White Papers, Case Studies, Visual Narratives | Content Marketing

Content Marketing

Who’s educating your customers? Who’s providing the perspective and insights to help them make informed purchase decisions?

To date, that’s largely been the media’s job. If organizations wanted to reach prospective customers in a credible way, they invested in public relations. They told their story to press and analysts. And they had to hope it would be represented accurately and with an objective endorsement.

The alternative is advertising. If you can’t earn media coverage, or if you simply want to raise awareness, then you can buy publicity.

Online publishing model

This model is changing fast. Consumers and business executives are shifting their media habits. They are moving online where traditional publishing and advertising are merging with social media, user-generated content and interactive marketing.

“Before the Web came along, there were only two ways to get noticed: buy expensive advertising or beg the mainstream media to tell your story for you. Now we have a better option: publish interesting content on the Web that your buyers want to consume.”

-David Meerman Scott

Content that tells a story and creates clear context is what drives the new marketing model.

The Internet has created a new dynamic for engagement and influence. It’s given organizations the opportunity to become content publishers themselves – crafting the valuable perspectives and insights that educate their audiences and sharing this content directly with their key audiences. When that happens, it’s called “content marketing.”

Finding your voice and defining your strategy

To be successful content marketers, though, organizations need to think, write and publish like credible media. Sheffield can help you accomplish that. We collaborate with our clients to define their story team with their internal subject matter experts, customers and outside influencers to produce compelling content. We then develop and implement marketing strategies to put content to work through lead-generation, product launch, search engine optimization and other programs.

As the traditional models for advertising and influence shift online, organizations must become their own publishers. Marketers have a have a new imperative to create compelling content that reaches their audience, educates them and directs them to action.

Content marketing can take many forms, including: