Whether you’re a dealership or a vendor, I’m sure you want to gain the attention of your audience. The problem is that everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs how great their products are… regardless of it’s the newest Chevy or the newest website widget.

And, chances are nobody will listen. Why? Because unless they care about you or what you’re selling, if they don’t need your product or service right now, they simply have no reason to pay attention in the first place.

That’s where content marketing comes in.

So, how can content marketing help? Well, the whole purpose of content marketing is to build an audience that WANTS to do business with you. An audience that listens to your advice, pays attention to your messages and relays those messages and advice to their friends.

Perhaps they aren’t currently in the market for that new Silverado or website widget. That doesn’t mean they will never be. However, most marketers are so focused on “buy right now!” and low-hanging fruit that they forget there are plenty more customers who are in the consideration mode, at the top of the funnel. These customers will eventually naturally work their way towards the bottom. And, when they get there, they’re aren’t going to remember the companies whose messages have gotten lost in the noise, but they will remember those that have connected with and continue to engage them.

To most shoppers, the constant price messages are meaningless. If you’re a Chevy dealership shouting how you have $12,000 off MSRP, chances are that your competitor is also shouting the same message. If you’re a vendor shouting “a free month of service” for something the dealer may not need right now, it’s the same thing.

Connecting with and engaging your audience is imperative in today’s world where consumers are constantly inundated with sales messages. With everyone shouting the same thing, most will not really listen until they need your product or service. So, what WILL give you the edge?

Quality content that people want to become engaged with.

Content marketing is an excellent way to break the ice, engage with an audience and make them connect with your company. Then, when they do need your product or service, you’re the first company that pops into their mind. Not because you have $12,000 off MSRP, or offer a free month of service, but because your content has helped them become familiar with and interested in you as a source of expert advice and good useful information, rather than in-your-face marketing messages.

Content marketing IS marketing. It’s simply another way to spread your message to your audience without being intrusive, pushy or salesy.

A proper content marketing strategy can help convince and motivate your potential customers that they should give YOU the first chance at their business.

Tell your story. Help educate your audience. And they will repay you with their business.

Content marketing has become somewhat of a buzzword recently. With developing technology and the Internet taking over our lives, PR and marketing terms constantly develop and shift in meaning. So, I thought a little primer on content marketing might be useful!

The classic definition of marketing typically involves activities such as ads, coupons and direct mail pieces, both digital and in traditional media. Add the word “content” in front, however, and things get a little fuzzy for some.

What exactly is content marketing? And, do you need to be involved in it?

Content is at the heart of what we do as marketers. We send messages to our customers, clients, and our readers. The messages we relay, regardless of the form it takes, is our content.

Content marketing is using that content to meet a marketing goal. Perhaps it is the acquisition of potential customers, retention of existing ones, or making more people aware of your brand or products.

You’re probably already doing some of it. Content marketing includes any piece of content you put out via any platform that does NOT involve direct selling. “Why would I not want to sell directly with ALL my content?” you may be thinking. Because sometimes, your audience is more willing to listen to and interact with you if you’re not shouting, “buy something from me!” in their ear.

Content marketing can include blog articles, social media posts, trade magazine articles, images and anything designed to engage your audience OTHER THAN your traditional advertising and direct marketing efforts.

What are the benefits of content marketing?

1.   It keeps you top-of-mind – Whether you’re a dealership selling to consumers, or a vendor selling to dealerships, not everyone buys immediately. In addition, those customers who did purchase, and your current clients, may be ripe at some point to repurchase. A great content marketing strategy keeps your business, product and services in front of the customer without being intrusive or in-your-face salesy.

2.   It can lead to indirect exposure – Blog and magazine articles are an excellent way to position executives as thought leaders, and your business as a source of helpful content. People like educational material that is relevant to their needs.

If you are a dealership you can perhaps provide information on vehicle service, or how to synch your smartphone with your in-vehicle entertainment system, for example. As a vendor you could focus on some key pain points dealers are faced with daily. By providing that material, you can easily get exposure through comments, sharing and just plain curiosity. Perhaps the person reading the blog doesn’t need your product or service right now. But, by adding them as an audience member, creating your company as a thought-leader, they could easily consider you first when the need arises.

3.   It drives engagement and builds relationships – Content marketing can increase exposure through engaging the audience with relevant, thought-provoking material. I’m not talking about click-bait or pictures of puppies and kittens, but rather helpful information that is welcomed by and, eventually, looked forward to by the audience. This promotes a sense of relationship and begins the process of trust.

4.   Search engine optimization – Google looks for relevance in content. It crawls sites and includes you in its search results when it finds new content. The more often that new content is added to your website, the more likely you are to appear in a relevant search on the topic, increasing organic exposure to your website. Without content, there would be nothing to optimize for search engines. Every link earned by every marketer points to a piece of content, and the keywords that people type into search engines are an attempt to find that content.

5.   Web site traffic – The more eyeballs you have on your website, the more likely you are to get leads and sales. A good content marketing strategy will push people to view that content on your website which could then lead to further exploration and conversions on your website CTAs.

The bottom line is this: If you create great content that targets potential customers, you can shorten the distance between these customers and your products, increasing the chance that they'll make a purchase later.

These days, consumers are no longer willing to engage with in-your-face marketing tactics and quality content is king. Simply put, there are too many marketing messages, consumers have grown tired of them and simply tune them out.

As a business you still need to get your message out, acquire and retain new customers. If your customers are no longer listening to straight-out sales pitch marketing messages what DOES get their attention?

Well, it’s time to think about the art of subtlety.

Let’s say you’re about to launch a product or service. Prior to launch, everyone is busy fine-tuning the product and waiting for the right time to announce it. Perhaps you’re waiting for the next large industry conference. Before the conference comes around what many companies typically do is… nothing. They wait.

Then, when the conference comes around… boom… they begin to virtually scream at their audience “Hey, look at this service we just launched! You need this!!!!!” The problem is that just about EVERY other company is doing the same thing – that’s a lot of noise to cut though in order to get the attention you need.

What if you could start the process of marketing prior to launch? If the audience is primed with information, they get more familiar about who you are and tend to be that much more receptive when your product actually does launch.

Now, I realize that you do not necessarily want to release the big news, secret sauce prior to the show.

I’m here to tell you that you can have the best of both worlds.

Let’s use a hypothetical example of a mobile product designed to improve the customer experience. Through the strategic use of content marketing, six-eight months out from the show this business starts priming their customers for launch -- without them even knowing it.

Company executives craft and place thought-provoking blog posts, as well as industry articles, centered around the importance of mobile devices for consumers. Topics could also focus on customer experience issues, or the pain points their yet-to-be-launched product solves. The company’s social media strategy is also integrated into the plan, introducing content that corroborates and reinforces the company’s current content and messaging.

In essence, in a subtle manner, this strategy educates the audience about the importance of key points related to the product or service in advance of launch. You push content your audience wants to read, increase the profile of your company and position executives as industry thought leaders.

Now, when that industry conference rolls around, your press release hits the trade publications and you are ready to start selling, your audience (and the audience you didn’t know you had) will be more familiar with who you are. They are more receptive to your product. You’ve just spent six months educating them why everything your product solves is exactly what they need.

In the marketing world, businesses have a steep slope to climb. It’s a long way to the top. But, once you get there, it’s much easier coming down the other side.

Start your marketing planning in advance with the type of content your audience desires. Ensure it is also aligned with your business messaging and/or supports an upcoming product -- and you should find more success at the end of the day.

Sometimes, the most successful marketing isn’t selling anything at all.

In the best-selling book of 1979, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by science-fiction author Douglas Adams, one of the oddest and most unique creatures exists – which is also the most useful creature in the universe: the babel fish.  When you insert it into your ear it instantly translates any alien language for you.

This, of course, became incredibly useful while hitchhiking through the galaxy. In fact, this novel creature even inspired a website-translation service (Babelfish.com) and Google has already launched a product that can instantly translate in real-time up to 40 languages through earbuds. It’s amazing how science-fiction suddenly becomes reality.

But what does this have to do with content marketing?

One of the core benefits of content marketing is that – over time – you gain exposure for the company and transform company executives into thought-leaders. This, of course, takes a lot of work – especially in the beginning.

First and foremost, an audience must be driven to your content and find it attractive. Then that audience needs to grow. The audience grows because the message resonates with them and/or helps them.

Once that audience has grown large enough, the whole process looks like a snowball that rolled down a hill and became an avalanche. Not so much work. However, those content marketing efforts still need to engage and connect with your audience.

And, on that point of engaging and connecting with your audience, when it comes to content creation, one common downfall I find is that, when trying to stand out, people can be too smart for their own good!

Hey, I love smart people. But no one likes to read something they simply cannot understand. You don’t gain any audience by being too smart. You may be the foremost expert in quantum physics. But, if you talk to a regular person on the street about that topic in the same way you would to another expert in quantum physics, you may as well be speaking a different language.

If all your audience hears is babble, and they cannot understand or comprehend the data being relayed, NO MATTER HOW VALID OR GOOD IT IS, they tune you out and stop listening.

There is a lot to be said for the maxim, “Keep it Simple Stupid” (KISS).

The best thought-leaders realize that any content (whether it’s video, audio or written) needs to be articulated at a level the majority will understand. If your executives wish to create a thought-leader position through content marketing, they need to understand and address their audience in layman’s terms. If they don’t, the message is meaningless… and I don’t believe any translation device (or fish) exists that can translate knowledge… yet.

While the knowledge you wish to convey may be extremely important and valuable, the audience will not connect with you unless it is at their level and interesting to them. Please don’t bore your audience with a message that is simply too high brow, beyond their level of understanding.

To win at this game, try not to be overly clever. Don’t simply blow over the head of your audience. Instead, communicate at their level of reality and understanding.

If you were selling a vehicle to the average customer you wouldn’t talk about internal combustion engines and overly complex vehicle technology. You would find out what features are most important to them, and talk about that.

Of course, you should be creative with your topics, make your headlines stand out and use eye-catching images. Once you consistently provide interesting content of value to your audience, you will find you quickly rise in popularity and your audience grows through increased views, syndication and word-of-mouth. Eventually, if you’re lucky, and follow a consistent strategy, the focus shifts away from establishing an audience to growing and maintaining it.

And that is the best problem that you could ever have.

One of the most frustrating things for marketers and public relations professionals is that companies tend to be so focused on producing sales, and/or marketing to prospective clients, that they become a bit like horses with blinders on -- focused on the single carrot in front of them – namely, customer acquisition.

Don’t misunderstand me; whether you’re a start-up or an established business, of course you must build your business, that goes without saying. The point I am trying to make is that it pays to be open to new ideas which can help you accomplish that goal.

With the advent on the Internet and a new digital world, public relations and marketing have changed drastically. There is a whole new world of opportunity available enabling you to create an impact and get your name out there, where you need to be.

Plenty of opportunities exist for companies to build brand awareness throughout the industry and position executives as thought leaders. Sure, it’s a long-term play -- but it works. Inevitably, through consistent quality content your audience starts paying attention, views your blogs and articles, writes comments, attends your speaking sessions and interacts with you. And, when the time is right, your company is top-of-mind during the selection process.

Perhaps that influence is only subconscious. However, the fact remains that your message could have resonated with them and be the one thing that tips them over the edge and towards you, versus your competition.

There is a lot of value to be gained from establishing your executives as experts through blogs, articles in trade magazines and speaking opportunities. These opportunities raise your profile and help place you top of mind. While leads and new customers may be your goal, there is another upside here. Your core audience starts to see you as an expert and a source of great data, which can also lead to reseller agreements, partnerships and, if you’re interested, company acquisitions.

If your focus is so narrow that it is solely placed on building a client base (or increasing one), you can miss out on the opportunity to also get your company, executives, products and services in front of like-minded, complimentary and eager businesses that need such a product to offer to their client base.

Opportunities abound in the automotive space. Through webinars, press releases, white papers, case studies, trade magazine articles, blogs, social media, and more, your company can achieve a great deal of exposure by leveraging audiences that have been cultivated over decades. All it takes is a little effort.

The best position to be in is to have a stellar product everyone wants while, at the same time, being a company that every other company in the industry wants to partner with. That’s like having your cake and eating it too.

But many are so focused on acquiring new business that they miss – or never see – the opportunities that are ripe for the picking -- because they are so focused on the carrot they so desperately want.

And, by the time they figure out that that they should pay attention to, a competitor has already swooped in and not only taken the carrot they’ve been chasing, but also all those opportunities they could have had, if they had only had a broader focus.

When it comes to providing the ultimate customer experience, can technology go too far and instead, backfire by creeping out the customer?

Consider this example, which disturbs many people – Facebook’s unnatural ability to read your mind. While Facebook has denied any eavesdropping, there are plenty of articles reporting stories of Facebook users engaging with a friend, spouse or family member IN REAL LIFE, concerning a service or product, then bam! -- all of a sudden Facebook serves up ads on the EXACT subject of those conversations. Some place the blame on Facebook’s Messenger app, causing several users to delete it.

Or, consider home assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home. By necessity, these devices, constantly listen to everything happening in the home. They must so they can function and respond when appropriate commands are given. Although Amazon denies any passive eavesdropping; and that conversations are recorded; consumers have been served up ads and messages, as with Facebook.

Bringing it a little closer to home, in the automotive industry technology allows dealers to monitor an individual on their website, tracking every activity in real-time. In addition, some chat services allow dealers to initiate a chat session with a website visitor, without being asked.

This certainly isn’t a new practice – businesses have been using data to stay ahead of consumers for years. In 2012, Target was able to identify when a teenage girl was pregnant before she even told anyone and started sending her coupons and advertisements for maternity and baby items. How creepy is that? This of course, was news to her father and certainly caused some familial conversations – probably rather awkward ones at that!

Let me be clear here. I certainly believe data is king and SHOULD be used to tailor the right message to the right consumer at the right time – which produces KILLER results. However, a hard line exists between where technology improves the customer experience; or just turns the consumer off as it is too intrusive, abusing their right to privacy.

While you should certainly strive to provide a better customer experience by having good data about the customer in front of you – which improve communications, deliver more relevant marketing messages and make transactions more efficient -- consumer’s still want privacy and, in some cases, anonymity.

I’m not in any way suggesting that you shouldn’t take advantage of the data… just be cautious how that data is used and be smart about how you personalize those messages for each customer. It’s easy to get so caught up in the data and the opportunities it identifies that you forget there’s an actual a human being you are communicating with at the other end – and they may not be so welcoming if your message crosses that line.

In a world filled with noise, companies large and small are competing for consumer attention. Your message needs to be relevant, or the consumer will simply tune you out. Of course, you also need to make a profit and get in front of customers whenever can – and that’s where marketing and content come in. Some may say they are the same. I’m here to tell you they are not.  

And here’s why: 

The whole purpose of marketing is to get your brand, product and services in front of prospective clients -- and that should be the focus of the message. Content, on the other hand, is designed to engage your audience and get their attention. And that attention is not on your brand or products, but on the content. You get their attention as an industry expert and begin to build interest and a relationship of sorts. THEN you can sell. 

Examples of content are engaging social media posts, educational blogs, or video blogs that help position key executives as thought leaders. Once the audience is engaged, and those executives start being recognized as thought leaders, customers pay attention, and everything snowballs into interest in your brands, products and services.   

The problem is that many companies, dealerships included, are so focused on their products, they neglect to offer anything of value to their audiences. They focus most of their attention towards marketing. What if the only thing you posted on social media was the vehicles you have for sale? That would get annoying, right? 

And that’s where many tend to get stuck -- repeating the same message over and over, not understanding that it is counter-productive. Just like Gary Vaynerchuk explains in his book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook,” you would be wise to stop trying to knock your prospects out with every punch, but rather soften them up with compelling and relevant content (jabs) that the audience wants to read. Then, after you have their attention, go for the sale (right hook) through marketing. Stop trying to beat people over the head with marketing messages. If you don’t they will simply stop listening to anything you say – whether that’s content OR marketing – and you essentially become spam.   

I get it. Everyone thinks their products are better than their competitors and want to tell as many potential customers as possible just how great they are. But are your products as great as YOU think they are? Maybe they are… but perhaps they’re not. Do you know? It’s important to know the competition and put things into perspective.  

If a customer comes into your dealership and a salesperson can’t explain the car they are trying to buy, and why it’s better than competing cars, they will probably head someplace else. Being truthful, transparent, honest and armed with knowledge will go a long way to convincing a customer to give you a shot -- and probably close more deals.  

Knowledge of your product, competition and market will give you what you need to create content that will interest your audience, craft more compelling marketing messages AND make the sale. It’s so important to earn their attention through content before marketing to them. And when it does come time for that marketing right hook, delivering a message that is truthful, transparent and believable will win the fight.

Before the Internet people chose who to do business with based on their community and word-of-mouth. There were no review sites. Now, however, review sites are flourishing -- just about every third party listing service has adopted them and there are many stand-alone services too.

Consumers increasingly conduct their research online during their car shopping journey. Along the way they read stories from other customers about their experience at your dealership. Whether they actively seek reviews or not, they see and read them. And those stories could mean the difference between the customer choosing you or your competitor.

Regardless if you’re a vendor or a dealer, this is true. Prospective customers search for information online, review social media sites and read blogs, along with any criticism (or praise) that is published. This is why it pays to be diligent in protecting and managing all stories told about you.

From a public relations standpoint, these stories can be crucial in attracting or repelling business. Every single one of them can influence a buyer. Simply having more positive than negative reviews isn’t enough. Consider the shopper that had an elderly relative taken advantage of or, perhaps, a female co-worker. Maybe she is looking for a car and reads a single review about your dealership complaining about the treatment her elderly relative or co-worker received there. That one particular point of sensitivity for that buyer could elevate the weight of her decision.

While you certainly can’t control those reviews left by customers that cannot be satisfied no matter what you do, the few that perhaps hold you “hostage by review,” what you can do is be diligent in monitoring each and every review site and proactive in responding to all reviews, both positive and negative. The simple attempt to publicly rectify or discuss a solution in an honest effort to make things right (whether you are at fault or not) can go a long way to turn the opinions of prospective customers in your favor.

People don’t expect perfection. They do expect if mistakes are made, or problems arise, that you work with them to make them satisfied. Especially when the transaction is tens of thousands of dollars. Pay attention, respond professionally and do your best to right as many wrongs as you can -- and make this known by publicly responding to reviews. This can actually help mitigate lost business. It communicates to that anonymous researcher that you care about the experience your customers receive and are willing to try and make it right. And in many cases you also handle that upset customer – a win-win!

All customers want to know is that you will take care of them. By sincerely caring and showing that you appreciate the business of each and every customer -- and by being willing to work to rectify any complaints and publicly announcing that online --your reputation should improve and you should have a strong voice in your own online story.

Most companies view content marketing as a means to rank higher in search engines, establish thought leadership and engage with their audience. Content, such as newsletters and blogs distributed via email and social media channels, enables businesses to stay top-of-mind with clients and prospects. It can be used to educate existing customers and any prospects investigating a business’s products and services and tends to produce excellent results in the long term. However, there is one hidden benefit that many companies fail to consider -- the ability to use great content as an internal resource.

Regardless of if the business is B2C or B2B, all businesses sell something. Whether that is cars, software, or any other type of product or service, typically, there are salespeople involved. And, consumers tend to view sales pitches as biased. I mean, what salesperson is going to say that their product sucks? You can provide sales pamphlets, marketing materials, demos and many other resources to your salespeople to add to their toolboxes to help close more deals. But many times prospective customers view these as just what they are – solicitations. When you get those in the mail or in your e-mail inbox, what do you do? Chances are they go straight into the trash. So, how is content marketing any different?

Great content can also be used by salespeople. Let’s look at a classic example from the automotive industry. In days gone by, salespeople would keep binders at their desks filled with competitive analysis and comparisons of their vehicle versus a competing manufacturer’s similar vehicle – say an Accord versus a Camry – in order to convince a customer that they’re making the right choice.

This practice has virtually stopped in many case because most customers these days do their research online. But what about that customer who visits the dealership’s website, or is sitting at the desk with a salesperson, considering buying your vehicle, but wants to go home and research? What if instead of selling and/or comparing a vehicle to a competitor’s based on price, salespeople used content to educate consumers and sell them on value? That would certainly be useful, wouldn’t it? I realize it won’t always work, but it CAN be a useful tool to add to your arsenal.

There is so much noise in the world that it’s impossible for consumers to take it all in. Chances are they’re only paying attention when they’ve requested the information or they’ve looked for it intentionally.

What tools have you given your salespeople to use to effectively follow up with clients -- aside from more of the same marketing materials? Great content that is relevant to your product or service and helps educate prospects on value can be excellent material to use in follow-up.

A blog article explaining the importance of a product or service presented in an educational way could be a much more effective persuader than any templated follow up -- and much less intrusive. In addition, content can be used for indirect advertising. Prospects are much more likely to click on an educational or informational blog article promoted via social media than any in-your-face obvious advertisement.

And that’s exactly what you want to happen. If the prospect clicks on your blog article, they’re now on your website again. Even if they don’t convert right then, perhaps the next blog article… or the next one… will do the trick.

Creating content that is useful to your audience and can be leveraged by your sales team can supercharge your marketing and also add another tool for your sales staff to use, whether directly during a follow-up contact, or in the showroom while the prospect is sitting in front of them.

As long as the content supports your message, reinforces the importance of your product or service and isn’t a straight out product pitch, prospects will be more receptive to reading it and, when the time is right, might just come to you.

I bet that title got your attention. Imagine a world where automotive manufacturers prohibited dealerships from producing and publishing video content of any vehicles during dealership sales events. That would seem a little ridiculous, right? Social media can produce great results and lead to sales. However, if the manufacturer mandated that dealers couldn’t publish that content on social media under the threat of heavy fines, how would dealers be able to promote their vehicles, sales or dealership?

It’s already difficult enough to get organic reach for content on business pages. If the ability to post brand-related content was prohibited, what do you think would happen to engagement? It would die a quick death. And while this scenario may sound ridiculous, this is exactly what the NFL is doing.

First, I’m not a football aficionado. But there are many parallels between the NFL and its relationship as a corporate entity with the teams that play for it and the automotive industry. Think of the NFL as the manufacturer and dealerships as the teams. Not much different.

Anyways, back to my story: Mashable recently reported that it obtained a memo sent to all NFL teams outlining a policy effective as of October 12, prohibiting NFL teams from publishing video and GIFs (moving pictures) to social media during games and 60 minutes afterwards. The penalty? $25,000 for the first offense, $50,000 for the second with each subsequent infraction costing the teams $100,000.

On social media, timeliness is everything. There’s little doubt that football team’s social media accounts get the most engagement immediately prior to, during and immediately after the team plays a game. Yet this is exactly when the NFL plans to restrict their teams from posting the content which fans want to see. Why? According to the article, speculation is that this action would force NFL fans to pay attention to NFL social media properties. With NFL viewership declining, this would allow the NFL to – by default – control the messaging and content published online.

However, at the same time, each and every team is its own business seeking to satiate its fans, grow new ones and provide content that fosters loyalty and engagement. Yet the NFL intends to hobble them. In a spirit of generosity, the NFL will allow NFL teams to “share” any content posted by NFL social media accounts. How convenient… and beneficial for the NFL.

Social media is more important than ever as an effective tool that engages your audience -- regardless of if you’re an NFL team, a car dealership, or a local coffee shop. This move by the NFL could certainly influence other franchisors into considering similar policies. There are already more than a few social media agencies partnered with manufacturers who would like nothing more than to control the content dealerships publish to their social media profiles – that’s exactly why they offer co-op money for dealers that sign with those agencies and, in some cases, mandate their use.

If there was ever a time when you didn’t believe that social media is important, this move by the NFL should turn on the warning light. When multi-billion dollar corporations start restricting the use of social media in order to move eyeballs away from franchisees and towards themselves, you know that they’ve recognized its value and are eager to increase their eyeball market share – but it should not be at the expense of the businesses that operate under them.