Should your business invest in content marketing?

A sound content marketing strategy can deliver very real results for your business.

What kind of results? We’re talking increased brand visibility and customer loyalty. Through a variety of media, content can set your business up for more success.

That’s why every business should invest in content marketing. That means developing a strategy and getting to work on creating high-quality content that provides value to new and existing customers.

There are many different types of content that you can work into a marketing strategy, though. Let’s take a closer look at how these types of content can benefit your business and why your business should invest in a strategy to utilize them.

Why your business needs content marketing

When it comes to reaching customers on the internet and by other digital means, advertising quickly comes to mind. However, paid advertising isn’t what it used to be.

It’s not a well-kept secret that people rarely click on banner ads. Paid search ads do much better, but it’s still losing traction.

Enter content marketing. As Neil Patel puts it, content marketing differs from paid advertising because it’s purpose is to provide value to the audience in order to build trust and encourage them to become customers.

Advertisements, on the other hand, exist to try and extract something from the audience, such as a click or email registration. The hope is that this will lead them down the sales funnel on the path toward becoming a customer.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that customers prefer to learn than to be asked for something. That’s where content marketing delivers in areas advertising can’t. It creates value, builds trust and keeps people coming back to your business as a source of useful information or entertainment – sometimes both.

Great content leads to results

We mentioned previously that good content delivers tangible results for businesses. Here’s an overview of what you should be able to expect from a successful content marketing strategy.

First, you should notice an increase in website traffic. People should be able to find value in your site’s content. As long as you keep the site updated, that value is what keeps them coming back for more to learn about your products or services.

The next benefit is SEO. Search engines regularly reward websites with excellent blogs, articles and web pages by moving them up near the top of rankings. Take Google as an example. It will reward quality content for being authoritative and relevant for search users.

Content is also a key step in the sales funnel. Good content will result in direct conversions from website visitor to customer. How? Make sure the information on your website makes clear exactly what type of value you can offer to each individual customer.

When combined with well-researched keywords, content can truly shine.

Diverse content works best

Businesses have a wide range of content types that they can put to use. This includes blogs, video, audio, infographics, social media and many more. Your business doesn’t need to include every type of media in your content marketing strategy, but you should plan on creating multiple forms in order to diversify what you are offering to your audience.

By investing in a more diverse range of content, you can increase the ways you reach an audience – and even find ways to better reach different segments of your target audiences depending on their media preferences.

Start a blog or newsletter

Blogs are a great way to get started in content marketing. They are useful in establishing a relationship with your audience by showing your authority in your business’s industry and by developing a voice for your brand.

Google and other search engines will also notice regularly updated blogs. They’ll be more likely to reward your site with better rankings in search results if your website is updated. A blog takes care of this.

You can also start a newsletter and use your blog as a way to gain subscribers. Email newsletters allow business owners to add more levels of personalization to content specific to audience types and deliver your content straight to customers rather than have them look for you.

Invest in video

While written content was long considered the gold standard, video is quickly taking its place. Video is not skimmable, so people are more likely to consume it in its entirety – if it’s of a good enough quality.

Videos are perfect for demonstrating or explaining your business’s products, interviews showing your expertise, live events to draw in customers and more. Those are just a few of so many ideas.

Experiment with other forms of content

Never be afraid to try new forms of content to reach your audience. The risks are low, but once you find a type of content that works great for your business, then the rewards are high.

Do you have a talented artist on staff or access to one? Then you could consider creating infographics, which are simply a more visual form of storytelling than a blog or article.

Another option would be to start a podcast. Podcasts are increasing in popularity and are a great way for you to gain exposure for your business. Like all forms of content, you can use a podcast to establish authority in your industry by sharing your own insights, talking collaboratively with other industry leaders or connecting with your audience through shared topics of interest.

Don’t forget about social media

We don’t have to work too hard on convincing you on why your business needs to be active on social media, right? It’s a form of content marketing that has been around for years now and should absolutely be part of your broader marketing efforts.

If you do want a little convincing, then you can learn more by reading our social media blog posts, including this one on how to turn social media followers into customers.

We create content that delivers

The team at Emagine knows how to create content that will deliver real results for your business. It all starts with a strong website built with attracting both new and existing customers with strong keywords and SEO strategy.

From there, we add content marketing to the mix. Whether it’s through a blog, social media or some other media platform, Emagine can help your business provide potential buyers with valuable content that builds lasting loyalty to your brand.

Let us help tell your brand’s story. Contact Emagine today for a free consultation.