5 Reasons Why Businesses Need a Content Marketing Strategy

1. It’s More Difficult to get Customer’s Attention Through Ads

Let’s start with data.

According to Demand Metric 86% of people skip TV ads. This means that of your total ad budget on television ads 86% of it will be wasted trying to reach people who don’t even care to see.

This is because there are so many mediums and so much content out there that people are bombarded with messaging constantly by companies (not to mention friends and family in their Social media feeds).

The problem is many marketers and entrepreneurs are still marketing as if it was the 1990’s pre-internet mass adaption when the only channels available were cable television, radio, and newsprint. Even then content was still limited.

We didn’t have smartphones to ‘live on’ constantly feeding our information and entertainment needs, so we were forced to pay attention to content that was given to us.

Now we have more options than ever and we can choose which content to consume and which to ignore. Hence, you need more than a flashy ad that says ‘Buy Now’ to make your marketing work.

2. Cost of paid ads increases each year

According to an article on CNBC’s website, the average digital ad costs 12% more than it did two years ago, yet the return on ad spend (i.e. sales and customers) has decreased.

The article goes on to say consumers are spending less time on websites than they did in previous years.

My speculation to this is due to the fact that most of these websites are only creating content that focuses on promoting and selling their products and services.

If you think about the websites that you visit often and stay the longest, I’m willing to bet those are the websites that don’t really try to sell you that much. They have content that is focused on either entertaining, educating, or offering you something else of value beyond ‘Buy Now’.

Customers today want more than just product info, they want to interact and connect, which is why Social Media has the highest audience usage than any other platform. Unless your content can be interactive and connects with your customers you will lose.

3. Customer Acquisition Costs Are Higher using Traditional Means

What does your marketing campaign execution process like?

I may not know you or your business specifically but I’m willing to bet it goes something like this:

1. Strategy session
2. Pay creative agency to create content
3. Pay ad agency to distribute the content
4. Pay for ads on TV, radio, newsprint, or Social Media to build awareness
5. Pay someone to create sales materials
6. Hire several salespeople to go out and prospect using sales materials (in-store trade marketers for B2C brands)
7. Salespeople go through several days, weeks, and sometimes months of follow up calls and meetings
8. Pray that you get at least a 1-3% conversion rate for all the money you’ve spent

Now if you were to calculate how much you have to pay each agency, each salesperson, cost of the ads just to run for a few days, and the time it takes to convert just one customer or client I’m pretty sure you can see how all these costs can add up.

I can also see your CEO or CFO having a heart attack from the numbers.

An effective marketing and sales strategy is not just about getting your potential customers to know who you are (brand awareness), but also liking you and trusting you enough to want to do business with you.

Unfortunately for most businesses marketing campaigns that jump from awareness to asking for the sale are no longer effective. This is why having a process of lead nurturing through content is so important to create the bridge between awareness and sale.

Without that your spending money aimlessly.

4. Customers Buying Behaviour has Changed

The sales process is no longer simple and static.

It’s no longer about setting up booths at trade shows, promo girls, run a TV or newsprint ad to make people aware of you, and they walk into your store or visit your website and buy from you.

The sales process has evolved and is a lot more complex today than it was at the beginning of the 21st century (2000’s).

Customers are more sophisticated, they are more skeptical, and they spend more time learning about a company through a Google search than they do an ad or sales presentation.

According to Pardot (a subsidiary of Salesforce) 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a buyer even reaches out to sales.

What this means is before your sales team even gets in front of a potential customer, the potential customer or client is already 70% in making a decision whether or not they want to buy from you or do business with you.

Does this mean that ads, sales presentations and trade shows don’t work?

No.

It just means that you can no longer rely on those methods as the only or main way to reach your potential customers.

Content marketing has to be at the heart of that strategy to build trust and close deals quicker.

5. The Competition is more Intense than Ever

The final reason why it makes sense to implement a Content Marketing strategy in 2019 is because the internet has made the marketplace even smaller and more competitive.

The barrier to entry to start a business or company is low, thus competition has risen significantly over the years.

Your competition is no longer the company offering the same product/service in the same city, now you’re competing with companies online as far as India for B2B services or China for B2C consumer goods, who can offer it at a far less price.

The challenge here is that most companies are selling a commodity, not effectively building a meaningful brand.

The difference is when you sell a commodity you’re competing based on price, convenience and/or ease of access. Which means anyone who can sell at a lower cost than you can, make it more convenient than you can, or make it easier than you can will always win.

However, when you build based on brand, that is a meaningful connection that you have with your customers, even if you charge three times the cost of your competitors, people will still come to you.

Reason being they aren't paying for the item, they're paying for the emotional reward or positive connection to your brand.

Why do you think Apple makes so much money from their customers? Not because of the product, but because of the brand they have built over the years.

What are your thoughts?