Small businesses to major corporations use content marketing to attract new clients and keep the ones they have. But what does content in marketing even mean?
The Old Model: Interruption Marketing
Before digital marketing, brands primarily advertised through print or broadcasting ads. This is widely referred to as interruption marketing. In this day and age of Netflix subscriptions, commercials are generally tolerated by viewers. Though, they’re not particularly loved. In some cases, people downright hate ads. Overall, the heyday of widespread interruption marketing is over and has been replaced by online content.
What is Content in Marketing?
Today’s consumers look for reliable information to guide their purchasing decisions. That’s why online marketers provide useful or entertaining content that people actually want! This information is known as content.
Content in marketing refers to any of the following:
- Blog posts
- Social media
- Email newsletters
- Videos
- Free reports
- Infographics
- Quizzes
- Webinars
Blog articles are a popular content type for brands, followed by video and podcasting. Are your competitors using any of these content marketing methods? If not, you stand to greatly benefit from it. If they are, it’s time to show up and get in the game! Whether you offer services or products, content marketing can help to boost your small business. Read on to learn how.
With 86% of companies engaged in content marketing, you can bet your competitors are doing it. (Content Marketing Institute)
5 Ways Content Builds Business
Content marketing is customer attractive
People often use the Internet to learn or become informed. They use search terms are typically question based. An example of a search term is: what is content in marketing? This is one way content is attractive. However, using content marketing best practices further helps a brand to attract attention and gain a loyal audience.
Content in marketing should help people to achieve their goals. It should educate or entertain in relation with your product or service. Regardless, you don’t want to be too obvious about promoting. This is because the goal isn’t just sales but also building up trust for future business interactions.
71% of buyers/readers say they were turned off by content that seems like a sales pitch. (Economist Group’s “Missing the Mark”)
Little to no marketing costs
Without a doubt, content is one of the most powerful and inexpensive marketing tools to build a brand. It’s free if done yourself. Even hiring content creators can be cheaper than other forms of advertising like print or TV ads. You can even get more mileage from content you’ve paid to have written by repurposing it from one form to another. An example of this is taking helpful tips from your blog posts and using them to create social media posts or infographics.
A Content Marketing Institute survey revealed 72% of marketers say content marketing has increased their number of leads. (Opt In Monster)
Get found in search
For your content marketing to be effective, you need potential customers to find and read it. Publishing regular, keyword-rich content on your website helps your business web pages climb higher in Google’s search engine listings. This is known as search engine optimization or (SEO).
The average company that blogs gets 97% more inbound links. (Hubspot)
Social sharing
Your business can get more customers by making engaging, relevant and even entertaining content that will be shared on social media. People talk about the things they love. When your audience shares your content with friends, it promotes awareness for your business online.
A study by the McCarthy Group revealed 84% of millennials say they don’t like traditional marketing and don’t trust it.
Customer loyalty
Overall, content is the best way to show your customers what they’ll get from using your products and services. Share case studies and success stories to demonstrate how they can benefit from your services and products. This will help to enhance their understanding of your brand and give your business an edge over competitors.
In Summary
In closing, the best content attracts attention and adds value to people’s lives. This value-first approach is customer attractive. When used strategically, it can help you to develop a thriving leads and sales pipeline for your small business. Do you need content marketing to build your brand awareness? We can help! Learn more about our Content to Cash services to get you seen online and attract more of the right customers for your small business.
