During my eight years running a consulting firm, I found that content marketing was my most effective business development tool. As a business owner trying to gain awareness of our brand and services in a competitive market, I faced a significant challenge: connecting with potential customers exactly when they needed our expertise. Traditional sales approaches, such as cold calling and email campaigns, often failed because prospects weren't always in the market for our services at the exact time of my contact. Only later, when a specific problem or opportunity arose, would they understand the value we could provide. This reality highlights the importance of sales professionals constantly marketing their offerings, but also educating potential customers about their pain points and available solutions. In my opinion, the most effective way to educate is to strategically distribute relevant content online.
In Gary Vaynerchuk's latest book, Day Trading Attentionhe wrote that beyond simply educating your potential customers, you also want your content marketing to build brand relevance. “Relevance is about creating and sharing content that people find meaningful. People will only consider buying something if it means something to them. The only way to make a brand meaningful is to make it relevant to as many different people as possible. When your business is more relevant, more people consider buying, which then leads to higher sales figures.”
In his old book, Shot, jab, jab, right hookVaynerchuk explained that creating content that provides value to your audience gives you permission to “ask” for their business along the way. “Jbs” (free value) would set the “proper hook” (search). He wrote, “Providing free value is simply a good way to build trust and affinity with your audience so they'll be more receptive to what you ask down the road.” In Day Trading Attention, he gives some examples:
“Maybe an accountant made you believe in his or her expertise by posting thoughtful tax information online. Maybe a sneaker brand partnered with your favorite athlete and it made you buy. Maybe some law firm partners created a fun podcast about golf, an area you're passionate about, and the next time you had a business contract to complete, you thought of them first. Maybe a B2B company created smart content about how their software would save you money and that got you to buy. Many of our purchasing decisions are influenced by how we consciously – or subconsciously – feel about a brand.
When I was considering closing down our consulting business and joining Coldstream as COO, I thought long and hard about whether to continue writing practice management articles and publishing podcast episodes on a monthly basis. While there was no business development reason to continue, I decided it was too rewarding to stop. Over the years, I've received the following comments about the content I regularly share online:
“We wanted to reach out and thank you for all the great content. We have derived much value from your team's guidance and have integrated many suggestions into our business.”
“The resources you share across various mediums have become my go-to resource for anything and everything related to RIA. So, thank you for preparing it for the benefit of the rest of us!”
“The infographics you share on LinkedIn highlighting quotes from your guests on the COO Roundtable podcast give me a boost and remind me why I do what I do as a COO—they keep me motivated, so thanks for sharing!”
With that kind of reaction, I thought, “How can I stop?” Perhaps relevance was no longer my primary motivation for creating content, but I still possessed a strong desire to educate. I also knew that as I worked with my Coldstream colleagues, I would want to tap into the library of content I had produced. As I had done as a consultant, it has been helpful to end a call with a colleague and say, “That was a good discussion—let me send you an article/video/podcast that you can review and refer to how we move forward. Let's meet next week to talk about it.”
There's also a selfish reason to keep creating content: it makes me a better COO. I learned a long time ago that forcing myself to write my thoughts in a clear, concise and engaging way requires me to research and understand the topic and distill my thinking around it. Since joining Coldstream, I've written articles about issues we've discussed internally: increasing rates (reducing rate discounts), customer segmentation, the need for documented and repeatable processes, and how to balance profit margins with our desire to grow, just to name a few. Picking a topic and then staring at a blank sheet of paper as I begin to throw out my thoughts requires me to construct coherent arguments around these important issues. The act of writing makes my reasoning stronger and (hopefully!) more persuasive as I try to drive change in our firm.
The impact of content marketing goes beyond simple brand awareness; it is an essential asset for educating, engaging and building trust with potential clients and colleagues. Throughout my journey, I've found that consistently sharing valuable insights not only establishes you as an authority in your industry, but also fosters lasting connections with your audience, whether they're external customers or internal team members. By fully embracing content marketing, you enable yourself and your business to engage in conversations at the most opportune moments, cultivating meaningful relationships that drive personal and professional growth.
Matt Sonnen is Chief Operating Officer at Coldstream Wealth Managementas well as the creator of the digital consulting platform COO Societywhich educates RIA owners and operations professionals on how to build more impactful and profitable enterprises. He is also the host of the popular The COO Roundtable Podcast.