When communicating to potential customers, it is often a curiosity as to which method is most beneficial; advertising, public relations, blogs, articles. As consumers are tired of the bombardment of push pull advertising in their everyday lives, it is information that carries the day these days. By that I mean that consumers are turning a deaf ear to the wail of advertising mediums, and are searching out what interests them or what they might be considering as a need. With content being offered through articles, white papers, blogs, and news coverage, consumers are searching out products and services that appeal to their sense of real value. No longer is the consumer swayed by catchy jingles, catch phrases and slogans; they want credible information to assist in their buying decisions.

Inbound marketing- that is, content marketing is fast becoming the only medium on which today’s weary consumers are focusing their short attention spans. Because nearly the entire world is on the Internet via a laptop, a mobile device or PC, consumers and your potential customers are searching for products and services that make the connection with their wants and needs, thereby creating inbound requests for contact. Lead generation is key when marketing to the modern consumer, and content is the latest method of attracting loyal fans and new revenues.

As consumers find their way through the tunnel of information, your communications should lead them toward your sign up form and requests for additional information and/or contact. This will capture enough contact information to begin the sales process, from suspect to lead, lead to interested prospect, and eventually to satisfied customer. As leads gather at the mouth of the funnel, some will choose to remain at the rim, while others will travel down toward the more narrow passages until they settle at the catch bucket known as sales. Down the funnel through these steps, supplying quality content along the way will improve your conversion rate significantly.

A word of caution should you be considering launching an inbound marketing strategy: be consistent in the delivery. If you have a website, update it frequently and change images so that people know someone is at home. Regularly offer industry related information that consumers can sign up for and receive via email or download. If you publish a newsletter, keep your publishing schedule. No one likes to have to search out an expected issue of a worthwhile newsletter.

Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, and a few hundred others are part and parcel within the content marketing sphere of influence. Certainly your company website is crucial to being known, but the addition of a blog will certainly spread the word. With the offers of whitepapers, e-books, articles and other consumer oriented information to inform rather than “sell” build credibility, attract followers and improve loyalty and buzz. A coherent strategy is necessary to integrate all of these facets of the inbound strategy to reach consumers, and there are marketing agencies available to assist in content delivery.

Don’t think you can handle this type of workload? Creating content every day or two can be a daunting task, but don’t be dismayed. There are literally thousands of article and book authors that provide services as ghost writers (myself included) to aid in the content flow. For literally a few hundred dollars a month, your business can be deluged with quality content that you approve prior to paying for it.

Have a Happy Marketing Adventure!