Not sure why content marketing is important, huh?
Not to mention, you’ve launched your new business and now there’s very little [or no traffic] & no sales.
On top of that, you have little or no funds for advertising?
Sounds familiar?
Well, the sound of crickets should be enough to motivate any entrepreneur to consider different ways to generate traffic to your content, products, and/or services. If you can relate, then it’s definitely time for a marketing strategy that implements content marketing!
Let’s dive in!
So, what is content marketing anyway?
Here’s the definition of content marketing according to Google:
This basically means content marketing is a strategy of creating content with the goal to attract customers, clients, leads, or prospects – without directly selling to them.
Benefits of Content Marketing: Why Is Content Marketing Important?
Attract New Leads
Content marketing will allow you to get information about your services and products to the people who already show interested in topics based on the content you’re sharing. This can be done in many different forms. Make sure you’re focusing on platforms where your target audience is.
Establish Authority
Wow your audience and all potential customers with your expertise. Do this by answering common questions, giving advice, and establish yourself as a credible source of information. This will most definitely boost your customer’s confidence in you and your business.
Establish and Build Trust With Your Audience
Content marketing is your chance to connect with your target ideal audience by delivering valuable content that your audience wants – while increasing brand awareness. Always remember the know, like and trust factor plays a major part in building an audience.
Generate Leads
This one’s pretty self-explanatory – if you have content that’s sharable, answers questions, gives valuable advice, or is just fun and engaging it’s highly likely that it will reach a large number of people. Those people would probably want to know more about who you are and what you do!
Create Organic Traffic
A lot of the content you create will generate organic traffic however it will take time for you to see results. If you’re looking for fast results, paid ads are the way to go! There are a couple of things you want to keep in mind about ads and paid promotions:
- After your paid ads stop running, so does the traffic those ads created.
- Brand new businesses must collect enough data and/or have a strong customer base before paids ads will show the results most seek.
Whereas, with some content marketing, you can optimize your content to rank for particular words with search engines (ie. Google, Bing, YouTube & Pinterest). This is called Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO).
Increase Conversion
When you regularly share great quality content and make sure it reaches the “right people”, you’ll see a greater conversion rate and ROI than you would if you were merely investing in some of the other traffic sources.
Increase Your Presence
The more content you publish, the more attention and awareness your business gets. Just be sure to be consistent!
Establish a Connection With Your Audience
Ideally, you want your ideal audience to know, like, and trust you. If you’re genuine and share great content you will most definitely establish a strong connection with your audience – who are engaged, interested, and – most importantly who keep buying from you.
What are examples of content marketing?
Content marketing can be in many forms, here are just a few examples:
Blogs – are a great way to promote valuable content that your targeted audience wants/needs. While having a blog can be very beneficial, it takes a lot to start and build a successful one. If you are would like to start a blog, click here.
Videos – can be used in a variety of different forms and have been proven to increase engagement with followers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
Podcasts – offer an excellent opportunity when used correctly because they give listeners something engaging while still providing them with important information at the same time. You can start your own podcast and add it and the show notes in blog posts and/or you can finding guest bloggers who have their own podcast or can invite guests on theirs to help promote your business as well.
Lead Magnets – (ie. infographics, checklists, quizzes, product reviews, courses, etc.) are a great way to get your targeted audience engaged. They provide something of value in exchange for an email address. You then use email marketing to promote and make sales.
Email Marketing – is one of the best ways to promote your content because it’s so versatile. Email campaigns work because they’re a simple tool that connects you to your audience on an individual level – something no other medium does effectively. Also, you own your email list so that in it self is powerful!
Social Media Platforms – is one of the most powerful tools for content marketing. It can be used in a variety of ways including promoting blog posts, creating posts/tweets with expand your each and to engage your audience. Your main goal is to get your ideal customer on your email list. Always keep in mind, you don’t own social platforms – you only own your email list and blog.
Each kind of content reaches a specific audience and has its own pros and cons. Check out these examples of content marketing to give you more ideas that you can implement in your business right away!
Related => Get Traffic When There’s None: 19 Profitable Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
Why Is Content Marketing Really Important?
While content marketing is one of the many ways to drive traffic to your brand, it’s important for small businesses because it provides your audience with information and content about their needs. It also helps you build a relationship by giving them the type of content that interests them most.
Content marketing should be a part of your marketing strategy because it’s an effective way to drive traffic and increase conversions while establishing trust, & credibility with your targeted audience/clients.
It ultimately helps increase organic traffic and conversion rates for customers by providing valuable content on specific topics related to their needs. It also increases awareness of products and services among prospective clients who may not have known about them.
As a small business owner it’s imperative that you get your content, products, and/or services in front of your targeted audience, right? Well, in order for your business to survive in this digital age you need valuable content that:
- Stand out from the clutter on social media and content channels.
- Get customers to come back for the more valuable content.
- Give your brand a personality that resonates with your targeted audience/clients.
Why is Content Marketing Effective for Small Businesses?
Content marketing is becoming more effective for small businesses because content has surpassed traditional advertising as the number one way to reach prospects and customers. Content Marketing Institute reports that content marketing generates three times the leads of outbound or inbound content (The New York Times, 2018). In addition, content marketing is poised to work on autopilot.
Regardless of what some may say, content marketing is on the rise but the proof is in the pudding. DemandMetric says that content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing methods and generates thrice the leads. They also talk about how the average internet user spends over 20% of their time looking at custom content, and 68% of the people using the internet spend time reading about brands that they like or are interested in. Surely that is reason enough to start to implement content marketing!
If that’s not enough to convince you, take a look at these other statistics:
- Over 60% of consumers say that they enjoy reading about different brands, and the content they create.
- 82% of consumers say they feel more positive about a company after reading and viewing their content.
- And 70% of consumers feel closer to a company because of its content marketing.
The connection people feel to a company when they’ve seen content created by them, or know more about a brand, is the key reason content marketing is so successful and a must.
When should you start content marketing?
Content marketing is not a one-time effort. You need to consistently publish quality content in order to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more. To be honest, you should start using content marketing today! This can really be a game-changer for your brand.
Who should content marketing be aimed at?
Having a digital strategy that promotes your content through various channels, content marketing, is important for all businesses. However, what type of content to promote will really depend on the size and goals of each business. Content needs to speak directly to your target audience so that they can see themselves within your content – whether that means sharing content that they can relate to, answering a question, and/or solving a problem.
How can entrepreneurs start implementing content marketing strategies?
Remember the content you decide to share depends on your audience and your business. When you’re looking to implement a content marketing strategy for your brand, keep a few things in mind:
- Keep your audience in mind when you write. Act like you’re talking to them, and interact with them in the comment sections of your social media posts or find another way to answer their questions.
- Publish valuable content that your target audience wants and would like to see more of. Give them useful information or tips that solve their problems. Give them interesting facts about your business, and keep it high quality.
- You can run your business yourself however it’s gonna take a toll on you. I highly recommend you consider outsourcing some of your tasks. You want to reach your targeted audience but starting out, choose 1-2 forms of content marketing. You can then add more as your traffic grows.
- You don’t have to create different content for different platforms. In fact, it’s a better idea to repurpose content.
- Be honest and open with your audience. Remember! Your goal is to connect with the people interested in what you do, why you do it, and how you do it. Give them what they want, and keep it honest and sincere.
Next Steps
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach target audiences, drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales—especially when done right. If you need advice for your business specifically, please feel free to reach out to us here.
