08 Mar Why you should invest in content marketing?

Are you aware of how content marketing can advance your business and build your brand?

Let me first explain what content marketing is…

Content marketing is the creation and use of written content to increase a company’s authority, brand awareness, and success. Your brand may be viewed as a valuable source of information by customers when you provide relevant content. 

Research shows that 80% of people prefer articles to advertisements; 70% say content marketing helps them feel more connected to a brand, and 60% say content helps them make better product decisions.

So how does all this affect your business? Simple. If you don’t have a content marketing strategy in place, you’re likely missing out on a lot of opportunities.

9 Types of Content Marketing

When analyzing your marketing strategy, take into account the following types of content marketing:

1) Email Marketing

In terms of usage, email continues to be dominant despite being one of the oldest forms of digital communication. It continues to be effective for contacting a brand’s target audience. In fact, Campaign Monitor estimates its ROI at 3880%.

2)  Blogging

Blogging is a great way to establish expertise in a particular field. Even if you run a small business, you may wonder if blogging is worth the time and effort. The answer is a resounding YES! 

Blogging for your small business on a regular basis is an easy, cheap way to enhance your inbound marketing efforts, drive traffic to your site, and attract more prospects.

3) Social Media

Social media is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective ways to reach almost half our world’s population. If you’re not using it in your digital marketing, then you’re missing out.

Social platforms can help you connect with your customers, increase awareness about your brand, and boost your leads and sales. The key is to start with an always-on mindset and a solid content marketing strategy. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn are all popular channels to consider.

4) Video Content 

Video material is an excellent method to bring attention to a company’s identity. It’s a more approachable technique to pique an audience’s interest. Hubspot claims that incorporating videos in landing pages increases conversion rates by 80%.

5) Lead Generation and Lead Magnets

Free stuff appeals to everyone. Visitors are more likely to sign up for your email list and later become paying customers if you provide them with this free content. This is why lead magnets are such an important part of your content marketing strategy.

eBooks, checklists, how-to manuals, free workshops, and reports are examples of lead magnets that are heavily content-based.

6) Infographics

According to TIME, the average attention span of humans is only eight seconds. Eight seconds. That’s the amount of time you have to capture and hold consumers’ attention.

Fortunately, infographics contain images that can help better communicate your key messages. It can convey critical information, advertise a product, explain a process, and much more.

7) Webinars and Free Workshops

Webinars and free workshops are great ways to establish your expertise in front of a crowd. Another advantage is that you can entice them to enroll in your next-level course or purchase your goods.

Both parties benefit from lead magnets like this. The customer has access to high-quality data while the workshop producer, on the other hand, has the opportunity to offer their brand without actively selling it.

8) Interactive Content

People like to interact with others and answer inquiries. For instance, quizzes and surveys are a good way to reach out to people who might be interested in your brand.

Interactive content converts at a substantially higher rate. When consumers realize the benefits of engaging with a brand’s interactive content, conversion rates increase from 36% (passive selling) to 70%.

9) Podcasting

Through podcasting, you can share free, valuable, on-demand audio content with an audience that wants and needs it. In the process, your listeners also get to know, like, and trust you as you establish your intimate connection with them. With all this in mind, podcasting also gives you a chance to use digital marketing to increase sales.

Why Does Content Marketing Matter?

You should implement a content marketing strategy for your business for the following reasons:

Reason #1 Increases Brand Awareness and Reputation

Brand awareness isn’t just about your audience knowing the name of your brand, but understanding the qualities that make your brand unique. To achieve this distinction, your content must highlight the qualities that set your brand apart from those of your competitors.

Rather than selling your products, content marketing for brand awareness focuses on selling your values as a business. It’s not necessary to advertise a product, service, or event in a post. Content marketing allows a brand to demonstrate its expertise in a particular field or subject. By doing so, trust and recognition can be developed.

Reason #2 Improve Conversions 

When businesses utilize high-quality content marketing, they grow at a 30% faster rate than those who do not. There is fierce competition in every industry. So brands must differentiate themselves from their competition, and content marketing is a great way to do so.

While content marketing is one of the most effective types of marketing available, it’s important to remember that success doesn’t happen overnight. A customer may not convert on the first try. It does not matter if a customer does not purchase the first time they browse a website or receive an email, a good content marketing strategy will nurture that lead until it converts.

Reason #3 Improve Quality of Leads

Businesses with blogs generate 67%more leads than those without. The reason is that buyers who read a brand’s blog post before asking about its products or services already know that the brand is trustworthy and reliable.

Effectively structured blog content also helps improve a website’s search engine ranking. The more content a company indexes, the more frequently it appears in search engine results. The more times a website appears in search results, the more traffic it receives.

Reason #4 Establish Trust 

When using content marketing, you’ll establish trust by creating content that aims not just to sell, but to help. Brand trust is built by creating positive relationships between your organization and everyone it encounters. When you create content that is relevant, supported by facts, and straightforward, you begin to build positive relationships with your audience.

Plus, the more a consumer sees original content from a particular brand, the more they will recognize its name. Consumers are more likely to trust a brand they are familiar with. Rather than going with a brand they haven’t heard of, they’ll go with one they know.

Reason #5 Increase the Size of Your Target Market

Content marketing can boost your audience reach and support your digital marketing strategy. Whether a piece of content is good or negative, we’ve all seen what happens when it goes viral. A brand can appear to boom overnight as a result of one viral post. 

Conclusion

As a conclusion from our discussion above, it is clear that consumers like to be connected to brands before making a purchase. They want to know what the businesses they support believe in and stand for. It is important for consumers to know how the people behind a business see things, and why they should be trusted. 

Herein lies the value of content marketing.

Let’s discuss how we can help!  Schedule a 30-minute free strategy call with me and I would be happy to help you tell your story and elevate your brand.