Yes, content marketing works in your industry too

One of the most common content marketing questions people ask me, is a version of the following:

I know content works as a marketing tool in industries like; training, copywriting and consulting etc, but does it work in XYZ industry too?

The answer is “yes!”  I can think of few, if any, industries or professions where content marketing would be ineffective.  In fact, many great blogs are in areas of business that are either very specialist or highly niched.  The key is to find an interesting, engaging and accessible format for your writing, so that it attracts (and converts)  prospective clients and customers. Then, it’s a matter of applying some creative thinking and getting started.

Content marketing: How’s this for a niche?

One great example of this, is my friend Brent Pohlman’s blog, which is used as a content marketing channel for a laboratory!  The MidwestLabs Blog has been extremely effective at generating client inquiries and traffic into the main company website.  It has also helped build Brent’s reputation in the marketplaces, where his company provides testing services.

There is a lesson behind Brent’s content marketing success, which is directly relevant to this post:  It’s to do with the approach he has used for the subjects he covers and the way he covers them.

Blogging about a testing laboratory could have been mind-numbingly dull, but Brent decided to use a very different strategy!  He knows that his clients are not lab technicians or chemists, so he focuses on sharing information that is non technical.  For example, recent posts have included a story on zero calorie noodles, another on the salt content of movie theatre popcorn and one on how drugs are showing up on banknotes!  Whilst these stories are all related to lab testing, they are also of genuine interest to his target reader.

That strategy  also presents a very human side to his company, which prospective clients have been eager to engage with. This is not a one-off either, I recently started working with a Long Island Pest Control company, who have used blogging very effectively.

Content marketing in your niche

The take away here, is that you can achieve great content marketing results regardless of how technical or specialist your area of business is.  The key is to focus your content on the needs and interests of your prospective clients.  Don’t make the common mistake of writing for your peers or using terminology, which only your peers will understand.  Attract, engage, convert.

If you write a blog that’s aimed at a narrow or specialist niche, I would love to hear from you!  Please share your experiences.

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