How to Acquire and Retain Customers via Content Marketing

Over-the-top, grandiose marketing messages of the past have lost their luster, and a few would even argue that traditional advertising has "jumped the shark" and is on its way toward well-deserved obsolescence.

In such an environment, marketers are looking for other avenues via which to gain the attention of consumers, including various forms of social media such as blogs, podcasts, and social networks.

These days, not only to gain the attention of consumers but also to hold it... you have to give them something worth holding on to—and I can think of no better enticement than your very own content.

Face it. If you are an online marketer, you're a publisher. Your Web properties are media sites, whether you consider them such or not; so you might as well make the most of it and provide your customers and prospects with something of value.

First, have in mind these considerations:

1. What will your core message be?
2. Is it consistent with your overall brand message?
3. What is its purpose? (To drive traffic to your Web site (acquisition), keep visitors tied to you (retention) or generate leads or revenue?)
4. What forms will it take?

Content Marketing Defined Junta42 defines content marketing as "a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action."

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