Imagine you come home from a demanding job to kids or a spouse that you love but can be known to nag. You turn on the TV, the radio, or even log onto your favorite social media platform from your phone, and bam: you’re hit with advertisements. We don’t just mean there was an ad politely peeking out of a corner. More likely than not, you are being pummeled with lots of ads, in your face, all asking you for money or to take a particular action. This is the last thing you want to have trying to make its way into your busy life, uninvited. Now flip things—if you were on the receiving end of this scenario, wouldn’t it lead you to start tuning things out? If you wouldn’t appreciate it, yourself, then you shouldn’t do it to your customers. Inbound marketing is effective without doing this, and thus, it is changing the game. A big reason the above sounds frustrating is because all the advertisers in that hypothetical situation seemed to have the nerve to assume that the consumer would simply give them something without getting something in return. People are not typically logging onto Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. to help businesses—they want to see something they want, that will entertain, enlighten or help them in some way. So let’s give them something.

A content marketing agency makes offers, not requests or demands. The companies that hire them do not put information out there into the vast abyss of the Internet for the sole purpose of helping themselves—they are looking out for the customers, too. They aim to inform, to invite, to inspire, and then when the time is right, the customer will realize those businesses in particular are the ones to be trusted as their go-to authorities in their respective subject areas. A goal of any effective content marketing agency is to create and distribute valuable, relevant, and consistent content, and it should be able to help you out with creating offers, such as the following: 

• Industry trends: Start by making a ‘Top 10’ list—but make sure you are always updating, as times are always changing
• Blogs and how-to guides: Become a trusted resource while simultaneously boosting your SEO for better ranking
• Tips and tricks: What would be good to know that your customers may not be aware of yet
• Product demo or video: Give a closer look at what you do, and if someone is confused about using a product, it’s almost as good as having someone there, doing it together with them (plus, more interesting than just reading!)
• FAQs: Solve common questions people may be wondering and they won’t have to look elsewhere
• Handy checklists: Could really make the lives of clients easier (perhaps provide a packing list if you're in travel? Building materials or craft supply inventory list if you're in manufacturing? Workout regime components if you're all about health and wellness?)
• Interviews: Have the experts from the trade fill people in, whether they are part of your own team or you found an industry celebrity to do you a favor (maybe you'll appear in an interview of theirs one day, in return, and start building a relationship, thus your network)
• Webinars: More experts and everyone can tune in at the same time for a more interactive-feeling experience
• Email newsletters: Keep them up-to-date and in-the-loop on your latest happenings so the contacts, and ultimately audience, that matters most to you doesn’t miss anything big
• Giveaways: Simple—everyone likes contests and free stuff! Have fun with this one (great for social media)
• Templates and Tools: Exclusive downloadables that people cannot get (or at least not as good) from your competitors

Not sure what type of content to offer your customers? Professional marketing specialists are on standby ready to assist. Simply visit snydergroupinc.com to get started. Serving as everything from a content marketing agency to an advertising firm and even a graphic design agency, we are bound to be able to spark ideas for you during a free consultation (not to mention, we already create content offers for ourselves)!