Our recent webinar, Promoting Your Content: Social Marketing for Professional Services, focused on content promotion techniques that work. We were joined by Jennifer Abernethy, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Social Media Marketing (now in its 2nd Edition) and founder of The Sales Lounge, who provided a wealth of ideas for promoting your content through social media.
When you create fresh, educational content for your target audience, your firm can benefit in many ways:
- Attract high-quality search engine traffic
- Use content as currency in social media
- Educate and nurture prospects
- Attract qualified leads
- Build trust and loyalty
For professional services firms, “being your own publisher” is no longer an option. It's a necessity. Below is a recap of Jennifer’s “trends to watch” for promoting your content. Each is accompanied by a brief take on its relevance to professional services.
Trend #1: Consider Podcasts and iTunes—With some methods of traditional marketing becoming obsolete, consider these new channels for reaching busy and mobile audiences with your content.
Trend #2: Get Clever with Content—Most firms publish newsletters. But have you considered naming your newsletter in a unique way related to your brand? At Hinge, we call our newsletter Pivot.
Trend #3: Be In Control of Your Digital Influence—In professional services, word-of-mouth referals have been the gold standard for generating leads. Today, technology is changing the equation. You now need to keep up with online referral partners, online champions/sponsors, and online prospects.
Trend #4: “Info-tainment” Is Not Just for Celebrities—As of a few weeks ago, YouTube had 4 billion daily videos views, and it was the #2 search engine in the world. It should come as no surprise, then, that video is one of the leading vehicles for outreach in the professional services. Info-tainment can also take the form of infographics, ebooks, kits, guides, and webinars.
Trend #5: Emails Are Gold—Sure, we all know the routines associated with collecting email addresses and adding them to a database. But what happens next? For professional services firms, a successful nurturing campaign depends on sending quality emails to the people on your list. What are you doing to grow your list organically? Are you creating helpful content and promoting it in social media to build greater engagement? Consider sharing your blog posts, white papers, and research reports to boost the value of your emails.
People continually align themselves with shared interests, whether those interests are personal or professional. By offering helpful and engaging digital content to your audience, you will go a long way toward fostering the right connections.
Happy writing!
