It’s time to get something straight.
2013 is about to wrap-up and 2014 is around the corner.
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of articles out there that profess that “2014 will be the year of …{insert technology/strategy}”.
On the first page of Google, terms include: e-engagement, innovation, small data, wearable technology, internet of things and other non-business predictions.
Even the editors at CMO.com put out a market research piece asking top marketing leaders what they believe 2014 will be the year of…and you’ll get answers across the spectrum of marketing topics: mobile, video, social, privacy, curation, relationships, branding, etc.
That’s great – 2014 will be the year of everything.
However, Gabriel Sales is of the belief that there is an underlying element that fuels all of these predictions for 2014 (and what fueled the predictions over the past decade and what will continue to be the fuel many years into the future).
Before I give away the answer, think about this…
How do you e-engage?
What do you feed a system of innovation?
What is small data?
What will people access using wearable technology?
What does the internet of things output?
Content.
Plain and simple, content is the main fuel of all of these ‘2014’ predictions and so many more.
Content is the necessary gas for marketing automation, a previously crafted analogy by Travis Arnold of Kapost, found here.
Content supports all of your marketing efforts – SEO, PPC, email marketing, nurturing, banner ads, remarketing, social and more. Without content, you are not providing any substance or value to your audience. You’re just trying to sell by being a ‘pretty face’ or the ‘smartest person in the room’. That doesn’t work anymore.
The year of 2014 isn’t just about content or content marketing, but about providing such valuable content to your audience that they can’t help wanting to buy from you because you’ve given so much value already for free.
Think of developing your content this way.
You are educating your prospects so much they feel that they have become an expert in your space. In turn, they’ll realize that if your company is providing this kind of value prior to the sale, imagine how much value your company provides to their customers.
This kind of thinking is what many call ‘viral marketing’. The content you deliver publically is so good, people want to share it to help spread that good to others. And, the service/product you deliver to your customers is so much improved that you’ll create company evangelists on both sides of the dollar sign.
For more on creating valuable and relevant content for your 2014 B2B sales/marketing efforts, read our recent blog series titled, “5 Reasons Your Content Isn’t Converting.”
This is what we do at Gabriel Sales – create and share content that supports all of your marketing and sales efforts – attracting leads, educating prospects and helping you close deals.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
