Unless you’ve had your head in the clouds for the last few years, you have a grasp of the concept of “content marketing.” Essentially, it’s an online marketing approach that incorporates tools like blogs, social media and SEO concepts to attract the interest of potential customers. The key is to provide interesting, educational material to engage a prospect and encourage him or her to move onto the next phase of the sales process.
Of course, nothing stays the same for long in the world of online marketing, and we’re just now starting to see the ramp-up of the next biggest trend: context marketing. If you want to incorporate this strategy into your advertising efforts, you need to understand context marketing vs. content marketing and use both to your advantage.
What’s the big deal?
In a nutshell, context marketing is about timing communication so that it’s most relevant, it’s providing: 1) the right content; 2) to the right prospect; 3) at just the right moment. It goes beyond content marketing that just delivers educational or useful information, because it inserts timing into the equation. Context marketing vs. content marketing also takes into account the specific personality of the customer. Even if you have two of the components nailed down, you could still lose a lead because they’re not the proper audience.
Context marketing is critical to your online marketing strategy because it enables you to provide a more personalized experience for leads. Your existing advertising efforts will actually perform more effectively because you’re giving prospects more relevant information that they need now. So, how do you successfully use a context approach that converts business?
Give Your Online Forms a Face Lift
The number of visitors that click the “Back” button when they land on a form page is staggering. Yet, you need a lead’s information if you want to provide relevant content at the right time. Implement smart forms that don’t require your visitors to insert duplicate information, but rather obtain new details that can help you learn more about them. You’ll get a better idea of how to follow up with more targeted and timely content.
Calls to Action that Pack a Punch
Your prospect is interested and loves your product, but may not be ready to buy. So your call to action needs to fall somewhere in between keeping them engaged, but not turning them off. Current technology can help you develop a smart landing page that self-adjusts to the visitor based upon information that they’ve provided. You can then respond with a CTA that conforms to their stage in the sales cycle.
Step Into Their Shoes
Context marketing vs. content marketing means getting personal with your leads, so creating effective buyer personas is crucial. Doing so will help you fit the right content into the three prongs of context marketing: relevant information, the right person, and the proper timing. As you develop your different personalities, focus on questions that relate to these elements and you’ll be better at getting your prospect’s attention and keeping it.
If you are still looking for the right way to create content check out this FREE Beginners Guide for some awesome tips on blogging for your business!