Why Content Should be an Important Part of Your Marketing Strategy

It is about building trust and providing value before a sale has ever been made.

Consider some of the more conventional forms of marketing; door to door sales, cold calling, billboards, spam emails and advertisements. These are all examples of Outbound Marketing. They are intrusive at their worst and unsolicited at their best. They almost always take away from our most valuable commodity - our time. The message is pushed onto consumers, whether it is well received or not.

That Winners ad placed bang in the middle of your evening news? Outbound marketing. That guy who drives around on weekends screaming "Monsieur Propre!" on a megaphone? Also Outbound marketing.

Inbound marketing is an antidote to this.

Seth Godin (pictured above) is a marketing genius and a prolific writer. He is perhaps most well known for articulating the concept of 'Permission Marketing', a marketing philosophy that eventually evolved into Inbound Marketing.

Godin and his mustard glasses concluded that marketing efforts that are personalised, relevant and helpful to consumers are much better received. Helpful marketing pulls consumers to the brand by providing value before a sale has ever been made.

Prior to purchase, a consumer contemplates their needs and the solutions the market has to offer. Marketers call this evaluation process 'The Buyer's Journey'. Inbound marketing taps into this journey by providing information that educates the consumer through relevant and remarkable content at each stage.

Inbound Marketing's key tenet is to produce helpful and relevant content that is of value to people.

Bank One is a bank based here in Mauritius. Bank One's ‘Simple comme Economie’ series, a radio show that educates consumers on the economy, and their ‘Investor's Circle’ market insight YouTube series are both examples of Bank One being good at inbound marketing.

Every year in June, the Mauritian government releases the public budget for the upcoming financial year. Every year, PwC Mauritius releases content to help us understand that budget better. PwC understands inbound marketing.

This very article you are reading right now is inbound marketing. While I am emphasizing the wonders of content marketing for your business, I am also positioning myself as the ideal freelance writer to write that content for you.

Inbound Marketing's key tenet is to produce helpful and relevant content that is of value to people. The content educates and empowers the consumer while building trust and attracting them to the brand.

Purpose of any marketing is to attract attention, no doubt. But while outbound marketing buys consumer attention, Inbound Marketing earns it.