Why Is Content Marketing More Than SEO?

I've spoken with people who believe that content marketing is only about writing SEO-focused blog articles to increase a website's search engine rankings. While SEO blog articles can form part of a content marketing strategy, they aren't the full picture.

A content marketing strategy begins with understanding who your ideal customers are, the problems they face, the outcomes they desire, and the emotions that drive their decisions. These details help you outline your content marketing strategy's goals, content formats, and metrics.

With this in mind, here are four reasons content marketing is more than SEO.

1. Content Gives Your Brand a Voice

Content helps you craft a message that represents what your brand stands for and helps you build a community. You have something to say that's worth sharing with people who want to hear it. An SEO blog article isn't the only way to share that message.

For instance, Dave Gerhardt uses his LinkedIn platform to talk about Exit Five, a membership site he created to help people build successful careers in B2B marketing. Dave and his team recently hosted their first in-person event, Drive. People who attended the event have been sharing how amazing it was, and their LinkedIn chatter is giving Exit Five more visibility.

But that's not what I want to focus on. Instead, I want to highlight one of Dave's LinkedIn posts. Check it out below.

Dave posted several videos and text-only posts before, during, and after the event. These posts collectively had 1,028,345 impressions! He didn't need any SEO content. He didn't need press releases. His LinkedIn posts gave his brand a loud voice that attracted the right people.

To be fair, Dave is what most people would call a LinkedIn influencer. He has 171,349 LinkedIn followers (when this article was published) and is well-known for his work with Drift, Privy, and MetaData. But his success didn't happen overnight.

I follow Dave, and what I love most about his LinkedIn presence is that he consistently shares helpful content based on his experience. He consistently posts videos where he shares helpful marketing tips and conversations he has with other B2B marketing leaders via his podcast.

He uses multiple content formats, repurposes his content well, and shares information that I find helpful as a B2B marketer. His content marketing strategy gives his brand a loud voice that grabs attention.

2. Content Helps You Lead Conversations

A content marketing strategy isn't about following your competitors. It's about carving out your place in the market by leading conversations that matter to your ideal customer.

Ross Simmonds is a good example of how content helps people lead conversations. He carved out his place in the market several years ago by focusing on an area most marketers neglected at the time—content distribution. His content focused primarily on how to effectively distribute content to deliver results, and he became known as the "Distribution King" in marketing circles.

Check out this interview I did with him a few years ago where he shared tips for a great content repurposing and distribution strategy.

WATCH IT HERE

Ross effectively leads the conversation around content distribution because his content marketing strategy helped him be seen as an authority on that topic. He's even written a book about content distribution called Create Once: Distribute Forever. This book is another content asset that cements his position as a content distribution expert.

Notice I said lead (not follow) conversations. Leading means that you're an example other people follow. Often, leading conversations means that you're discussing uncomfortable topics or focusing on critical areas people tend to gloss over. You shine a spotlight on topics that give people an A-HA moment.

Kerry-Ann Betton Stimpson 's Internal Marketing podcast is another good example. Prior to Kerry-Ann creating this podcast, helpful content related to internal marketing case studies and how to make internal marketing an effective part of a marketing strategy was limited. Few marketing leaders even considered internal marketing as part of their marketing strategies.

Kerry-Ann is now known in marketing circles as an internal marketing leader. She shines a spotlight on the value of internal marketing and shares practical content that helps marketers effectively implement it.

3. Content Shows That You Understand The People You Want To Reach

One of the first things I mentioned at the beginning of this article is that content marketing strategy is built on customer research. A content marketing strategy begins with understanding who your ideal customers are, the problems they face, the outcomes they desire, and the emotions that drive their decisions.

Building your content strategy without this solid foundation is like throwing spaghetti against a wall and hoping it sticks. You'll keep wondering why your strategy isn't working, piggyback off your competitors, and fall victim to changing your strategy at every whim.

Here's an example from Diane Wiredu ?? , a messaging strategist for B2B SaaS companies. Check out one of her recent LinkedIn posts.

Diane has positioned herself as a messaging strategist for B2B SaaS companies. She has worked with several B2B marketers and, therefore, understands their common frustrations and mistakes.

The LinkedIn post shown above starts with a reminder that speaks to the marketers who focus heavily on website revamps to improve their conversion rates. Diane says, "Q3 reminder: no number of copy tweaks, revamps, refreshes, or updates can help you.

She then establishes the criteria under which website revamps are valid and emphasizes the importance of messaging strategy. Click the link below to check out my interview with Diane to learn more about creating an effective B2B SaaS messaging strategy.

WATCH IT HERE

Diane's approach to this LinkedIn post applies to all content assets. All your content should demonstrate that you understand the people you're trying to reach. It's not about virality or massively increasing your follower account. Content marketing is about reaching your people, your tribe by demonstrating that you understand what matters to them.

4. Content Builds Trust

You build trust with your audience when you stop creating content solely to appease the SEO gods and focus instead on building a community based on trust. People who trust your brand are more likely to buy and tell others about it.

Juma Bannister is one of my favorite people on LinkedIn. I view him as a video marketing expert and trust him to provide excellent video marketing tips. One of the things I love about his content marketing strategy is that he is consistent.

I love seeing his videos and Useful Content Podcast episode snippets pop up in my feed. He doesn't miss a beat! He's mastered video content repurposing at a level that allows him to publish content almost daily.

Seeing his content so frequently keeps him top-of-mind for me. I trust him to deliver value. I trust him to create useful content. I trust him to help me in areas where I feel stuck with video marketing.

Focus Less on SEO and More on the Big Picture

Content marketing isn't only about writing SEO-focused blog articles. It's much bigger than that. Content marketing helps you create a variety of content that gives your brand a voice, helps you lead conversations, shows that you understand your ideal customer, and helps you build trust.

Build your content marketing strategy on customer research that helps you achieve those four objectives. You'll find that your brand gets discussed in rooms with decision-makers not because someone found your article in Google Search, but because that person experienced your helpful content in places that mattered to them. Your content resonated.