When you publish content on the web, it is searchable by everyone.
When you publish valuable content, it positions you as an authority.
When you publish bad content… you receive that as well.

But, when you publish expert content on the web you will be recognized as an expert in your field. And this alone puts yourself as a reference point in front of your audience and future clients.

David Meerman Scott, author of many books on Sales and Marketing like “The New Rules of Marketing & PR”, which has sold over 350,000 copies in more than 25 languages, talks about how content creation is changing.

Here we have prepared for you some of his specific insights that you can use to attract new clients.

On the Web You Are What You Publish… What Are You?

• Content and social media have become successful ways to get attention from future buyers.
• Content creation, marketing and content distribution in social media are proven ways to make interested people aware of your business.
• Millions of businesses are competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and make future customers aware about their offers.

When people want to buy products and services they go to the web, to search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, social media and their friends and relatives to get information and recommendations about products and services. Original content builds you trust, customer loyalty and can position your business as trusted experts in your field. It offers the so called value ad for customers.

Content marketing has established as a powerful way to engage customers. An increasing number of B2C and B2B marketer are faced with the challenge to produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers to their products and services.

By publishing interesting and remarkable content, other blogs, news sites and content curators will link to you and this will increases your Page Rank and improves your search engine visibility also.

On the web you are what you publish… Think a minute what do you publish on the web and in social media? … Exactly! That’s what you are on the web!

David says that companies and entrepreneurs should move their marketing methods from the old design to the new one. Marketing delivered through classic advertising methods like billboards and magazine ad placements, for example, are not that engaging. What is engaging is the instant communication and connection the online world allows; it fills the gap that classic advertising has left open.

The best way to start content marketing for business is to start a Corporate Blog.

Recent and future customers can interact this way with your business. You show expertise and offer valuable information to solve your audience’s problems. This gains trust.

Blogging has great advantages and here are the most important:

• Blogging companies get up to 55% more Traffic
• Blogging companies get up to 97% more Inbound Links
• Blogging companies get up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines
• Blogging companies get up to 25x times more business leads

A seriously executed content marketing strategy can be responsible for 25x times more business leads and boosts your revenue by up to 40%! All the time keep in mind the difference of having a simple blog than one that is profitable.

Always remember that…

• If you are publishing great information on the web, you’re great.
• If you are publishing nothing on the web, you’re nothing.
• And if you’re publishing bad information on the web, you’re bad.
David Meerman Scott

Important Blog Statistics

• 31.7 million is the projected number of bloggers in the US.
• 41% of the web is built on WordPress.
• 77% of people regularly read blogs online.
• Successful bloggers spend 4 hours on average to write a post.
• Around 7 million blog posts are published per day.
• 67% of bloggers who post daily say that they are successful.
• Blog articles with 3000+ words get better results.
• 97% of bloggers use Social Media to boost their results
• 61% of online users in the US have bought something after reading a blog

Okay, so to be “great” we need to publish “great information” on the web. But how do we know what constitutes great information?

Meerman Scott argues that before publishing under the new rules, you need to focus on understanding your buyers. Only when you understand buyers should you begin to create compelling web content to reach them. He recommends you develop buyer personas so that you can really understand and empathize with your customer base. He also advises you learn the language buyers use to discuss and search for your product.

Try to understand the problems being faced by your buyers. Are they having trouble setting something up? Are they comparing two potential products? Does a recent study make them worried about the security of their website? In other words, understand your buyers’ goals, problems, interests, and concerns.

If you are publishing content that solves your buyers’ problems, then they will start to see you as a helpful solution. If you are educating your buyers on topics that are relevant to them, they’ll start seeing you as an expert.

Meerman Scott also recommends you start thinking like a publisher. Develop an editorial calendar. Start creating content on your website that appeals to your buyer personas, and think about other media you can use to reach them.

As Meerman Scott concludes the relevant chapter of his book:

Millions of people are online right now looking for answers to their problems. Will they find your organization? And if so, what will they find? Remember, on the web, you are what you publish.

What are you publishing online, and what does it say about you?

Final Words

The most important thing to remember is to put your products and services aside for just a little while and focus your complete attention on the buyers of your products (or those who will donate, subscribe, join, or apply). Devoting attention to buyers and away from products is difficult for many people, but it always pays off in the form of bringing you closer to achieving your goals.

The new marketing rules all have one thing in common: they need online content creation to make them possible. Online content creation is done through blog posts, e-books, videos, info graphics, Twitter feeds and other social networks. All of these outlets allow you to communicate with your audience, both at large and one on one. But to do this effectively requires a different type of mindset.