Content marketing can be one of the best ways to promote your business’s products or services and, in turn, generate hot leads and increase revenue.
But it requires consistent attention and care, which means that you’ll need to implement it from the very beginning of your business development process.
If you’re thinking about creating or improving your content marketing strategy, here are 20 reasons why it should be an important part of your business development plan.
1) Creates brand awareness
A content strategy helps you build a strong brand image that people can recognize and associate with. it’s a key way to share the philosophy, values, and culture of your company so that all associated with your brand know how you operate and serve.
2) Builds trust and credibility
For example, a study showed that 91% of surveyed B2B marketers reported that customer-generated content positively affected their company’s credibility in 2012. And believe me, credibility is everything these days. It takes work to build it, but it yields enormous returns.
3) Makes you a brand authority
When you create content marketing strategies, you earn a place in a larger marketplace. You become an authority on whatever topic or subject matter you’re writing about.
People rely on those who are most knowledgeable about specific topics, and that puts content creators at a distinct advantage over others within their industry.
4) Influences your target customers’ buying decisions
A successful content marketing strategy speaks to the audience that you’re trying to reach. A survey found that 74% of decision-makers were influenced by information they consumed from original research.
5) It is a cost-effective way to generate new leads
By creating content, you can attract new leads who otherwise would never have known about your product or service. By ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs), you can generate free traffic to your website, which is especially valuable if you are running a lead generation campaign. The cost of attracting each new lead is a fraction of what it would be to purchase advertising space.
6) Builds evergreen traffic
When you publish evergreen content, your website continues to gain traffic over time as search engines continue to crawl and index new pages that link back to older content. Every new page is another opportunity for search engine traffic and leads. Most of all, they help you establish a reputation as an expert in your field. These factors should not be overlooked.
7) A great way to interact with your target audience
When you’ve developed an effective content marketing strategy, your audience will enjoy engaging with your content. They are happy to share their personal stories and information that may give you some insight into their needs and show you how you can help them best.
8) Supports SEO efforts
While there are many SEO-related items to consider, content marketing is about more than just keyword density and headlines. Knowing your audience and writing with their needs in mind will ultimately help you become a trusted source of information on topics that matter to them—and that helps with search rankings.
9) Generates better reach on content publishing platforms
When your content is good, your target audience is drawn to interact with it. They share it with their friends and followers, who do so in turn—and when your content makes an impact, you benefit from the extra exposure.
In a sense, great content marketing is about being seen and heard by those who need you most—even if they don’t realize they need you yet.
10) Fuels social media marketing
Content marketing encourages readers to share, retweet and engage with your content. This is essential for businesses using social media as part of their marketing strategy. It also enables you to build relationships with influencers that help extend reach and credibility. With so many different platforms available, you can begin building a highly engaged community on each.
11) Helps to grow your email list
One of a content marketer’s main goals is to grow their list of leads and subscribers. By regularly communicating with these leads, you can grow their trust in your brand, show them that you understand their problems, and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
12) Consumers appreciate quality content
By building a solid content marketing strategy, you will position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. A study published by Edelman Digital finds that 51% of C-level executives say they spend more time consuming content than they did before the pandemic began. They are constantly seeking out insightful information that provides tangible results.
13) Increases inbound leads
If you want to increase lead generation, inbound marketing is a great solution. One of its biggest benefits is that leads are being actively searched out by potential customers, which means they’re ready to purchase your products or services. This eliminates a lot of work you would have had to put into acquiring these leads with an outbound approach.
14) Generates referral business
When people become familiar with your brand, and have a positive view of you and what you offer, they’re more likely to recommend you to their circles. This is especially true when someone has an outstanding experience with you (and remember – testimonials are gold!).
15) It lets you seize opportunities you might otherwise miss
Inbound marketing isn’t just a one-way street. It lets you seize opportunities you might otherwise miss.
For example, a new person with whom you share similar interests is more likely to want to follow your social media accounts, read more of your content, and connect with you on LinkedIn—all of which can lead to new opportunities in terms of leads, sales, and deals.
16) Helps with lead nurturing
Once you have people on your list, they need to be nurtured so that they turn into repeat customers. One of your main goals as a content marketer is to help move leads through different stages in their lifecycle and ultimately turn them into paying customers.
17) Provides valuable intel about your target audience
You need to know who you’re marketing to in order to craft content that resonates with them. Fortunately, since content marketing gives you valuable intel about your target audience, it helps you develop and refine a successful marketing strategy.
18) Sets you apart from your competitors
It’s hard to stand out from the competition in this modern age, but with a content marketing strategy, you can distinguish yourself from competitors. Content marketing allows you to set yourself apart from others in the industry by emphasizing your USP (unique selling proposition).
19) Showcases your expertise
Writing about a topic and showing your expertise will show people that you’re an expert in your field. People are more likely to trust someone who is an expert than someone who isn’t.
20) Supports all digital marketing efforts
A content marketing strategy will make any digital marketing effort more successful by increasing traffic and sales. An integrated content marketing strategy provides customers with a consistent experience across all channels, builds trust, drives brand awareness, increases customer loyalty, and generates leads.
Conclusion
So how is content marketing working for you? Are you providing value to your potential customers, increasing leads and conversions and increasing brand awareness? If so then you are doing an excellent job of leveraging content marketing in your small business.
If not, then perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate what type of content you are creating as well as if and when people really need that information.
Here’s a recent post that explains how you can take one piece of long-form content and repurpose it to amply your brand’s presence. A great way to save time creating various formats of content for multiple social platforms.
If you want to create valuable content that provides tangible value to your readers, schedule a free consultation call. Let’s talk about how content marketing can help you reach your business goals.
