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Have you ever wondered why content marketing is so popular these days? What's the point of producing content if there are no sales to be made?
This blog post will explore how content marketing can help generate more revenue for your business.
What is Content Marketing?
In 2009, content marketing was first recognized as a viable means of promoting your business by Gartner, "Marketers who create content that prospects demand at each stage of the buying process will have a competitive advantage over those who don't."
So, what does content marketing means?
Investopedia defined content marketing as "a marketing technique of creating content for potential consumers with the intent to promote a product or service."
Content marketing is a powerful tool that can help boost your business, but it takes some time and effort to get the best content for your needs. Content marketing has been in existence for a long time, but it is more important now with the increasing use of content delivery over social media and other online platforms.
As content marketing becomes more popular, it's important to understand how content can be used for your business.
How to Use Content Marketing to Increase Sales
There are many benefits content marketing can offer your business, and this includes building trust amongst potential customers, increases brand awareness, provides value for readers which encourages them to come back for more content, and it can also be used as a marketing tool to help improve sales.
In this section, we'll explore how content marketing can lead directly or indirectly to an increase in your business's bottom line.
1. Create a blog post that shares tips for success.
One content marketing benefit that you can bank on is that it can be used to share your expertise and knowledge with potential clients. Sharing valuable content that gives readers something they cannot get elsewhere is a great way to build trust, which in turn will make them more open to purchasing from you when the time comes.
You could also create a piece of content that shares tips for success and increase sales.
For example, if you are a B&B owner in Hawaii, write an article sharing tips for couples who are planning their wedding. Highlight what makes your establishment special and share ideas on how to make the day even more memorable. As part of this content marketing strategy, offer them information that they can only get by visiting your website or calling your number.
When people go through the trouble of reading all your helpful content they'll be more likely to buy from you because they've already invested time in learning.
You'll also have an audience for future content and social media posts. In other words, if they like what you've written today, they will probably come back tomorrow to see if you've written anything new as well.
Providing valuable content helps build trust among potential customers and leads them through a natural progression of becoming more familiar with your brand over time.
This could turn into increased loyalty from existing clients down the road as well.
2. Share your company's story on social media to build trust and engagement.
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Your company's story is a great content marketing opportunity. According to a study conducted by content marketing company eZanga, 81% of people are likely to trust a business that tells its story.
This is because sharing your brand's story allows them to get an inside look at what it takes to run the business and builds credibility by showing how you're making an effort towards transparency. Sharing content via social media that tells your company's story can help to build trust and engagement with potential customers on the platforms where they spend their time.
Sharing stories about how your products are made or giving back is proven to increase customer reach beyond traditional advertising methods.
If you're just getting started, try sharing content like this through LinkedIn since it has more of an "enterprise" feel than other networks.
3. Be consistent with content marketing - publish at least one new article per week.
Suppose you're not publishing content regularly. How can your audience expect new content if they sign up to be notified?
One content marketing strategy that anyone should use is being consistent. It's important that people see your brand as an authority in their space and don't have to worry about missing out when content isn't published.
Content marketing is a long-term strategy and requires consistent effort throughout implementation to be successful. It cannot simply be done once or twice; it must continue regularly over time.
Also, keep your marketing content relevant by changing the schedule of posts around holidays or events related to what you do. For example, consumer electronics brands may want to publish articles more frequently during Black Friday weekend than any other time of year.
Consistent content is key! Publish at least once per week, so followers know where and when to get the information they need from you.
4. Include customer testimonials in your posts to show how other people have benefited from your products or services.
Another content marketing strategy that you can utilize is getting testimonials from your customers.
If you have people who love your content, you also want to show them off. Always ask permission before using content but don't be afraid of sharing their stories – this is a great way for your brand to shine and help others learn about what you do!
Big Commerce, in an article claim that at least 92% of consumers read online reviews of the products that they are interested to purchase, while 88% trust these review and consider them as personal recommendations.
Furthermore, according to the same article, 72% of these consumers that positive reviews and testimonials make them trust a particular business or brand.
That is why including positive customer reviews is a great way to increase visibility across multiple platforms and get more eyes on it!
5. Use infographics, videos, and images to make your content more visual and engaging.
People love content that they can understand at a glance. Visual content should look good on your social media channels, in email newsletters, and more.
Attract the attention of your audience by having content that works for them on different platforms and devices. Jeff Bullas, claims that articles that feature images get 94% more views than those that do not have photos.
Hubspot claims that Infographics can attract more than double the amount of referral traffic when compared to articles without visual elements. Hubspot even claimed that video content is six times more likely to get shared on social media than any other type of content. Wistia, in concurrence, said that videos get shared on social media up to 1200% more than text or images alone.
Graphical or video content has been proven to engage audiences better than text-only posts (like blog posts). In fact, according to Tech Crunch, YouTube has over one billion users and Facebook is closing in on two billion—more than a third of all people on the Internet!
Of course, you are not limited to video either, images can be used as well. If you have an eCommerce store, for example, use your product images in blog posts or site pages where appropriate - make sure they look great!
Attractive content will keep your audience engaged with you. You can also use images or infographics to highlight important pieces of info for them. People love visual content that they can understand at a glance.
Plus, search engines favor sites with videos as well - the higher your content ranks, the more people will see it!
6. Respond to online reviews of your business by thanking reviewers for their feedback and asking them what you can do better next time so they'll come back again!
An article in Review 42 claimed that being responsive is of the essence when managing social media campaigns. A whopping 71% of consumers said that they will likely recommend a brand if they have a good social media experience.
Furthermore, an article in Deloitte (Deloitte.com) claimed that customers who post product reviews online are the most satisfied and spend more than those without a voice.
As such, it is important to be responsive to your customers on social media and ask for their feedback. If you seem approachable, people will be more likely to return and possibly even recommend your content or services to friends. Be available online.
Respond quickly and efficiently when people reach out for help either through social media platforms or email. Please don't ignore them!
If a potential customer is looking for information about how they can purchase something from you, make sure their questions are answered promptly to avoid any confusion. This also makes them feel valued, which is always a good thing.
7. Create Trending and Relevant Content to always be updated
Creating trending and relevant content is not necessarily a new idea, however lately it's been receiving more attention. Why? Because the content that is seen as trending and relevant is what gets shared most on social media, which means you have an opportunity to get your brand out there!
With recent changes in Google search algorithms that are based on the relevance of web pages being linked together, trending and relevant content are more important than ever before.
This means: if your content isn't trending or relevant, it won't be found in Google search results (or on social media). So the question becomes how do you create trending and relevant content? The answer is simple - research what people are searching for related to topics within your industry.
8. Amplify your content and reach more audience
Amplifying your content is all about sharing (or promoting) it with the world. This includes sharing it with other people and businesses (influencers), as well as paying for advertising. Doing this increases your reach; which is all about exposing your content to more users, leads, customers, etc.
It is necessary to amplify your content to get more eyes on it and to reach new people. You can increase your content's visibility by sharing it with others, such as influencers or other businesses in similar spaces.
It is not just about how many people you can reach, but also about where those audiences are most likely to hang out. For example, if your content is good for SEO purposes and includes a lot of long-tail keywords that drive traffic from Google search results pages (SERPs), then it would make sense for you to amplify your content on sites with lots of organic traffic.
If you post about how cloud computing can help sales teams, on the other hand, it will have a lot of potential customers reading it every day and taking notes for their reference, but you want to target managers in marketing departments who are responsible for making the final decision about whether or not to use cloud computing.
9. Increase Sales With User Generated Content
User-generated content, according to Investopedia is "any form of content that is created, contributed or owned by end-users as opposed to a company. This includes videos, reviews, and comments."
If your brand encourages its customers or community members to create their user-generated content (UGC), you might see increases in not only engagement but conversions as well.
This UGC content also gives people a more hands-on experience with the product or service before they decide whether or not it's right for them. For example: if I were selling a product that I thought was going to help people with their anxiety, using UGC content in my blog would be effective because it's coming from someone who has experienced the benefits of what I'm trying to sell.
People are much more likely to purchase something if they can see how well it works for other people and when they have the opportunity to learn about the process via UGC content, they're much more likely to do it.
10. Be Active In Discussion Forums and Communities
Discussion forums and communities are other avenues for you to start conversations about your product or service, which you can link back to. This would mean that you could start conversations and engage with your customers.
Being active in discussion forums and communities is a great way to share content. People love seeing their names in print, so if you're active on discussion forums and communities – be sure to mention them!
It is important it is to be active in social media communities because by participating you're naturally building your network as well as showing people that your business can be trusted to offer valuable information on the topic at hand (the key here being valuable).
The final point may be made clear with another sentence: If you are looking for a way to increase sales without spending money on something like Google AdWords, consider using content marketing strategies because it is a great way to increase your leads and sales.
It's also important not to forget that marketing isn't just about making money – it allows you to build relationships with people who are interested in your product, service, etc. In other words, as long as you're giving them something worth reading, you're building trust and in the end, this will increase your sales.
11. Provide more customer touchpoints
Customers’ touchpoints are a great way to increase engagement with your content and get more eyes on it. Since customers are already engaging with you, this is a natural place for them to engage further by sharing content that they like (and if applicable/appropriate, share their own!).
What's more, is that by offering your customers more opportunities to engage with you, they'll be able to find the content that's most relevant to them.
This is a great way for people who may not have been looking for this particular product or service in the past, but after engaging with your content and seeing what you're about might decide it's something worth checking out.
Conclusion
In conclusion, content marketing helps increase sales by providing a way for you to engage with your customers and prospects. This is not only a great benefit of content marketing but also makes it easier
Moreover, you can use content marketing to increase your sales by providing valuable, educational content that can help your customers and prospects make informed decisions.
When executed properly, you'll be able to increase revenue by improving the customer experience while also positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
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