daily.

Social Media is a valuable tool to publish your quality content. Promoting your content through Facebook ads can really make things fly.

The progression of content marketing begins with your quality content. From there, it can increase engagement, drive people to your website, and convert fans into customers.

3. Online Reviews

Review sites like Yelp and Google+Local have become mainstream user-generated content hubs. These sites all allow folks to rate and review businesses thereby making this another important cornerstone of content that you must participate in.

It’s difficult to have total control over this category, but ignore it and it will come back to bite you. Monitor this channel aggressively.

Be proactive (instead of reactive) buy implementing an internal process to capture your happy, loyal customers opinions.

4. Testimonials

People influence people. Trust is solidified when good information leads to a delightful customer experience.

No matter how tall a box you climb and how loud you shout about your business, there is no substitute for someone else (customer-turned-spokesperson) bigging you up. This taps into the power of “social proof” – we just trust people more than we do businesses and their advertisements.

Seek out your “Raving Fans.” These are your passionate, repeat buyers. They will most likely be happy to help with a good word AND their enthusiasm always translates well, whether in video or written word.

Provide a script for your interviewer with no more than 4-5 leading questions:

• How did you first hear about us?
• What do you like best about your ________ (item they bought from you)
• What is the deciding factor that keeps you coming back to us?
• How likely are you to recommend us to your friends and family?
• Is there anything else you’d like us to know? (some people like to riff when they get inspired and it can make for awesome video).

These 4 cornerstones are your foundation from which to build your content marketing kingdom. When the things we do are of real value to our customers, our purpose becomes clear and profit follows.

The post The 4 Cornerstones of Content Marketing That Educate and Build Trust appeared first on Kruse Control Inc.