Does content marketing work?  What’s the ROI?

In general, the leaders in the content marketing world talk about how “generosity” pays off.  Specifically, content marketing creates useful, non-promotional material meant to inform consumers.  Ostensibly, this is also meant to tie into the buyer’s journey and help move them towards a sale.

However, we see that a business can get so focused on being helpful – while avoiding persuasion or solicitation – that they seem to forget they must turn a profit.

Case in point today is the talented content marketers at Moz.  As an SEO software company and competitor, we have to tip our hat to their excellent content marketing skills.  Rand Fishkin’s Whiteboard Friday is one of the more useful, consistent pieces of content marketing on SEO available.  They give away a lot of insightful, applicable info.

But we would say, however, that Rand is not really a good salesman in his videos.  He’d surly agree.  More than once he’s mentioned how he leans away from promoting Moz’s own products.  He’s clearly in his element as an instructor, but not delivering a sales pitch.

The idea is, of course, that through all the the connections and trust Moz builds through content marketing, they eventually win business.

However, they just let almost a quarter of their staff go in a major downsizing.  And while this also relates to a change in offerings, it’s not exactly a sign of stellar business growth.

Gary Vaynerchuck, another content marketing stalwart who “gives away” his content on social media, is a much more aggressive salesman.  He reminds us that as you jab, jab, jab with your free, informational content, you also have to plan that right hook – the sale pitch where you close the deal.

Moz, it seems, needs to work on their right hook.

Here is the thing.  Creating fun, interesting, useful material for your content marketing campaigns is more rewarding than giving a sales pitch.  The content is more interesting, the interaction with you audience more genuine.  You get a wonderful, sanctimonious glow from being so helpful without having to stoop to the level of the solicitous salesperson.

However, if you get so caught up in creating useful information that you lose sight of the buyer’s journey you should be moving with, it can leave you in the position of being the most noted, useful expert in your field who never sells anything.

You are in business.  We live in a commerce-based society.  If you don’t turn a profit you won’t have a job.

Some aspects of hard-nosed selling are still needed.  There needs to be a time when you do toot your own horn and proudly talk about how great your product is.  You need to claim you’re the best choice – and back it up.  Be specific about how you solve your customer’s problems and why it’s worth it for them to pay you for that service.

And most of all – as part of your informational marketing campaigns – you must ask for the business.  You need a call-to-action that turns the visitor into a lead.  Followed by a sales process that turns them into a paying client.

Idealism has its drawbacks.  You must earn trust in today’s digital, sharing economy, but that connection must carry over to a competitive business offering people will buy.

Online, you can’t make money on information alone.  You can jab until you’re blue in the face.  But if your competition has a better right hook, you’ll be on the ropes.