Content marketing can be a tough sell when it comes to marketing a business. However, there are some underrated advantages to long-term growth through content marketing that any brand should not overlook. From increased brand recognition to lowering the amount you may need to spend per conversion, content marketing is a clear winner in your long-term marketing strategy.
In the world of search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing sales, content marketing packages might seem a little flashy when you look at what agencies have to offer or what a freelancer might try to sell you. The proof, however, is in the quality of leads, process standardization and automation, and control over the conversation you can impart. Imagine having all the answers to customers’ questions about your niche. With good content marketing, you can control that landscape and buying environment.
Table of Contents
- Automate Some of Your Marketing
- Improved Quality of Leads
- Brand Recognition Meets Display Advertising
- Your Control the Conversation
- Long-Term Success
Automate Some of Your Marketing
While you should never fully automate your marketing tasks, you can automate some of them or use tools to prompt you to take the next step. For example, you can prompt a calendar reminder to audit your existing content once per quarter or look through your last month of content so you can decide what to repurpose depending on your audience.
Smart email tools can help you create emails prompting your readers to view your blog post. You should always edit and customize these, but half the work should be done for you if you’re using the right tools — and the same goes for social media posts. This allows you to devote more of your time to areas of customer conversation that involve a personal touch, like keeping your community active and responding to questions, concerns, and comments.
Improved Quality of Leads
Imagine selling stuff to people who are actually interested in wanting to hear what you have to say! That’s the power of content marketing. Prospective and current customers are more receptive to your sales messages because there’s already been a conversation and an exchange: they already trust you.
Because you have an existing rapport, reputation, and authority with them, these are people who are going to not only listen to what you have to say but also tell other people about it by sharing your content and their experiences with your products and services.
When you have an initial sales conversation with someone from your audience, they’re a “warm” lead, already familiar with why they might need your products and services. In many cases, you can launch into a conversation about their needs and find the best service or product for them.
Band Recognition Meets Display Advertising
Because of that brand recognition, your display advertising will be more effective when your ads are served to people who are already familiar with your product — or repeat customers. This means your cost per conversion will cost less for your display ads, as your content marketing is doing the work of educating products and customers about topics relating to your brand.
The more they know about you, the more likely they are to click. The more they click, the more likely they are to buy. The more confidence they already have in your brand, the fewer times you’ll have to have ads and sales conversations before they say yes.
You Control the Conversation
When you control the narrative and promote strong, bold, branded content, you shape the conversation and opinions around your products. This can help you associate your brand with your prospect’s interests. People see the narrative that you’re putting out there, and you can use this to curb uncertainty surrounding your brand or to generate trust in case of a problem with your branding or an incident that makes the news.
Long-Term Success
Content marketing is a long-term strategy, not something that works overnight. However, there are metrics you can track right away, such as page view traffic. Where is it coming from? If you’re getting page views from your sponsored content, guest blogs, social media posts, and more, you’ll see that your content marketing is working. Keep tracking those metrics (you can access some critical metrics like this through Google Analytics) and embrace long-term growth.
Some business owners aren’t excited about a strategy that takes time to execute, but choosing content marketing puts you at an advantage versus your competitors. While the investment is long-term, the risk is low, especially when you factor in the optimization of your display ads, the narrative you can control around your brand, and the quality of leads you can attract. You can even automate some of your digital marketing strategies. Think of it as part of the foundation of your business: if it’s strong, content marketing can help your business weather storms that come its way.
