If you’ve ever worked in an office environment, you know there’s one shortcut to becoming popular among your colleagues.

Position a candy dish on the corner of your desk, and keep it filled with goodies. It’s a great way to guarantee you’ll get chatted up by all sorts of people who otherwise might not have stopped by to say hello.

Content marketing is like a candy

No matter what your business sells, there’s a way to create marketing materials that are useful for the target market you want to reach. This is what content marketing is all about: packaging information your market will find valuable, then offering it to them as a way to market your business.

Keeping a “candy dish” with content available will help you attract, inform and retain customers to your physical location or website.

Let’s look at some examples:

• A natural lawn care company could put together a guide to lawn care challenges through the seasons, and what to do about them.
• A writer could present an e-book about common grammatical errors and how to spot them.
• A life coach could write a special report about how to create space for life-changing new habits.
• A pizza shop could create a “busy night meal plan” that shows how you can call for pizza, and while you wait for delivery, make a quick salad that will complete the meal and feed your family fast. (Of course I know nothing about that …)

The key is to think about your customers, what their lives are like, and what challenges they’re dealing with. Then create content that they’ll value so much they’ll want to save it. Give it to them at no charge.

They’ll associate your company with the value you’ve provided, they’ll thank you for the problem you’ve solved, and they’ll think of your business the next time they need your kind of product or service.

Does your business have a candy dish? Need some help brainstorming an idea for what you can put in your candy dish? Let’s hear it in the comments.