It is no secret that content marketing has been the best way to grow your business in this digital age. But why exactly should you invest time and resources into the content?
Content Marketing
According to Marketing Insider Group, content marketing is the process of developing material that people want to read and share with their friends and family.
The same article claims that content marketing is a business opportunity as well as a business necessity. So much so that content marketing is expected to grow at least 17% each year through 2021.
Content marketing is so essential that Content Marketing Institute's (CMI) B2B Content Marketing 2018 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends found out that 91% of B2Bs and 86% of B2Cs use content marketing.
While content is often free, the ROI of content marketing can be huge for a business owner as it increases website traffic and generates leads (and sales).
According to the CMI, "89% of companies increased their lead generation efforts in 2017 over 2016." This would mean that content marketing is an excellent way to generate business leads.
What content should you create?
It doesn't matter if your business sells products or services, content will be the key factor in driving traffic to your website and increasing sales. The type of content can vary from blog posts for e-commerce businesses, white papers for B2B businesses, infographics for retail companies, and case studies for B2C.
This content can be created in several formats, such as eBooks, whitepapers, blog posts, and webinars.
In line with the content marketing statistics from an article in CMI claim that " content marketing is an excellent way to generate business leads.”
When creating content for your business, you should keep in mind the five W's: who, what, when, where, and why. These questions will help guide how much content you need to create as well as ensure that it meets your audience’s needs.
What's more, content marketing can also help business owners stand out from their competitors.
10 reasons why content marketing is essential for every business owner
A lot has been said about content marketing so far, but what are the reasons actually why every business owner should do it?
Simple. Because according to Statista there are more than 4 billion people in the digital world right now and 3.7 billion of them are mobile internet users, content marketing can be one of the most effective ways to engage with your target audience.
Business content is a key part of every business strategy and content creation process, whether it’s written or video content.
Forbes and Hubspot have listed content types that work the best, but they are not limited to: articles, eBooks, and case studies. Brands can also create infographics, videos, or even podcasts to engage people with their content. Also, brands can write blog posts about different topics related to their products and services.
People like content that is easy to read, useful and relevant. Business content has become a key part of every business strategy to engage with customers in the most effective way possible. That’s why it can be extremely beneficial for your brand if you create content regularly to establish trust among people and Google.
Here are 10 reasons why every business owner should be using content marketing to grow their business online!
1. Content marketing is an excellent method for attracting new clients.
When you create content regularly, your business will start to get in front of new people who are interested in the topics that you write about.
People love engaging with interesting pieces of information! They don't want to see ads all over their screen and they certainly won’t click on them. They’re much more likely to click on a link that takes them to a blog post about how they can solve their business problems!
This is why content marketing is so important for business owners: you want your company to appear in front of people who are looking for exactly what you have, and this will happen organically if you continuously produce excellent content.
Content marketing also can break through the noise of all other content by driving traffic back to your website.
This can be done via search engines like Google, where they'll find more valuable information about what your company provides—as well as purchase products and services!
It's easier than ever for companies (even small businesses) with little money but the big ambition to have their message heard
2. It's a low-cost investment that can produce high returns.
One of the reasons why integrating a content marketing strategy in your campaign is that it can cost a business very little, but produce high returns.
Inexpensive content strategies are easy to implement at any time of year--even when resources are limited, or you're low on budgeted funds.
Truth be told, content marketing may not have an upfront cost, but it does require a content strategy. Your content strategy should include business goals and how you plan to achieve those goals.
Content allows you to build trust with your audience (and potential customers). In the business world, trust is a valuable asset.
The audience will be interested in your company's material not just because it is free, but also because it will be valuable to them. They need to know what problem your business is solving and how you can help them.
If you have an engaging story to tell and distribute your content on various channels of communication, your business will get noticed! Your business might even generate leads from this strategy without having to spend too much money in the process.
There's little risk involved with content marketing because it focuses on building trust rather than pushing sales offers as traditional advertising does. And these content tactics have been proven to produce measurable results.
3. It helps you build your brand and establish yourself as an expert in the field.
Content marketing helps you establish your unique voice in the business world, and it helps you become more of an authority in the space. Readers trust business owners who provide valuable content regularly--and they're happy to share that content with their social networks, too!
Establishing your company as one that provides useful information or expertise will help you create long-term relationships with leads while portraying your company as an industry thought leader.
Every business owner's marketing strategy should include content marketing. By filling your business's blog with relevant content, you can get in front of prospective customers who are actively looking for business owners like yourself. It also makes it easier to rank on search engines and show up more frequently in searches--which means that more people will be exposed to your business!
Content plays an important role in helping consumers find answers and providing them with the information they need to make better judgments about products and services in this digital content era. Engaging in digital marketing is one thing. If played correctly, content marketing increases customer lifetime value by keeping customers around longer (in addition to generating new ones).
And as a result of improved revenue sources, content has been proven to provide ROI within months rather than years.
4. You get more visibility by creating content for your target audience, not just yourself.
Content marketing also provides you visibility, which is especially crucial for small firms that don't have a lot of money to spend on traditional media.
Getting more visibility is something small businesses need. And content marketing may help you get noticed as well as interact with your target audience.
Content marketing isn't just about posting content on your blog or website - it's an ongoing strategy that requires attention for it to work. Without content, a company might not be able to reach the audience they want.
By sharing great content, business owners can become more visible and grow their business as a result.
Content plays an important role in helping consumers find answers and providing them with the information they need to make better judgments about products and services in this digital content era. Engaging in digital marketing is one thing, but business owners need to make sure their content marketing strategy is on point, too.
If played correctly, content marketing increases customer lifetime value by keeping customers around longer (in addition to generating new ones).
And as a result of improved revenue sources, content has been proven to provide ROI within months rather than years that requires attention for it to work.
5. Your blog posts are archived online, so they're always available when someone needs them.
Blog Post content should be easy to read and understand. It should not be a list of points or numbers, but rather an engaging story that pulls the reader in. The content should also answer questions your future customers might have about your product or service offering.
It can take some time and effort before the content marketing strategy starts showing results so if this isn't something you're dedicated to doing, it might not be the best fit for your company. It can be difficult to know what type of content will work for your target audience. And if you're trying new things, you'll find something that works eventually!
So, what content marketing strategy will work? This is where social media content comes in handy. If people are following you on Facebook or Twitter, they'll see regular content regarding your product offerings and services. You can even set up a promotion offering an incentive like discounts
What's good about that is your blog posts are archived online, so they're always available when someone needs them. This would mean that your blog is easily accessible for people who are researching your company, products, or services. They're able to find content relevant information about what you do at any time without having to wait on hold with the customer service department.
6. You can attract links from other websites, which will help you rank higher on Google searches.
One of the goals of content marketing is to attract links from other websites, which will be able to help you rank higher on Google searches.
Your content will help you gain authority in your industry and generate backlinks, both of which will improve your website's SEO rankings. This means that you'll have a higher chance of ranking on search engines for specific keywords or phrases that are related to the content you publish online.
Content marketing is also a good way to keep your company in front of potential customers because it helps your content rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Content marketing also allows you to have a strong social media presence. If your content is engaging enough and it's visible on the web, then people will be more likely to share it and follow you online as well.
Your content needs to be fresh and relevant if you want these benefits though: which means that updating content regularly or creating content that's focused on a specific event or holiday will help you to increase your content marketing efforts.
Earning a more global audience is another benefit of content marketing. For example, if you have a website that is targeted towards people in the United States and your content contains information about something relevant to them, then it will be read by anyone from anywhere around the world who speaks English or might want to learn more about what is being said on your site.
The content you publish on your site will help to increase traffic, and the more people visit a website, then the means that there is greater the chance of them buying items. This makes content marketing an extremely effective method of digital marketing to sell products or services online.
7. Blogging about issues related to your industry will keep you informed about industry trends.
The best content marketer knows how important following trends and news relating to "their" industry is, so they'll never miss out on an opportunity because they didn't know about it. This is a content marketing strategy at its most useful because it helps you stay on top of the competition.
Writing about trends in your industry will help you build relationships with other industry leaders. If they see your posts about trends, they may be more inclined to share it with their network because of the value in its content, which could lead to them sharing one of your articles or even mentioning you by name as a source!
This is what content marketing dreams are made of!
Content marketing doesn't mean you need to create content that's all fluff and no substance. It simply means creating content for your target market, which can be anything from a helpful infographic to an educational video about something in the industry. The point is, you're providing value to them first and foremost by delivering content that interests them and will be helpful to them.
Indeed, content marketing is not the only type of digital marketing you can do, but it does come with a lot of benefits.
8. The content you create helps people solve problems.
Who doesn't want to help people solve problems?
The content marketing strategy is not just about ranking high for keywords; it's also about building relationships with your audience. It allows you to be their go-to resource on topics and products related to their needs or wants.
One of the best things content can do is educate your audience. It's important that content offers value in some form, whether entertainment, education, or something else entirely. You're not just telling them what to buy. You're helping them find their way through a complicated decision or situation so they can make an educated choice about purchases and services.
The content marketing strategy is an essential part of every company's digital marketing plan. Every content marketing strategy needs to include a social media plan. Social networks serve as the ideal platforms for content distribution, and you need to know how well your content performs there to maximize its effectiveness.
The content that performs well on one social network may not perform well on another, so it's important to track data from each site individually.
The content, too, should all tie together into one cohesive message on why your product is better than another company. Ultimately, this will help convert those leads into customers.
9. Social media shares of your blog post will bring traffic back to it.
Due to its nature, social media is one of the finest ways to share content quickly. Thus, this means that social media should be considered an essential part of content marketing. Increasing visibility through various networks can help boost traffic back to your site from people who originally reached out via those channels.
And, content marketing isn't just an SEO strategy. It plays a large role in your social media efforts as well - generating more website traffic from those shares and re-shares!
To increase the number of shares on your content, you need to focus on how you're going to promote it there as well.
For example, suppose you have a blog post about "What is content marketing?" and you share it on Facebook with your friends or business contacts. In that case, they will see that content as well!
More shares = more exposure for your content. Thus, it leads them back to company pages where their activity can either leads to sales or other conversions such as email signups, etc.
10. Quality content attracts links and social shares, which builds trust among potential customers, thus increasing conversions.
Trust is so important to content marketing because it is a way for businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors. As such, quality content is essential for content marketing to succeed.
Trust is so important because it's what ultimately drives conversions, which is the ultimate goal of content marketing efforts. Trust comes from content that provides real value and establishes expertise in a particular area.
Why does trust matter? Because without it businesses won't be able to reach their full potential when they're trying to convert customers.
Content helps brands establish trust with their buyers by delivering quality content on every possible touchpoint throughout the customer journey. This is because quality content will lead to more shares, leading to exposure and trust among potential customers.
The result can be that quality content attracts links and social shares.
Conclusion
Content marketing is a content-driven approach to promote your business, products, or services by publishing content that educates people about certain topics related to them on different platforms such as social media networks, websites, etc. Content marketing is the most effective strategy that every business owner should consider to engage with customers and stand out from competitors.
Another advantage of content marketing is that it allows you to share your message with a wider audience. By promoting yourself on social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook, then people who click onto these sites will be able to see content relating to what your business offers, and this could lead them back towards the website where they can purchase products or services.
As mentioned earlier, these figures are just tips on how you could try content marketing out yourself. There's one thing they all have in common—time invested!
This may seem like an obvious statement, but it needs reiterating: Content Marketing takes time! It doesn't happen overnight and won't work without dedication over a long period.
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