Businesses need to consistently reach out to customers, even if they are extremely loyal, in order to carry out a marketing campaign that is both successful and fruitful. Potential customers would like to know about your knowledge of their industry, and existing customers want to continue to learn about problems and how to solve them.
This is often the goal in content marketing. Customers give you their email address, and in turn, you give them the insight they are looking for, whether it be in the form of newsletters, eBooks, or top business magazines.
But creating this insight can be a challenge. Not only can it be hard to choose a stream of content and stick to distributing it for an indefinite period of time, but it can also be hard to keep customers coming back for more. The two most common mediums businesses choose to share insight are blogs and eBooks, and both are proven to gain leads for companies and keep business both active and healthy.
With this in mind, here are the basics of marketing blogs and eBooks, in addition to which one might be better for your company and its leads.
Blogs
Blog posts can be short, sweet, and to the point while presenting your content in a clear and professional manner. When customers are looking around for businesses that could help them, they don’t really judge two companies based on service or product information, but rather what the businesses themselves know about their line of work and how they can solve everyday problems.
A blog can make for a very substantial database that is replete with useful information, and your own content will certainly make your business stand out from your competitors. Not only that, but continuing to write your blog will show others you are devoted to your line of work and that your perspective changes when your industry does.
Because blog posts can be made available to the public on your own website, they allow potential customers that you otherwise are not aware of to become introduced to your business for the first time and leave a great first impression.
eBooks
eBooks are suited for consumers that want to know about a topic more in-depth or complex in order to learn even more compared to other means. With an eBook, you can demonstrate what your company knows in a more technical way, while still being considered a means to introduce customers to your business.
eBooks are often what you give to leads that give you their name and email, so they are commonly used as an incentive to sign up to be a member of your company or its website. With eBooks, customers can often perceive you as an expert in your industry and you are more likely to gain credibility among leads faster compared to blogs based on the knowledge that you share.
If you aren’t sure about which type of content to write, here are some things that can entice you one way or the other.
Write Blog Posts If:
You want as many readers as possible to understand your content
You want to write a continuous series of posts
You want to give outsiders the chance to find your business
You are not committed to writing long-form, technical content
Write eBooks If:
You want to share more technical insight
You want to write long-form, evergreen content
You prefer to keep your content exclusive to leads that are willing to give you their attention
You are not committed to writing a series of short-form posts for an indefinite period of time
