And do I need to include it in my marketing strategy…?
Sales, advertising, and PR are just a few great ways big companies market their business. But for most independent businesses, the marketing budget doesn’t stretch so far.
For us, any marketing spend must prove a good return on investment and for that there’s no better way than through content marketing.
Not only is it an extremely low cost and measurable way of expanding your reach, it’s also a necessary step in meeting the evolving expectations of consumers.
With everything from shopping, education and entertainment now readily available online, consumer trends have changed. Online is where they are spending more time and money, and where you should be too, if you’re a small business looking to grow…
It’s all about the user search intent
When people are looking for a review, advice, product, or service, where’s the first place they go to look? Google!
Content marketing is about fulfilling the search intent of the user, with content that gets your brand noticed.
Careful keyword research and selection helps to produce content that your audience can easily find in few clicks of a button.
Ideally you would begin with your marketing objectives and work backwards:
- What is it that you want to be known for?
- What product benefits do you want to make people aware of?
- What questions can you shed light on, that will help build trust in your brand?
These are all great things to start thinking about when considering the type of content and platforms that would best reach your target customers.
Examples of content marketing
When we say content, we’re talking about anything from FAQs pages on websites, to YouTube videos, step-by-step guides, or helpful blogs and tips.
It can come in the form of podcasts or documentaries, Facebook adverts or LinkedIn articles.
Blogging is a fantastic (and free) way to promote your brand. If you post regularly to your website with relevant and engaging content, you’re indirectly marketing your products or service to your readers.
Newsletters are another free and easy way to reach your current customers, and by keeping them regularly updated with interesting content, they are open to any new product releases or special offers that you might run.
Any way that you can make a statement, endorse, or bring attention to your brand is considered content marketing. The best thing about it, most digital media platforms are free to use.
Seek to add value
The key to successful content marketing is to write with your reader in mind.
You’re not directly selling to your audience. Instead, you’re subtly helping them to come to their own conclusions with the information that you readily make available to them.
If your content is particularly engaging, web surfers will spend more time on your web pages (which makes Google boost your pages even more!). You want to aim to make your content so great/funny/useful that your readers share it with others. Increase in web traffic = increase in potential customers… ka-ching!
By offering real value (for free), you’re showing that you’re an expert in your subject area, which gives you credibility and of course, people just love something for free. The fact is, people who like you are far more likely to buy from you. And this brings me onto the stages of the marketing funnel.
The marketing funnel
*The purpose of content marketing is to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.*
Your audience will discover you at different stages of their buyer journey. But first off, you have to make them aware of your brand – who you are and what you do.
Secondly, you want to engage them to bring them to the point where they are considering your product or service, alongside others that they have researched. Testimonials and peer reviews are great pieces of content that can help to grow that trust.
Once they have chosen to spend their money with you, it’s important to continue to nurture your connection with them, as this is the best way to turn buyers into repeat customers.
With a positive customer experience, they will tell their friends, write great reviews, and guess what, your customers are now marketing your product for you!
Knowing the intent of the searcher allows you to understand where your audience is in the sales cycle.
Joice Carrera, Content Writing 101
Content marketing for lead generation
You’ll find several variations on the marketing funnel out there, but this particular model illustrates the stages well.
Once you know what stage your buyer is at along the journey, you can better target them with relevant content that will help them to make decisions.
For example, if someone signs up to your mailing list and ticks the box in your contact form that says, ‘please send me your brochure’ then you can guess that they are not quite ready to buy.
Warming them up and nurturing them through the stages has far better results than hitting them cold with the sale before they are ready for it.
People want to learn before they buy, be educated instead of pitched
Brian Clark, Copyblogger
If you’re not onboard, you’re already behind
Rarely do people buy these days without doing their research – when it comes to a large purchase especially. That means that your audience is looking around for information, testimonials, reviews, and social proof from others that justify that your product or service is the right one to spend their money on.
Content marketing helps to develop this trust and creates the opportunity to build a loyal customer base.
If you show up with helpful content your audience will too, so it’s well worth putting in the groundwork.
Key takeaways
- It’s about building trust, lead generation and setting the groundwork for the sale
- Put value at the heart of all content that you publish
- Regular, useful content helps boost web traffic to your site
- Your activity and campaigns give measurable results
If you’d like help putting a blog together, get in touch, I’d love to help.