In this post, I share about the advantages of content marketing over traditional forms of marketing, like paid advertising. Mind you, I’m not here to dissuade you from utilizing paid advertising; I’m here to share why content marketing is a great tool for your business as well as a tip for paid advertising, in case you do choose to utilize it.

With content marketing, you go where people already are with an organic approach to reaching them. This often looks like social media, newsletters, email lists, and blogs. People love consuming information, and content marketing is a great avenue to take to connect with people. We’re in a new generation of how we’re marketing ourselves and how we’re helping people, and there are many different ways to market content online.

Consider the “know, like, and trust factor.” Before people want to utilize your services, they want to know who you are, like you, and trust you. Once you provide them with valuable information, they are more likely to look into your services and consider what you have to offer them.

One thing that is really important to do with paid advertising is this: provide value first. Start with great information then follow with your offer. Once you’ve warmed people up a little bit, you can then ease into an offer, as opposed to using a big, expensive ad that simply states, “Hey, come buy my stuff because it’s really great.” People don’t want to feel like targets; they want to know you care about them and want to help improve their life.

What have you found to be the most effective way to connect with people online?

P.S. If you are looking to do paid advertising, my buddy Greg Tosi is the man. He offers ad services and coaching as well as a DIY Facebook Ads course.