“Content is king” is an often cited quote in the world of online marketing and business. The success of an online marketing campaign of a business/company depends on quality content. Behind every great brand is a wealth of valuable and relevant content that really connects with the company’s audience. But you may still be wondering, what is content marketing and why is it important to my business?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.- Content marketing institute. Content marketing includes things like educational articles, e-books, videos, pictures, and webinars that answer specific questions your audience have and provide them with something they can’t get elsewhere.
In contrast to one-off advertising, content marketing shows that you actually care about your customers. Today, more than ever before, people want to feel like you care about them. The world is louder and noisier than ever before, and attention is our most valuable resource.
There are several advantages content marketing can provide your business which includes:
- It helps your business build online reputation and trust
- It helps with better search engine optimization
- Quality content helps influence conversions
- It helps set you apart from competitors
- It helps expand your reach
- It helps establish you as an expert in your field
- It helps other part of your digital marketing strategy
Now let’s talk about them one after the other.
1. It helps your business build online reputation and trust
One of the greatest benefits that really shows the importance of content marketing is the reputation building qualities of great content. Great content can help you build trust with your leads and customers. When consumers read your content, they start to develop an opinion of your brand. If the content that they find is engaging, educational, and valuable, then they will start to think the same things about your business. The more value you can provide with your content, the easier it will be to build trust with your target audience.
In addition, when your leads and customers start to see that you are consistently publishing content across platforms, they tend to see you as a thought leader in your industry.
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2. It helps with better search engine optimization
Search engines like Google perform crawls of each website’s content in order to determine what users they will bring to your website. Strong content will generate more website traffic because the search engines have a clear idea on the purpose of the business. Optimizing your web pages to better perform with search engine ranking is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. SEO is a more technical reason to create great content, It is how search engines use your content to connect you to your next customer! People, including buyers of your products and services, go online and use the power of Google and search engines to find solutions using keywords. The businesses who have mastered how to get to the top of search are the big winners in organic search. They’re bringing qualified traffic to their websites. So, one of the best ways that you can build organic traffic to your website is with great content!
3. Quality content helps influence conversions
Content marketing helps to improve conversions because it allows you to connect with and educate your leads and customers. Not only are you working to build trust and relationships, but you are also encouraging conversions by giving consumers the information they need to make an educated purchasing decision.
To optimize your content for conversions, be sure to include a clear call-to-action. Your CTA tells the reader what they need to do next, guiding them to the next step in the conversion process. Whether converting means making a purchase, getting more information, or contacting your sales team, it’s important to make it clear to the reader within the content what you want them to do next.
4. It helps set you apart from competitors
In the busy digital marketplace, it’s vital that your business differentiates itself from competitors. Content marketing is an effective way that businesses can work to set themselves apart from others in the industry and show what makes their company special.
The topics that you create content around and the value of the content you provide can mean the difference between a consumer choosing your brand over a competitor’s. For instance, if a buyer is doing research about their challenges and certain products that can help solve those challenges, they will be more inclined to work with the business that’s provided them with helpful information.
Beyond just the type of content that you produce, you can also set yourself apart from the competition through your content’s language and the way that you present your information. Is your brand personality serious and professional? Fun and educational? Maybe a mix of both? Determining how you want to portray your brand and developing a brand voice can help you create content that is unique to your business. This brand personality can help you connect with your target buyers and show them what makes your business special. One of the best ways to show this personality is through the content that you create.
5. It helps expand your reach
When your audience finds your content useful, they tend to save and share it and by doing so, your business is getting known by more people.
For example using content to explain how to solve a common problem in a new and unique way is something that a target buyer will want to save. As users share content, it amplifies its viewership. Social media is one of the most popular ways that consumers share valuable content.
When you encourage your followers or website visitors to share your content you are building your reputation and also expanding your reach.
6. It helps establish you as an expert in your field
Consumers want to know that they are dealing with experts who know the ins and outs of the industry. This is another answer to why is content marketing important. Content marketing allows your brand/business to demonstrate its expertise in the field while providing valuable knowledge that can help readers make a more educated purchasing decision.
Every time you publish a new blog post or other piece of content, you’re showing leads and customers how much you know about the industry and the challenges that they face. When it comes time to make a purchase, consumers will remember the brand that provided them with the information they needed to better understand their problems, solutions, and other options. That way, they have peace of mind in knowing that they are being taken care of by industry experts who can answer their questions and easily troubleshoot any issues.
7. It helps other part of your digital marketing strategy
Quality content helps support every other part of your digital marketing strategy. Most businesses have more than one tool in their digital marketing toolbox. From email marketing to social media to PPC ads, there are many different tactics that you can use to attract and engage your ideal audience.
Great and quality content is what all these strategies have in common. Your business needs to create engaging, high-quality content as part of any tactic that you employ in your digital marketing campaigns. For example, let’s say that you want to launch an email marketing campaign for lead nurturing, You have to develop email content that is engaging and encourages readers to take the next step. You can also use pieces of content that you’ve already created to help nurture those leads, such as a blog or whitepaper that gives them the information they need to move them through the funnel.
Always remember that people don’t go onto social media platforms because they want to see your posts and buy your products. For that reason, don’t get too sales-y. Ideally, what you should do is spread your brand message and strengthen your brand identity through great and quality content without being too pushy about it. Most people on social media are simply looking for entertainment and information. Offer them what they want, and they will appreciate your business and be more likely to buy from you in the future.
If you really want to see the importance of content marketing in action, it’s time to get started. Work on developing a content marketing strategy that has your target buyers at its core. Then, you can be on your way to creating valuable content that helps boost conversions and improve customer retention.
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