Last week I wrote about ZMOT, the Zero Moment of Truth, the marketing that occurs between introducing and establishing your brand identity and asking for the sale. Say, for example, you are interested in buying kitchen appliances. You would probably go to the internet, conduct a search and read product descriptions, independent reviews, and compare prices on several brands with which you are familiar. That is ZMOT.
That was in the back of my mind today as I read an article in Entrepreneur about how content marketing is becoming the most favored means of marketing among B2B companies. Here's the link if you would like to read it:
http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=856745524&ids=0VcjcTd3kNdzwIcP0OczwTejkUb3gOdjkQdPoRe2MTc38Odj0RdzwId3wNcP8VcPoU&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-80&ut=01A-KrJVQABkY1
According to a survey, the article states that content marketing is now being considered more important than search engine marketing, public relations, print, radio and television among business-to-business marketers. Content marketing. This article defines it as: "the creation and publication of original content -- including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos -- for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand's visibility, and putting the company's subject matter expertise on display."
That's ZMOT. Consumers considering, let's say hiring an attorney, would want to read an attorney's blog, read any press releases or press coverage regarding that attorney's practice, watch video testimonials of past clients. That just stands to reason. Armed with this information on one or several different choices, the consumer will make a decision... and spend. Now, more than ever before, that information is cheap and easy to provide thanks to the internet.
So as I read about how the B2B community has discovered this potent form of marketing I was thinking that yes, it is certainly important, potentially effective, affordable, and I may even add critical for B2B, but it is all those things for B2C as well. There are very few products and services that would not benefit from addressing their consumers' Zero Moment of Truth with some well-planned content marketing.
I would be interested in your thoughts. Comment on this blog or meet me on Linkedin or Goggle+.
That was in the back of my mind today as I read an article in Entrepreneur about how content marketing is becoming the most favored means of marketing among B2B companies. Here's the link if you would like to read it:
http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=856745524&ids=0VcjcTd3kNdzwIcP0OczwTejkUb3gOdjkQdPoRe2MTc38Odj0RdzwId3wNcP8VcPoU&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-80&ut=01A-KrJVQABkY1
According to a survey, the article states that content marketing is now being considered more important than search engine marketing, public relations, print, radio and television among business-to-business marketers. Content marketing. This article defines it as: "the creation and publication of original content -- including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos -- for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand's visibility, and putting the company's subject matter expertise on display."
That's ZMOT. Consumers considering, let's say hiring an attorney, would want to read an attorney's blog, read any press releases or press coverage regarding that attorney's practice, watch video testimonials of past clients. That just stands to reason. Armed with this information on one or several different choices, the consumer will make a decision... and spend. Now, more than ever before, that information is cheap and easy to provide thanks to the internet.
So as I read about how the B2B community has discovered this potent form of marketing I was thinking that yes, it is certainly important, potentially effective, affordable, and I may even add critical for B2B, but it is all those things for B2C as well. There are very few products and services that would not benefit from addressing their consumers' Zero Moment of Truth with some well-planned content marketing.
I would be interested in your thoughts. Comment on this blog or meet me on Linkedin or Goggle+.
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