As I mentioned in part one, building trust is your number one job; everything else is noise. You can be the smartest person in the world or the world’s greatest athlete, but if you don’t have trust, you don’t have anything.

It’s no different when it comes to marketing. Part of marketing’s role is to make noise and attract people’s attention. But that’s where most people’s understanding of marketing ends. This blog is about the other side of marketing, the side that builds goodwill and trust with your customers. It’s about marketing that will enable you to build long-term enduring relationships with your customers.

Related Post: Rank on Google and Bank with Content Marketing ➢

How To Win Friends and Influence People (with Content)

I remember the first time I read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” it was such an eye-opening experience for me. I was in the middle of my undergrad degree in business and decided to work on my people skills. It wasn’t long before I found myself volunteering, teaching classes, and dedicating myself to a life of servitude.

In many ways, the best way to understand content marketing is to understand the concepts of Dale Carnegie’s book. Even though it was first published in 1936, its message is as relevant as ever. What Carnegie understood about business wasn’t a secret recipe that you can implement in 5 easy steps–he didn’t have a checklist for building lasting relationships, he simply understood that business was about relationships, and relationships were about trust.

As I said in part one of this feature, establishing trust is arguably the most important objective of any business. One of the most cost-effective and scalable ways to establish trust with your audience is to create quality content. Not only does quality content help businesses establish trust through branding, but it also helps with positioning, thought leadership, and converting leads into sales.

Related Post: Content Marketing: Your 3-Step Recipe for Lead Generation ➢

Content Influences People and Their Purchasing Decisions

According to a recent survey, 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. (Demand Gen Report, 2016) This means that businesses who aren’t providing the right content are losing out on half of their sales. Due to the ubiquity of the internet, buyers are more informed than ever, and the buyer’s journey has completely transformed—which means that businesses are investing more than ever in creating quality content.

Winning friends and influencing people is all about trust, and by creating content for every stage of the buyer‘s journey, businesses can establish trust, build credibility, and forge lasting partnerships with their customers. Using the methods we’ve covered in both parts of this blog, you can not only build trust with your customers but also spur them into action with your content.

Parqa provides full-ranging content marketing services that allow you to communicate your brand and expertise without adding unreasonable responsibility to your staff. If you want to discuss how you can pivot your marketing efforts to maintain and grow within your industry, reach out to Parqa today!