Content is an investment

Since I set up my agency in July 2019, time and time again I’ve had to explain why online content is essential. Content marketing is nothing new. It simply refers to a brand who looks to create “valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.”[1] But with today's unstoppable digital innovation, online content now is more important than ever before. Firms who do not take it seriously are at risk of losing a world of potential customers.

 The necessity of fresh and relevant copy can be so baffling for some traditional firms and businesses. It’s not “selling” in a hard way, so why bother right? These businesses may tend to rely on more dated promotional techniques such as print advertising, aggressive sales messaging or trade magazine listings. This approach may have generated sales in the past, in the same way that door-to-door salesmen with hoovers used to be the best selling technique for 1940s housewives.

Your customers are ignoring your online adverts

We’ve now entered a different marketing era. Today’s savvy digital consumer blocks out ads effortlessly and discards sales pitches almost automatically. In 2016, marketers in the UK wasted more than ￡600 million on ads that were never seen by a human[2]. This generation of consumers is suspicious of sales tactics, and ignores paid ads when they search for information. One study shows that only 9% of digital adverts are actually seen by a human, and even then, the time spent reading averages at less than one second[3]. By contrast, people will spend an average of 123 seconds reading your long-form content (more than 1000 words), and are 25% more likely to recall your brand later[4]. They are also far more likely to find and trust your brand, by looking for helpful answers to their questions. Online content is the new kid on the block. And, given that is costs 62% less than traditional marketing but leads to three times as many leads[5], it’s easy to see why.

Your customers are looking for online content

Regular content builds trust with readers in a way which is sustainable. But for this to work, you need to get rid of the old-school hard sell and focus on your customer as a human. Once you do this, you are an expert in the field offering free advice, rather than a slimy ad trying to part them from their hard-earned money. Customers who are looking for a solution to a problem such as “how to fix frizzy hair” or “Christmas presents for in-laws” may very well be interested in your product. But they want to hear it from an experienced and impartial expert, not a sales pitch. In fact, 90% of consumers find that online video content about a product informs their final decision[6]. Furthermore, B2B (business to business) firms who incorporate blogging receive 67% more leads than those that don’t[7]. After all, when a customer walks into your business, you want them to be greeted by helpful experts. Not somebody who blindly shouts about how good your product is.

Brands have been catching on to the impressive return on investment and the appetite for high quality B2B and B2C (business to customer) content is becoming insatiable. Particularly among the most forward-thinking firms. For example, Apple Inc’s content strategy is focused on producing programmes for children[8], rather than hard selling its products to adults. Where is the link? Where is the hard sell? There isn’t an obvious link or sell, and that is the beauty. Customers come willingly to their brand with a feeling that they are not being hoodwinked into buying products. Because they are not. The best practice method for content marketing is known as the 80 / 20 rule[9]. 80% of your content should be about helping, entertaining or inspiring the customer, only 20% should be about your product or service. There are some wonderful examples of this, such as campaigns by Ikea and Dove.

Across the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, the number of content jobs created soared by 33%[10] last year. The rise in SEO related roles was even more staggering, with a 43% increase of positions since 2017. How did this come about? Why are freelancers, copy writers and content teams so essential for today’s successful businesses? Why is it so important to have this side to your business? Essentially, these are the same questions as, “why should we have a website?”, “why should we promote our product?”, “why should we have any sort of personality?”. Your website is your new shop door, it has to be accessible and open. How are your customers going to find you if you are on page 23 of google, with no engaging content to offer them? A successful sale in this way would surely be more about luck than strategy.

Your online brand is more important than your high street one

Think about it, how often do you search online for information compared to searching on the high street? Say you wanted to find out how to mix a delicious raspberry martini, would you walk to your nearest cocktail bar and awkwardly ask a bartender? Or would you have a quick google and get shaking? If you head to the high street before checking your smart phone, you may be in the minority. Bricks and mortar shops have seen a drop in the number of customers entering their doorways, which has fallen by 10% over the past seven years[11]. In fact, experts are predicting that an eye-watering 95% of all our purchases will be online by 2040[12].

Continue reading to find out how missing out on content means missing out on business. There are four more compelling reasons to discover...