Content marketing is the driver of inbound marketing. You may have a great looking website that has information about your company and your products and services. How often do I need to look at that information? Probably once, that’s it. But if you have fresh content on your site, I will come back again and again. You might have a blog where you talk about common problems and solutions in your industry. You might have a social site where you are sharing photos or short videos of your work. You might even go one step more and produce a podcast where you share your ideas either through audio or video. Content marketing is all about getting the word out about your business by lending information that is helpful to your target market. It does not make a hard sales pitch, but it soft peddles your expertise. It is one of the most effective marketing tools available to you.

But what makes good content marketing? Let’s be honest. There are blogs I really don’t care to read and podcasts I don’t want to listen to. Why? They’re poorly written or they are flat out boring! The first thing you must do in content marketing is make whatever you are producing highly interesting to your target audience. That will require you to do some investigating to understand who you are dealing with so you can understand what they like and dislike. For instance, if I am selling motor oil, I would take a different approach with my content marketing if my target market would be automotive design engineers than if my target market would be monster truck enthusiasts. The engineers would want to know about the chemistry of my brand of motor oil. They would want to see the data on viscosity tests. The fans of monster trucks couldn’t care less about the data. They would want to see a video of the company’s sponsored truck at Monster Jam. Keep your content relevant to your audience.

Do something different

Sometimes it is good to mix up your methods of delivery. If you are a blogger, why not try a video for a change. You can use the same content, just mix up the delivery medium. Variety is the spice of life. Too much of the same thing can become stale.

Don’t make it too complicated

You need not make your content marketing complex. In fact, keeping it simple typically makes it better. Some of the best content I have seen has only one point. It is easy to read and move on. On that same note, don’t make it too long. I listen to a podcast from a marketing peer of mine every now and then. Recently he had a topic that sounded really good to me, but it was 20 minutes long. I turned it off before it was over. In my business day, 20 minutes is a long time to devote to content. If it were half that long, I would have listened to the whole thing. Here is the truth of any marketing message: it has to be short and sweet. No one will sit through your reading of War and Peace.

Don’t give away everything

You don’t have to divulge everything you know about the topic in one piece of content marketing. It is okay to hold back on the breadth of your knowledge. There should be a reason someone in your target market would contact you. That is the point of content marketing: it helps your would-be customer become familiar enough with you and your brand to inquire about a purchase. But let’s say you have a lot to say. My rule of thumb is that blogs should be no longer than 1,000 words. Beyond that, you will begin to lose people. If what you want to share is getting too wordy, consider doing a series on the topic. If the content is riveting, you will build some anticipation for the next piece to be published. That is a powerful marketing tool. Use that to your advantage.

The good word is this - content marketing works when it is done right. Make sure what you are posting is engaging your target market, fresh, simple and generates a natural curiosity to see more.