If you’ve heard the term “content marketing” and wondered what it really means, you are not alone. Hopefully this post will help you attain a better understanding of content marketing and how it works.

Content marketing is a strategy that entails the creation and dissemination of original, valuable, relevant and consistent content to engage and motivate a well-defined audience with the aim of generating profitable customer action.

One of the crucial goals of a content marketing strategy is to trigger a two-way conversation, encouraging your audience to discuss, comment and share your content, as they find it valuable in addressing their key problems.

An effective content marketing strategy doesn’t focus solely on the prospect-to-client conversion, but instead takes into consideration audiences’ needs and interests throughout the entire relationship lifecycle. Ultimately, the main aim of your strategy is to consistently create valuable content that will empower you to establish profitable, long-term client relationships.

From Fortune 100 companies down to small businesses, the value of content marketing is being recognized for one simple reason: it works. It works because it switches the focus to “relevancy and value,” the two key characteristics that separate effective communication from the plethora of spam we are exposed to everyday.

Successful content marketing requires that you to begin thinking like a PR professional rather than a sales-oriented individual. Your attention must be diverted from writing traditional sales pitches to creating suitable content that your audience will learn to rely upon, talk about and share with their friends, family and connections. This, in turn, will generate visibility for you and your firm, drive traffic to your website and help you build a reputable online reputation.

Here are tips for how to think like a PR pro in regard to your content marketing strategy:

Define Your Audience

Establish to whom you are writing and why you are writing. Engaging in content marketing creation is like publishing your own magazine. Your goal is to know your audience, educate, inform and serve their needs.

Build Trust

The scope of your content marketing effort is to build trust in you and your firm. So, identify your audience’s most compelling issues, anticipate the questions they may pose, and focus on creating content that educates, provides guidance and helps solve such problems. This will position you as a trusted expert source in your industry.

Establish Content, Frequency and Location

Your content should be featured across multiple platforms—email, social media, blogs, etc.—in order to maximize your outreach efforts to a wide range of prospects. Create an editorial calendar and determine how often and where you want to publish new content (for example, one blog post per week, or Tweet once a day) and develop a list of topics for articles, interviews and videos.

Share and Engage

Make sure that you share your content on the platforms where your audiences are active. Leverage those platforms and email to announce new content and links to it. When someone reads or downloads your content, make sure to reach out to them thanking for their support and encourage them to visit your website.

Think and Act Like a PR Pro

Effective marketing content causes your audiences to pause, read, get engaged and take action. In reaching out to them, focus on creating thought-provoking rather than thought-leading content.

Do you have a content marketing strategy in place? Is it working for you? Share your thoughts here.