Making the Connection: Why Content Marketing Matters to Telecoms

Telecommunications once meant only one thing — making phone calls. A customer ordered service from the phone company (yes, there was only one), and they came to a house or business to install it. Today, your industry couldn’t be more different.

Whether you make hardware, produce software, or provide telecom services, not only do you have to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and remain vigilant for emerging markets, you must also satisfy the increasing demands of your customers.

Because you’re in the business of helping people make connections, the challenges you face connecting with your own prospects and customers may seem a bit ironic. But there’s an effective way to engage your marketing audiences without turning them off with a hard sell.

Content marketing works because it builds goodwill, trust, and brand loyalty by providing target audiences information and knowledge they want and guidance they need. High-quality blog posts, email newsletters, white papers, and e-books help turn leads into sales and keep your existing customers engaged with your brand.

Here are some strategies to help make content marketing work for your company:

Offer guidance and solutions

Telecommunications is a fast-paced industry with fierce competition, diverse customers, and a never-ending demand for capacity. The winners in this frenetic race will be those businesses that demonstrate they understand what their audience wants and that help make their customers’ decision process fast and easy. Companies that offer valuable and trustworthy content will earn customer trust and loyalty.

Providing informative and useful content isn’t about offering discounts, talking about your latest products, bragging about your selection of calling plans, or any other self-promotion. It’s about connecting with your audience, offering solutions to their problems. Here are some tips on how to make content marketing work for your brand.

Find and engage

Whether you’re a B2B provider or a B2C brand, your challenge is attracting and retaining customers. To grab your prospects’ attention, close the sale, and keep them as satisfied customers, you need to make a connection with them. That’s where content marketing comes in. By figuring out what’s important to them and offering content that addresses their interests and needs, you can establish goodwill and build trust and loyalty. Here are several content marketing formats that may be good fit for your telecom business:

1. Blog posts: One of the best ways to ensure your website is regularly updated with searchable content is by offering a steady stream of blog posts. It gives existing customers a reason to revisit your site while at the same time boosting your SEO, which makes your content easier for potential customers to find. Blog posts are usually between 400 and 600 words and cover topics customers have asked about or that you think would interest them. You might share news of a new app, update consumers on upcoming regulation changes, offer tips on dealing with nuisance calls, or talk about trends the industry at large.
2. Email newsletters: Email marketing is one of the most direct and personal ways to connect with customers. To make sure your email newsletters don’t end up diverted into spam folders or ignored by your customers, your email subject lines and newsletters must be engaging and compelling. Sharp, well-written copy is the key to getting your newsletters opened and read. Keeping customers informed makes customers happy by showing you care. Happy customers are loyal customers, so this type of outreach is a simple way to garner repeat customers and increased revenue.
3. White papers and e-books: Telecommunications products — especially in the B2B sector — can be pretty technical and can’t be accurately and helpfully covered in 600 words or fewer. For issues that need more time and space, consider using a white paper or e-book instead of a blog. These lengthier documents (6 to 40 pages) can go into far greater detail on such topics as enabling cloud-based solutions in the workplace, making the most of big data analytics, and reducing packet loss and other engineering issues.

White papers and e-books give your readers more to chew on than a blog post, and they show the true depth of your knowledge in that particular arena. Because these longer form pieces are seen as high-value products, they are also great for generating leads. To make the most of them, offer them for free, but don’t give them away for nothing. Instead, provide them in exchange for a potential customer’s email address. With their email address in hand and the knowledge that this person is interested enough to want detailed information on a given topic, you can develop personalized follow-ups.

Although it’s perfectly possible to produce all this content in-house, your organization may not want the overhead expense and headache of creating marketing materials and ensuring writers complete their projects on time. Carriers already hire outside advertising agencies to manage their ad campaigns, create their billboards, and shoot their commercials. It’s only logical for them to do the same with content — outsourcing to specialists who really know what they’re doing.

That’s where using a content marketing firm like Prose Media can help. We can create content that will attract and keep customers in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive telecom industry. Sign up today for free, no-obligation access to our platform. We would love to see what you have in mind.