Content Marketing Shouldn’t Just Be About You

Caid Christiansen• December, 30 2015

The biggest mistake in content marketing is making the content all about you.

So says Michael Brenner, CEO at Marketing Insider Group, in an article for LinkedIn Pulse. And you know what? Brenner couldn’t be more right.

Executed correctly, content marketing has the potential for tremendous impact on your company. By giving buyers value-adding content–information they need to solve their problems–you open up a window for prospects to see your solution as the only one worth pursuing.

The trouble is, many companies today hear “content marketing” and think “content about us.” That approach to content marketing just doesn’t work. There are only so many ways you can talk about your product or service before readers get bored out of their skulls. More importantly, prospects today aren’t often in search of a perfect product or service. They’re in search of a perfect solution.

When you talk about nothing but yourself, you’re selling the product, not the solution. You aren’t telling prospects, “We understand your paint point. Here are a few resources that will help you along the process,” you’re telling them, “our product is exactly what you need.” The latter may be true, but selling nonstop is a good way to turn people off to your company altogether.

Instead of speaking only about you–your business, your products, your services–the content for your content marketing efforts should add value to the lives of your readers.

If you sell garage doors, don’t only talk about your garage doors. Talk about the best ways to organize a garage. Tips for performing basic home maintenance. When to DIY and when to call in the professionals. None of those topics are immediately about garage doors, but they appeal to the same person who would buy one: the homeowner.

Giving all the auxiliary information plants the seed and gets the buyer started on the process. If you start with “buy this!” they may never have the chance to see how much value you could add into their lives.

When planning a content strategy, resist the urge to make everything about you. Talking about everything but yourself may seem counterproductive, but these days, that’s how the sales process starts.