Home furnishing and cookware retailer Williams-Sonoma recently released its Summer 2013 catalog, which spotlights the company’s outdoor appliance selection. Even if you’re not in the market for a $14,000 outdoor pizza oven, you can’t help but be drawn to the catalog’s stunning photography, particularly the scrumptiously styled food shots that seem to pop right off the page.
But if you look closer, you’ll also find burger recipes and grilling tips and a how-to on infusing flavor into various types of meat. This is the kind of content that engages readers because it’s smart, entertaining, fun and beautiful – and most importantly, useful. And it says the same about the brand: Williams-Sonoma is smart, entertaining, fun and beautiful, and if you purchase its products, perhaps you’ll be perceived that way, too. They’re not just selling cookware; they’re selling a lifestyle.
Williams-Sonoma isn’t the only retailer using content marketing to build brand awareness and loyalty. Home improvement giant Lowe’s has loaded its website with home and gardening ideas, tips and DIY instructions to position itself as the authority in the home and garden sphere.
You can use the same content marketing techniques to build awareness and loyalty for your brand. Content marketing helps you connect with your current client base while building a larger consumer audience.
Teree Caruthers 