Content marketing remains an important tool for modern brands to attract customers and counter the drawbacks of traditional advertising. With so much content available, your customers expect high-quality and engaging content from you.
Content marketing is not something new and it has existed for decades in the form of email and letter marketing, and white paper campaigns. However, with the rise of online shopping and the dependence of customers on Google and other search engines for market research, content marketing has taken the front seat and has become more important than ever.
Content marketing is dependent on quality content to build consumer trust, strengthen SEO, and establish your authority in the field. If your content lacks quality then it will not be effective.
The basic of content marketing
Simply put, at its core content marketing is a strategy to bring in new customers by making use of high-quality content. The process involves creating, publishing, and distributing information useful to the target audience.
Content marketing has much more scope than traditional advertising to inform your customers that your company is excellent at what it does. Through blogs, social media, videos, and other content it demonstrates your authority and expertise which is a required quality for a brand to succeed.
Furthermore, all the investment you make in content marketing gives you content that you own, unlike traditional marketing where resources are not your own.
Let’s see how content marketing adds value to your company’s reputation and creates brand awareness.
1. Content builds trust and brand reputation
When you create great content, it presents an authoritative view to your potential customers, they have a positive experience reading your content and this helps in building relationships and establishing trust.
Online content for brands answers the most commonly asked questions and help customers overcome common objections before they can speak with a salesperson. When you give value without asking anything in return immediately, your customers see you as an authority figure and consider your recommendations as credible.
You can best explain your business to your customers through online content. If you can nicely present yourself to your customers, it is most likely that they will align with your brand. When they want to buy, your company will already be on the list of their trusted brands.
2. Quality content drives organic traffic
It is a known fact that Google changes its core algorithm several times a year. This brings a challenge for companies and brands to stay abreast of current requirements. However, it is a well-established fact and all experts agree that throughout these search changes, one strategy provides consistent results and that is quality content marketing.
To drive organic traffic and improve SEO, content requires consistency. It also demands that you have an understanding of keyword strategy and consumer psychology. Experienced content writers note that keyword stuffing is no more helpful which is why they employ a keyword strategy to inform search engines that they are offering information and educating their customers rather than selling anything.
Google’s entire goal is to bring the searchers the best match and relevant results which is why they keep updating their search algorithm. When searcher types in a keyword phrase in Google it matches the buyer’s intent with the sale process. This is something you need to focus on to match the right keywords with the buyer’s intent as English is a tricky language and some words and phrases can have multiple meanings.
For example, if a customer types in “fencing supplies” and Google brings in the results with shopping options for the sport of fencings like protective clothing and rapiers, then the result is neither useful for the customers or the sports suppliers.
3. Content fuels social media engagement
We have always advocated the process of repurposing content to gain more traction on social media. You cannot expect to share the links of the quality content you create on social media to drive traffic. You have to re-purpose your content for every individual social media platform to gain the interest of the followers. You can encourage your readers to share your content on their social media accounts by highlighting potential ideas or images inside your content.
Social media offers you a direct line to consumers that no other marketing channel can offer. Not just for posts, comments, and engagement, your marketing team can work on establishing real relationships with your customer base such that they can receive direct feedback from real customers that can help you refine your marketing strategy.
All these powerful benefits of social media pivot on high quality and relevant content which is why you need to work on producing professional content for customers to promote your business through social sharing.
4. Content marketing educates customers
One of the advantages of the internet is that it makes information widely available which is why consumers use it for making their buying decisions. According to a study, 80% of shoppers do research online before they make a buying decision. With quality content marketing, you put your brand in front of the customers who are actively preparing to make a purchase.
Your motive should be to educate your customers. Focus on the content that answers common questions and objections raised by the customers and your business. When you know what are the most common problems plaguing your target audience, you can educate them with the solution.
Quality educational content tells customers how your product or service can solve their problems and resolve the most common issues they face. This is exactly how with content marketing you can sell your customers your product or service by telling them how it makes their lives easier.
5. Content improves conversions
Business runs on sales and the force behind any marketing strategy is to bring in new customers and drive up the sales. It is interesting that for every dollar you invest in content marketing you get three times as many leads as with traditional marketing.
Your quality content helps customers to know a bit about your company every time they engage with your content. By offering free information you are educating your customers and passively influencing conversions.
In a study, it was found that 61% of American consumers decide to buy a specific product after reading the blog’s recommendation. With a well-written blog post, you can easily pull customers into the sales funnel.
With the CTA you tell your readers what to do next by optimizing your content for conversions.
6. Content gets you cost-effective new leads easily
When you compare content marketing with paid online advertising, you realize that it is a much more cost-effective tool for lead generation. It is true that with paid online advertising you get immediate results, but content ranks you for relevant keyword phrases that bring in new customers for months and years.
Much of the sales process is about providing information, answering questions, and building trust. With quality content marketing you do that 24-hours a day, every single day.
Furthermore, content that ranks in search engines gets a 62% click-through rate while paid advertising only gets 3% to 4% click-through rates.
While providing value first is important, the next step is to promote your product or service for which you need to add a clear call to action such that your readers can follow through and engage with your brand.
7. Content projects your brand’s expertise
Content not only displays your brand and your team but it also shows your expertise. One of the reasons why content marketing is so effective because it offers a variety of channels. You can present the same information or answer the same question through a blog, video, an e-book, or a podcast.
There is no one channel of learning that every reader likes. Some prefer to learn through a video while others like to read. Having multiple channels for potential buyers to know about your products and company will enhance your brand’s image and establish your position as an industry expert.
8. Build backlinks
It goes without saying that quality content is loved by all. Such content gets you backlinks organically which is important for SEO that improves your ranking in search results and adds to the trust value of your brand.
When you cite experts in your content you give an outbound link to your site and a backlink to the expert. Backlinks are developed over time as the body of your content expands. With only a few good backlinks from authority websites, you can grow your traffic exponentially.
Experts recommend that you include credible outbound links in your content such that you can get the interest of other quality sites.
Content Marketing is a requirement
Quality content-marketing not only builds customer awareness but also drives leads and increases conversions. As the reach of the internet is expanding, the content has become a marketing cornerstone.
While you can focus on traditional marketing methods that spike returns in the shorter, content marketing gets your business long-term success.
At Contentsia, we offer quality content development services for small businesses to big enterprises. We guarantee a 100% satisfaction is our specialized writers can produce content for your industry and well present your brand.
