Consumer spending habits are changing. Word of mouth recommendations are rapidly becoming the most influential factor in the way people choose to spend their money. Individuals are conducting research on the internet and relying on social media tools to help them make their purchasing decisions. Traditional advertising and marketing campaigns are no longer as effective as they once were. Content marketing, communicating with your prospects without selling, is one way to attract the informed consumer. The great news for small business is deploying a content marketing strategy can be a low-cost option achieving greater results. Even better, the framework for content marketing is probably already in place in your organisation. This talk will explain the shift in consumer spending, describe the different components of content marketing and give detailed recommendations on how you can get started.

1. Educating the Customer: Why Content Marketing is the New Trend by Sarah Mitchell www.globalcopywriting.com

3. Define content marketing and describe it’s components

4. Provide recommendations for a content marketing strategy

5. Definition Content Marketing: is the art of understanding exactly what your customers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way. CONTENT MARKETING = EDUCATION

7. Consumer behaviour has changed

9. Push Oriented

11. Radio

12. Newspaper

13. Yellow Pages

14. Direct Mail

15. Cold Calling

16. SPAM email

18. The traditional “funnel” sales cycle model is no longer effective

19. Consumers are doing their own research

21. Satellite Radio

22. RSS Feeds

23. Privacy Rights

24. Caller ID

25. SPAM filters

27. Meetings

28. Presentations

29. Evaluation

30. Sale

32. Advertising and marketing decline for first time since 1930s

34. Newspaper/Magazines

35. TV News Reports

36. Traditional Advertising

38. Inbound Marketing Permission based, online techniques that are used to draw people to you

40. Tailored to your business

41. Targets key prospects

42. Contributes to lead nurturing

43. Positions your solution over your competitors

44. Asset-based investment you own

46. Content

47. Social Media

50. External links

51. Search engine recommendations

53. The days of self-serving, self-promoting “ blah blah blah ” are over.

54. Marketing = Publishing

56. “ Conversation without content is mere networking. Content without conversation is just dead content. ” Tipping Point Labs

58. Find the intersection between your solution and your customer’s information needs

59. Develop content to address deficiency

60. Make yourself findable

61. Give you content legs

64. Twitter searches

65. Twendz

66. Twitrrater

67. Tweetfeel

70. Target each type of customer

71. Consider vertical markets

74. Case studies

75. News letters

76. E-newsletters

77. Website copy

78. Ebook

79. Articles

80. Blogs

82. Photos

83. Slide presentations

84. Glossaries

85. Buyer’s checklists

86. Surveys

87. Brochures

88. FAQs

90. Make it easy for the search engines to find you

92. Use social media tools to drive traffic to your website.

93. Don’t Pay for Attention BUY attention: Advertising BEG for attention: Public Relations BUG people: Sales “ EARN attention online by creating great information that your buyers want to consume such as YouTube videos, blogs, Twitter feeds, photographs, charts, graphs, and ebooks—and it is all free .” David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now

94. Always Keep in Mind.... With content marketing you pull them in with your expertise. Don’t push your prospects away by shouting at them. “ You shouldn’t be thinking so much about what to say, but rather what your audience needs to hear. ” – Joe Pulizzi,