Companies are engaging clients long before they start the sales process with an aim to drive profits through content marketing.

Content marketing attracts and retains customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content in order to change or enhance consumer behavior.

The idea is to own the conversation around a particular topic, and when the opportunity arises, promote your own products and services said Nicholas Mayne, founder of Domayne Social.

“Once the users establish a relationship with you via the content and information you are providing, it is a natural extension that they will trust you with handling their needs,” he said.

The marketer reckons that the only way to get consumers’ attention is to give them meaningful content, while promoting your brand.

In deciding what content to share with customers, Mayne said one should examine the possible interest of one’s target market for products and services.

“If you are in the business of auto repairs, a key segment of your customer base would be men, so you may want to share content on sports,” he explained.

One client of his — attorney-at-law Gillian Mullings — give legal tips like how to add a name to a property title on her Facebook page.

But Mayne noted that marketers may have to test the content in order to figure out the likes and dislikes of the customers.

“I look at the click through rate of the content and examine the number of times its shared or liked and by whom, he said.

Curata, a provider of content curation software in Massachusetts, surveyed 500 marketing professionals. Their study showed that 71 per cent of marketers plan to boost their content marketing budget this year.

Meanwhile, 39 per cent of marketers said they will increase their investment in content curation.

Companies saw an increase in awareness that they attribute to their content marketing efforts, while 62 per cent said content marketing leads to a bump in the quality and quantity of leads, the company said.

The aim is to tell a story, but it must be done on a regular basis. Videos, story boarding, webinars, whitepapers blog posts and vlogs can be used to share content.

“For a business that sells corporate women’s clothing, you may not only want to push content on your products,” he said. “But you would want to push content about corporate image of how to balance work life and home.”

Moreover, some business owners can become a personality on social media and talk about themselves and build relationships with the customers.

At the same time, Mayne cautioned businesses against having a presence with no differentiation.

“If you don’t give messages that are targeted and engaging and just use random content, the page will just languish,” he said.

Among the other objectives of content marketing is to build trust and credibility among your clients.

“To do so you shouldn’t push products in the face of potential customers,” he said.

Content marketing is being used by companies such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems.