Content Marketing Strategy - Create Articles For Marketing to Target Prospects in 7 Steps

For decades, being quoted in the media was the Holy Grail of marketing and public relations. Companies spent countless hours and resources to land that all-important interview. The results were often disappointing, because the finished article wasn't favorable or your quote didn't make the cut.
Now, the days of waiting impatiently to be featured in the media are far behind us for two reasons. First, buyers no longer depend on the traditional media for information. According to Forrester Research, 90-percent of buying decisions now begin online. Your target prospects go to the Web in search of educational information, and they'll take it anywhere they can find it -- including your company's site. Second, buyers are savvy. Buyers are no longer distrustful of content that comes from companies. As traditional media companies cut costs, buyers understand that businesses have stepped in to fill the void of quality information. But, buyers still recognize a sales pitch when they see it, and know how to separate good content from bad.
Create an Article in Seven Steps
What does this mean to you? It means you're no longer at the mercy of the traditional media. You can be featured in any article you want -- simply by creating it yourself. Here's how:
Decide on a topic. Choose a timely topic your target prospects want to learn about. For example, a home improvement chain could choose the topic "Save Grocery Money with a Backyard Vegetable Garden." If you're drawing a blank, your writer can help you brainstorm effective article topics.
Hire a writer. If you have a talented writer on staff, you might be able to create the article in-house. But, your best bet is finding an outside writer with a journalism background. An outside writer will be more objective and give the article greater credibility. Many freelance writers (including myself) are also journalists. And due to the decline in traditional media, there are also many laid-off journalists looking for work.
Determine the interview subjects. Work with your writer to choose a subject matter expert from your company to be interviewed for the story. For added credibility, it's also worthwhile to include outside experts from non-competing organizations, such as academics or analysts.
Back it up with data. Give the writer any supporting data or statistics you have related to the story topic. Keep in mind that a good writer with a journalism background will also be to find relevant facts and figures through independent research.
Edits. Once the writer turns in the article draft, it's your turn. Give the writer your feedback, but resist the urge to turn it into a sales brochure. Remember, your savvy prospects will be able to tell the difference between quality content and a sales pitch.
Layout. Once the article is edited, turn it over to a graphic designer. They can make the article look like a magazine feature story. Graphic elements to consider include photos, pull quotes (large-typeface quotations), graphs, and information sidebars.
Distribution. There are dozens of uses for your completed article. Print it up and hand it to prospects, post it on your website, include it in your e-mail newsletter, share it with bloggers in your field, and offer it to industry trade journals. You can even use it to approach editors in the traditional media -- many are increasingly willing to run sponsored content like yours as their budgets dwindle.
Creating and sharing valuable and relevant articles costs relatively little and comes with big benefits. You become a trusted expert your prospects turn to when they're ready to buy, and you cut out the time, energy and uncertainty of relying on the traditional media to tell your company's story. Instead you become the media, empowering your company to tell its story directly to your prospects.

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