Can You Afford Content Marketing?

You’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king”. Bill Gates coined that phrase way back in 1996. The idea still resonates with companies today as they compete for attention in an over- crowded digital environment. With all the advertising aimed at potential customers, it’s no surprise that content marketing has become an essential strategy for B2B companies looking to establish their brand. They need better ways to attract leads and drive conversions.

That all sounds great, but small and medium-sized companies with limited staff resources and even more constrained marketing budgets are concerned about the cost. Is content marketing something they can afford? I think the answer is yes, and I’ll use my own experience as an example to show you that content marketing might be more affordable than you thought.

Defining Content Marketing

Content marketing differs from traditional advertising in several big ways.

1. Content marketing’s aim is to attract customers to your business and pull them in because they want to learn more about your business. In contrast, ads are more a push model, seeking to compel prospects to buy now or take an action that leads directly to a sale.

2. The content you create and publish as part of a content marketing strategy has value on its own. Customers don’t have to buy anything to gain knowledge or insight from the content.

3. Parts of your content marketing strategy interact with each other. Attributing a result like a sale or a conversion to a single piece of content is nearly impossible. Did the customer buy the product because of the brilliant blog post? Maybe. But would they have even seen the post had you not also posted regularly in social media, sent some informational emails, and been featured in an industry magazine? Maybe not.

The Cost of Content Marketing

One big reason that content marketing is so appealing to small businesses is the price tag. If you have the resources, you can get started with content marketing with nearly zero dollars out of pocket. That’s what I did when I started my consulting practice years ago.

I spent no money to write and distribute email newsletters containing informational articles on topics of interest to my target audience. With no extra money lying around to build a reputation in the marketplace, this was a natural approach. Fortunately, I’m a decent writer and I was familiar with email delivery and CRM concepts. The mechanics of building a mailing list, writing articles, and tracking activity were things I could do myself. I didn’t have to outsource any of that work.

I built my first websites for my company in the same way. Besides the fees I paid for a domain name and hosting, the sites didn’t cost me anything either. In the early days, I had plenty of time on my hands as I worked to drum up business. I could create the websites with little impact on the rest of my company.

You’ll find the bulk of content marketing expense is associated with creating the content. You pay this cost only once. After you create a piece of content, or have someone create it for you, it belongs to your business to use for any purpose, for as long as you want. You won’t have to pay for licenses, maintenance, or storage. If you create the content yourself, the only expense is the opportunity cost of time spent generating content instead of handling other parts of your business. Many small organizations don’t have a full-time dedicated marketing person, so content creation time can definitely impact the business, but that may be the best option to start.

Most companies can begin with the DIY model to keep expenses at a minimum. However, a successful content marketing strategy relies on consistent new content generation and publication. As you build out your content plan, you will probably decide you can no longer allocate the time necessary to manage the strategy. That is when you look for some outside help.

The price tag for custom content created by professional writers and content marketers depends on the level of effort. A professional may charge you $200 to $500 for something like a blog post or a social media campaign. Lengthy projects like white papers, case studies, playbooks, etc. will cost more. It depends on how much work is involved, how much research is required, etc.

These prices are within the reach of most small businesses, and well worth the investment. Content marketing generates three times more leads than traditional advertising and costs 62% less, according to DemandMetric. This significant ROI advantage makes content marketing an attractive choice for businesses with limited budgets.

The Long-Term Value of Custom Content

Pay-per-click advertising or traditional marketing methods only generate results as long as you keep paying for them. Once the campaign ends, so does the effect on your target audience. Content marketing offers long-term, compounding results. Well-written content (not AI) attracts and engages audiences long after its first publication. We have clients who are still benefitting from content we wrote for them three or four years ago.

Consistently providing valuable content positions your business as an industry authority, building credibility and trust. Quality content improves your search engine rankings, leading to increased organic website traffic.

Another benefit of informational content is repurposing. White papers can become a series of blog articles or social media posts. One eBook can spawn multiple infographics. Blog articles can find new audiences through LinkedIn or email newsletters. Companies often summarize case studies as short videos, slide presentations, trade show collateral, or salesperson leave-behinds. The effort to repurpose content is minimal, but you can stretch your investment in content-generation in many ways.

Cost-Effective Strategies for Small Businesses

While professional content marketing services offer significant benefits, SMBs can reduce costs through several strategies.

? Start a blog with a regular publishing schedule (very important).

? Leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn to connect with audiences for free.

? Instigate email marketing campaigns. These are inexpensive to produce and offer a direct line of communication with your customers and prospects.

? Look for ways to repurpose your informational content across multiple channels for extended value.

The Value of Professional Content Marketing Services

Despite these DIY options, you might find that partnering with professional content marketing services offers several advantages. Maintaining a regular content schedule can challenge small in-house teams. Professional services ensure consistent output–a critical success factor. Many companies have started down the content marketing path with a plan but found that, without a dedicated resource to manage it, their efforts become sporadic and far-flung. This does you little good.

Content marketing agencies have the skills and experience to produce high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your target audience. They can develop a comprehensive content strategy aligned with your business goals and audience needs. By outsourcing content creation, you allow your team to focus on core business activities.

Is it Worth It?

The initial costs of content marketing may seem daunting, but the long-term benefits and ROI potential make content marketing a worthwhile investment for small and medium-sized B2B companies. You can repurpose valuable, evergreen content that continues to generate results, making content marketing a cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising methods.

Start small with in-house efforts or partner with professional services, whichever makes sense for your organization and your budget. The key is to begin building your content library now to confirm your brand as a trusted industry voice.

Do not wait until you’ve arrived at “the ideal time” to take action with content marketing. I can tell you from experience that those times never arrive. There will always be something you think you need to do first, like redesigning the website, hiring a new sales manager, or converting to a new CRM platform.

I’ve heard all those excuses from potential clients before, only to check back with them months later. In almost every case, not only had they not started their content marketing program, they didn’t accomplish those prerequisites either!

My advice is to start working on your content marketing strategy now and adapt to those other developments as they occur. Delaying this initiative gives your competitors more chances to secure the “trusted source” status that plays such an important role in B2B sales, forcing you to play catch up.