Why Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online materials (ex: blogs, social media posts, videos) for a targeted audience. Content marketing does not directly promote a brand or pitch company services. Instead, it provides useful and engaging content to attract quality leads and, ultimately, drive client action.
Content marketing, along with SEO, can be a powerful marketing strategy for businesses. By regularly writing and publishing quality content, you increase your visibility as well as build authority and trust. You stand out from your competitors and become a resource for educational information (which helps in the purchasing and hiring process). Content marketing is essential to a successful marketing campaign for industries that rely heavily on thought leadership and credibility. Need further convincing? Here are some of the top benefits of content marketing:
Improve Brand Awareness
Content marketing helps you improve brand awareness by providing regular, quality content to your clients and leads. As you add more quality content to your website, you create a larger digital footprint. Every page you create gives search engines one more page to index and your business more opportunities to appear in the search results. Sharing content on other communications channels (ex: newsletters, social media posts, video platforms) can also increase your exposure and brand awareness. You want your content to capture people’s attention, offer solutions to their problems, and encourage them to come back for more.
Also, unlike advertising campaigns or traditional marketing, content marketing provides more long-term visibility. When a business ranks in organic search results, the content is there for a longer period of time. It doesn’t disappear when the ad campaign ends. When content -- whether it’s a blog, newsletter, or video -- lives on a website, there are more opportunities for leads to view it, share it, and revisit it.
Develop Authority & Credibility
The digital marketplace is saturated with companies all competing for the same business. How do you set yourself apart? One way is to establish your authority and credibility. With content marketing, a company can demonstrate its knowledge or experience, showcase its work, and provide useful information. When a potential client searches for a business or a particular problem online, the content they find will reinforce a company’s reputation and abilities, and persuade that client to contact that business.
Build Trust
When a business shares its knowledge and expertise, it’s not only developing credibility – it’s also building trust. With content marketing, the business is providing free advice and useful solutions. There’s no sales pitch. It’s just quality, educational content. When a business regularly shares information about the industry and the problems it helps solve, the public will find it to be more trustworthy. This makes a business more approachable, and potential clients will likely feel more comfortable about reaching out. If a potential client believes they can trust your business, they’re more likely to hire you.
Generate Leads Without Blowing Your Budget
Content marketing tends to be less expensive than traditional marketing and can yield better leads. Content marketing is strategic – it’s content developed for a specific audience or ideal client. When a lead reads your blog, newsletter, or social media post, they’re more likely to take action if the information is engaging and relevant to them. In other words, if the reader or viewer connects with the solutions you provide in your content, they’re more likely to make a connection or purchase. Content marketing creates qualified leads, which means a better return on investment (ROI) and less need for cold calls or more traditional marketing methods.
Improve SEO Rankings
There’s a direct connection between leads and effective SEO. To rank well (AKA high on the results page), businesses must integrate to right keywords and search terms into their content. But the current SEO algorithms actually place greater emphasis on high-quality content. The best performing content shares useful information and offers value to potential clients. It’s relevant, informative, and up to date. If the content answers the lead’s question, or provides a solution to the problem they’re searching, it will rank better. The better your search rankings, the more likely your ideal clients will find you. Better rankings also strengthen your business’ authority and trustworthiness.
Connect Directly with Clients
As your content gets promoted on the search results pages and shared on social media platforms, you can directly connect with your potential clients. You can answer questions on blogs and articles, further bolstering your authority and trustworthiness. You can jump in on social media conversations and provide a way to contact you directly. The more likely a person is to engage with your content, the more likely they are to hire your business. Also, the more people interact with your content, the more Google with boost your rankings and increase your exposure.
Have Questions? Contact Us
If you’re interested in content marketing and need help generating or publishing the content, please reach out to Hodgkiss Consulting. We help companies post written content consistently.