By Patricia Redsicker
Published December 11, 2012 
Do you want to attract a steady stream of new customers?
Are you looking to create better content, but you need fresh ideas?
A lot of marketers are still unclear about what content marketing means.
This article will explore the benefits of content marketing and preview an exciting new opportunity from Social Media Examiner to help take your content marketing to the next level.
Smart Content, Big Rewards: An Example
Today, businesses of all sizes are using content marketing to slay the competition, attract large followings of loyal customers and explode their business? growth.
But when tiny Magnolia Hi-Fi started using content, the Internet wasn?t even around. Did that stop them? Heck no!
Magnolia used content marketing to grow from a small audio store to an $87 million brand.
Back then, they had just transitioned from a neighborhood greeting card and photography store to an audio specialty store. Competition was fierce and they didn?t even have a marketing plan. So they hired a salesman (who knew a lot about educating prospects with great information) to develop a solid profitable marketing plan.
The plan was to give prospective buyers something to focus on other than price ? content.
They created a series of stereo buyer?s guides, which offered educational content that answered prospects? questions about buying audio equipment. These were distributed as newspaper inserts (remember there was no Internet at the time!).
But the guides were quarterly and Magnolia needed to nurture their audience by keeping the story alive throughout the year. So they invested in weekly distribution channels and different content formats. As resources grew, they scaled content velocity to achieve broader distribution and broadcast frequency.
Within 18 months, the small, out-of-the-way store was joined by a huge store in Seattle?s high-traffic University District, followed by two more stores and finally expanding to Washington, Oregon and California.
In 2000, the father-son business sold to Best Buy for $87 million! Today, there are over 350 Magnolia Home Theater Locations in Best Buy stores throughout the U.S.
Here?s a question for you. You have all the advantages of the Internet, right? What?s stopping you from growing your business?
Content marketing is simply creating and sharing information that solves buyers? problems or makes their lives easier. The result is that you build a platform that draws in ideal customers, increases your exposure and achieves sales growth for your business.
Content Marketing Use and Adoption Statistics
Want to know how successful B2B marketers are using content marketing?
Here?s some research from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs with the latest findings:
- 91% of B2B marketers are now using content marketing
- 79% use content marketing for brand awareness, 74% for customer acquisition and 71% for lead generation
- On average, B2B marketers are spending 33% of their marketing budgets on content marketing, which is up from 26% last year
- 54% plan to increase their content marketing spending in 2013
- Large companies use an average of 18 content marketing tactics while small companies use an average of 11 tactics
These numbers demonstrate the huge investment B2B marketers are making in content marketing.
Don?t you think you should invest a little to learn more about content marketing this coming year?
Are you interested in learning how to create awesome blogs, podcasts, video, webinars and other forms of content to keep customers focused on your brand?
Social Media Examiner Announces Content Success Summit 2013
One of the biggest challenges marketers face is not knowing if their tactics are effective (according to Content Marketing Institute).
In response to this challenge, Social Media Examiner is bringing together 22 of the world?s leading content marketing experts to present at the first-annual online Content Success Summit 2013.
It?s an online conference spread over an entire month to meet your busy schedule.
This conference is designed to help you build your own platform, market your products and grow your business.
?Content is what makes social work, and it is at the core of all that we do here at Social Media Examiner,? says Michael Stelzner, CEO and founder of Social Media Examiner. ?We have one of the largest business blogs in the world and a successful podcast. This summit is about teaching people how to do exactly what Social Media Examiner has always been doing.?
Why a Content Marketing Summit?
Unlike the early days of Magnolia Hi-Fi, we live in an era where everyone has the opportunity to build any kind of platform they want.
Business owners can develop and use their own platforms to publish great content for marketing the products or services they?re trying to sell.
Content Success Summit is the first virtual conference created to help marketers figure out exactly how to build their platform. By attending this conference you will:
- See how successful content producers operate and how you can achieve similar results
- Learn how to grow a loyal following via blogging, video, podcasting, email marketing and webinars
- Discover how to sell your products and services using content
- Gain a leg up on your competitors, helping you stand out
- Pick up new content marketing strategies that will bring you more exposure
Designed to accommodate your schedule, the conference will be conveniently spread over a four-week period starting February 5, 2013.
You will receive recordings and transcripts of all live sessions. And because it is fully online, you can attend right from your home or office, thus eliminating long-distance travel expenses and hotel bills.
Meet Your Presenters
Our first Content Success Summit features the most experienced leaders in the industry. Many of them have written a book about content marketing or are founders of successful businesses fueled by content. Among them are:
- Joe Pulizzi ? founder of Content Marketing Institute and co-author of Get Content Get Customers
- Ann Handley ? chief content officer of MarketingProfs and co-author of Content Rules
- Michael Hyatt ? chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
- Michael Stelzner ? founder of Social Media Examiner and author of Launch
- Amy Porterfield ? co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies
- David Siteman Garland ? founder of Rise to the Top and author of Smarter, Faster, Cheaper
- Gini Dietrich ? co-author of Marketing in the Round
- Heidi Cohen ? president of Riverside Marketing Strategies
- Pat Flynn ? founder of Smart Passive Income
- Marcus Sheridan ? founder of the popular blog, The Sales Lion
- Mark Schaefer ? author of Return on Influence
- And many others!
Is This Summit Right for You?
Perhaps you?ve been focusing a lot on social media, but not much on content marketing. You?re wondering if you could learn something new that might be a game-changer for your business. Ask yourself the following:
- Do I have a content marketing plan for 2013?
- Are there some content tactics that I?m not aware of that could be useful for my business?
- Could I use some advice to build my platform, market my products and grow my business using content?
If you answered ?Yes? to any of these questions, then sign up and learn from the leading content marketing authorities in the industry.
Want to Save Money?
If you reserve your spot right now, you will save 50%. Click here for details.
Over to You. Are you interested in learning how to create a content platform that will successfully grow your business? Please share your thoughts and comments in the box below.
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Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-master-content-marketing-in-a-month/
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