What is Content Marketing?
And Why Your Business Desperately Needs It
Since the introduction of the internet, paid advertising has been a reliable strategy for businesses to gain exposure. It has helped businesses retain customers through its constant reminder, reduce customer churn, and also cart abandonment for e-commerce businesses.
However, those days are gone now. That strategy has already peaked and is currently on a downtrend due to market saturation. As of today, it is estimated that over 800 million devices have ad blockers on them, which also signifies trouble for brands who fundamentally rely on ads to reach customers. Due to that, it has enabled content marketing to step in as the new method to reach customer, all while providing them value in return.
What is content marketing?
You’re probably thinking about blogs on the official website and social media. In general, yes. But content marketing is much more than that. Content marketing is a weapon for businesses to use in order to build relationships with their audience, capture their attention, and improve engagement.
Paid advertising is all about pushing certain promotions with the hopes of converting the prospects into a customer, whereas content marketing is about providing value and giving something back to the audience so that they decide to come back next time.
There are so many types of content that can be used to fill up the editorial calendar. Ultimately, the goal should be to achieve the trifecta of success for content marketing: Consistency, quality, and quantity. The good news is that you don’t have to tackle every angle of an issue, you just need to find that perfect mix that works for your specific audience, your ‘core content’ if you will.
Does content marketing work for small businesses?
This is an absolutely fair question as most are concerned with the credibility of small businesses and whether or not they are qualified to talk about a certain topic.
We have all seen larger brands that produce an abundance of amazing content. Brands like Apple, Nike, Coca-cola, or BMW. These brands have deep pockets and a wide range of resources to tap into, so does that mean that small businesses have no place in the world of content marketing?
No. In fact, quite the opposite. Most brands actually see a positive ROI after adding content marketing to their arsenal because it doesn’t need a huge amount of initial investment.
Research has shown that more than 70% of customers would rather learn about the company through elaborate explanations and “behind-the-scenes” as opposed to getting the brand shoved in their faces through advertisements.
A content manager needs to be able to connect with the audience, manage resources, and target specific markets through funneling techniques. With that said, there is no need to be intimidated by this section of your company. As a matter of fact, more than 73% of all brands choose to outsource for their content strategy rather than adding to their plates.
Conclusion:
In 2020, arguably every single business from any industry can benefit from content marketing. It would help a business get more website traffic over the long-term and build trust and loyalty with its customers.
Not only that, it doesn’t really cost that much to produce good content for your audience. You just need to have researching abilities and a genuine desire to provide value for your audience. It will generate leads and traffic as momentum starts to pick up. Above that, it really is something your audience is actively looking for.
Content marketing is the next big thing for B2B business growth, so get started as soon as possible! After all, technology advancements and the increase of social media users are only pushing the world towards a value-centred market.