What's the best type of content for your website?

Like me, you probably ignore dozens (if not hundreds) of ads every day. OldCompany.com throws gads of money at trying to rank on the first page of Google.com. Then when you visit their site, it reads like a slick brochure written in the 70s.com: “Hey! Welcome to OldCompany! We’re the best! We’re world class!” The problem with traditional push marketing tactics is that no matter how much you spend to promote them, or what social media platform you use to ply them, they only serve to create a major “ick” factor and drive away all those hard earned, expensive-to-get website visitors! Very few of today’s customers will tolerate being pushed around anymore and certainly not be influenced to buy as a result.

photo credit: Aaron Jacobs

In a marketing strategy article on Forbe's magazine a few years ago, Daniel Newman noted that "millennials don't want to be talked at." Think about it: it's like being in school all over again, with some egghead lecturing on and on without context or even interaction. Increasingly, millennials and other generations alike want to be in control of the information they consume. The information age has enabled an incredible array of options, and they will look elsewhere in a heartbeat if they sense even a hint of old school push marketing rhetoric on your website. 

Unfortunately, many firms try and use new channels just like they did the old channels:  OldCompany.com learns that traditional push marketing doesn't work anymore and decides to get on the cool wagon. We gotta get some rich content going on. “We need video, infographics, podcasts, white papers and a community manager, stat!” Post them everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat… but there still using the same old schtick, just now schlepping them on new and different channels. Unfortunately this is kind of like buying flowers, then going out into the street to find that special girl you want to marry, who you know nothing about, and whom you’ve never even laid eyes on before. New media types utilized with a traditional push marketing mindset only serve to make you look stupid a lot faster and more broadly than ever before. It’s not about the media type, it’s about the richness of the content.

Rich content is not really a new idea, but definitely a sorely needed renaissance. Rich content comes directly from our experiences, our conversations and our real-life situations. It engages us, enthralls us, inspires us; It rings true with us on a deeper level, because it’s more like talking with a friend, as opposed to being gang-bruted by some overzealous sleazy sales monger. Rich content resonates with us, it grows on us, sometimes even entertains us. We can relate to it. It’s colorful, flavorful and it fits easily into our perceptions of our own operations, our needs and most importantly, our perception of value. It builds trust, builds confidence and it allows us (consumers) to be the hero.

It's not so hard to grasp, is it? So why don't more firms leverage fresh, rich web content to raise search rank and increase website conversions? Because rich web content takes more time and more thought to create. Traditional push marketing often starts with a sales goal in mind. As a result it comes out sounding canned; mechanical, but for effective content marketing, you need to start with the customer in mind. Create white papers, video series or infographics around your customer's goals, their fears, biggest pain points. Are there burgeoning opportunities in their markets? Content marketing that works means brainstorming the things that keep your clients awake at night, mapping their dream solution to your services, then finding the concepts and stories you can use to lead them to a win. As you work through your target customer’s world, their hopes and dreams, their fears and failures, you begin to see how to portray yourself as that company that gets it and knows how to get them results without being obnoxious about it. Capture those white knight tales into videos, white papers, memes, blogs and infographics that support the position and tell your best stories in the most compelling fashion and you will become an indispensable resource.