graphic courtesy of business2community.com
For most StoryTech Consulting clients, the objective of their content marketing campaign is revenue growth. This is achieved through using the content to enable key account management and prospect nurturing. That said, as I’ve written previously a well executed content marketing program delivers a number of other important marketing benefits.
A powerful validation of this occurred last week. The president of one of my clients received this email from an industry peer in response to a thought-leadership editorial we published on our branded publication:
Dear XXX:
If you ever wonder if people actually read the articles you write for your website let me assure you that they do. Your articles are a breath of fresh air because you express heart-felt appreciation for the great work the XXX team does in support of its customers around the world.
I really enjoy the way you eloquently convey the critical capabilities your team provides and the wonderful way they provide it. Your words are inspiring and appreciated by people inside and out of XXX …like me :).
With respect to XXX, I too had the opportunity to say goodbye to a satellite, a true workhorse for the Air Force and our Nation…my satellite was XXXX. On 12 August 2011, when I was the XXX Commander, I invited my Army counterpart, 53rd Signal Battalion Commander, Lt Col XXX, to XXX AFB so we could together send the final commands to our satellite so XXX could gracefully “fade away.” XXX sent the 2nd to last command and I sent the final command. It was a very special event and your article on XXX reminded me of all the great work our joint Air Force and Army team accomplished together and the tremendous capabilities we provided to the Nation.
Thanks for your article and thanks for your continued “trailblazing”, inspiring leadership!
Respectfully,
Can I give an empirical value to such a response to our content, or track it directly to a sale? No, but this kind of acknowledged thought leadership brands your client as an influencer and definitely contributes to the ultimate success of the organization — and the content marketing engagement.