Why Content Marketing is so Important for Businesses

What is Content Marketing?

There are a number of ways people market businesses, brands, products and services to their target market. Content marketing is one such example of a form of marketing where content is created, published and distributed to a target audience. In the digital age this is mostly done online in the form of a blog, email, newsletter, podcast, video on social media or YouTube and so many other avenues.

This is a strategy used to engage an audience, attract potential clients and keep the current audience entertained and informed.?This is a great way to stay in the potential client’s mind if ever they need a services or product you will the top of the list. It helps the business become an expert in the field or industry it is operating in, if the business becomes the “go to” in the industry, the content is providing value. It shows that the business values its customers by providing the valuable content that will improve their experience with their product or service.

I’m sure you have come across the phrase “Content is King” in your marketing journey or you may just be discovering it now. The truth is, it is King in this day and age, imagine how much content people consume online. As a business you have to be one of the leading experts in your industry so that you may become the go to provider.

Why Content Marketing is so Important?

Relationship with your customers.

People will follow and subscribe to a page or account if it is providing good valuable content. Customers will comment on posts and reshare posts if it is valuable and if there is a relationship with the brand. Some businesses social media accounts are full of conversational back and forth with consumers. There is a relationship there that lasts longer than just the period a consumer is using the product or service. This helps increase brand loyalty, businesses want customers to come back to them over and over again. Content like product reviews, how to videos and other informative content builds a relationship with customers.

Stand out from competitors.

Business is very competitive, unless you are in a very specified niche market. Business is very competitive that is why you need to stand out from the rest. The content a business creates can be the reason that affects a consumer’s choice. If a business is providing content on how to use the product that the customer needs, why would they forgo that product for the one they have no clue how to use. The customer is most likely going for the one they have read about or watched a tutorial on. Content will help a business stand out from the competition.

Reputation

It will help the reputation of the business by building valuable content people trust. If a customer finds content a business is creating to be valuable, entertaining, informative and educational, they will view the business in that light. They will think the business is reputable. Some customers all they need to see is a blog and they say, the business is legit.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

?Search Engine Optimization is key for a business online visibility, content creation is a very effective SEO technique. The more optimized content you have the more your content will be indexed on search engines like Google. The goal is to be on the first page and at the top of the page in your industry. If you are creating valuable optimized content on a regular, you will be rewarded. Though SEO takes times and patients, it is rewarding.

Lead Generation

Content marketing is an affordable way to generate leads to your business. Business content will help drive traffic to its blog, account, page and other platforms which will in turn lead to purchases if the funnel is structured right. At the end of the day that’s the goal, content is being created so that we ultimately get leads. Yes, value should be given, entertainment should be had and when it is all said and done these should lead to getting customers. There needs to be a ROI (Return On Investment).

Expertise

Content marketing is a way for a business to show how much they know about the industry they are in. No consumer wants to buy anything from a mediocre business. Consumers want to know if they are dealing with the best or one of the best in the industry. Content marketing is a great way of showing expertise. By proving valuable, informative content the customer is getting more and more convinced of the knowledge in the industry of the business.

How to get started?

Pick your Audience: It is important that the business knows who their target audience is, this is the first step before even thinking about what to create. It’s the audience that determines everything else. The business needs to know, what consumers need to know, what are their pain points, what information would be most valuable to them. For a business it is important to be targeting customers and potential customers.

The Right Format: Where the audience the business has landed on in the first step is likely to consume the information. It could be video if the content is targeted at people who want to see how something works. Or say how to assemble a product. It could be a written blog post for how a certain service works.

Who Implements: Quality cannot be overstated, it is important that a business has the best people on the job to write, edit, create, proofread and publish the content that has been created.

Distribution Process: Where will the content be distributed and when will it be distributed is very important. Distribution can affect whether the content lands on the right audience. This is an essential step, it is also important to consider the platforms that will be used.

Scheduling: Building a realistic and actionable timeline is crucial, do not underestimate the time it takes to create content. It is important to know what pieces of content are to be rolled out months ahead so as to allow for planning.

?Conclusion

Whether you are a business or you want to build your personal brand, it is absolutely important that you implement content marketing into your strategy. Show the value you bring, your skills and expertise. In doing so build trust, loyalty and reputation with your potential clients.