Is content marketing worth it or not? Is it the way of the future, or will it be the death of all of us? How will your feelings about content marketing influence your real-world work and decisions
I’m a big believer in content marketing, not just as a consumer (I like to “try before I buy”), but also as a potential consultant of services. I worked as a Learning and Development Consultant at my company about 5 years ago. The Sales Training curriculum that we, as an organization, were subscribing to at that time was “Integrity Selling”. This curriculum was embedded into all of the functional training that existed at that time for our Sales Professionals. It promoted the concept that unless you really believe in the product you are selling, it will be very challenging to sell the product. Our Sales Professionals needed to genuinely and confidently convey the value that we could offer to our prospective customers. It gave credit to customers that they would be able to “see through” a sales pitch that wasn’t based on the integrity and beliefs of the person that was selling to them.
I bring this up, because I think that it applies to content marketing as well. I can understand the hesitancy of consultants to offer up their time and resources for free with the hopes that it will result in paying customers. However, I truly believe that if a consultant is confident in their services and believes in what they are saying, it will show in the results that potential clients receive. As a consumer, I have become a “paying customer” for some services that offered a free trial. The experience that I had with them was so positive, that I felt strongly about giving them my business.
I plan on following the same approach in my current job, as well as future career opportunities.