Last month, Zivtech’s marketing team attended Philadelphia’s Digital Summit. The two day digital marketing conference was packed with sessions that covered a wide range of topics, but one idea still reigned supreme: traditional marketing tactics aren’t as effective as they used to be, and content marketing is as important as ever.
Content marketing is a strategy that focuses on creating helpful and relevant content for a specific audience. The goal is to attract customers by solving issues rather than simply promoting products. According to a study by Content Marketing Institute, 89% of B2B companies and 86% of B2C companies are using content marketing, a testament to how effective it is.
Many of these companies are large with a substantial budget and team of marketers, but its cost effective nature means that small businesses can get in on the action too. If your startup isn’t already doing content marketing, this is why you should jump on the bandwagon.
Boost Your SEO
“Content is king” is a common refrain when it comes to search engine optimization. A search engine’s goal is to deliver the best possible results for every search query, so websites with quality content are rewarded with higher search rankings.
As a small business, it can be difficult to compete with some of the bigger players. Consistent, fresh content on your website can help improve your search ranking standing. Customers will be able to find you more easily, and you’re able to compete more effectively with similar companies in your market.
Attract Your Target Market
Unlike the outbound marketing strategies of yore, content marketing can be tailored to highly specific subsets of your audience. You probably already have an idea of who your customer base is, but Google Analytics can provide further insight with an overview of audience demographics. Google Search Console also shows you the queries your site visitors searched to land on your site.
Generate content around these query topics to start, and then do further keyword research to determine which queries you can capitalize on. Consider all of your business’s target personas and create different content for each to address their unique questions or issues. An effective content strategy has the power to reach exactly who you want.
Build Customer Relationships
The vast majority of people are tired of sales pitches and promotional content. We see countless advertisements every day and our inboxes overflow with emails from brands promoting new products. These tactics are centered on the marketer instead of the consumer.
A study by NewsCred showed that 62% of millennials felt that online content was a driving force behind their loyalty to a brand. This validates the idea that content marketing helps build relationships with your customers. Useful information is always perceived more positively than the average sales pitch.
Add quality content to your website not only to show that you’re knowledgeable, but to also facilitate trust with your customers.
Engage on Social Media
Engaging on social media gives your business a personality and shows that you want to listen and converse with your customers. Implementing a content strategy can quickly help improve your social media presence.
Consistent and relevant content on your website gives you material to share and post, and if it’s hitting its mark, your followers will want to share and engage with it. Your content can act as a starting point for valuable interaction with your customers.
Improve Your Sales Process
Content marketing is invaluable when it comes to the sales process. A good strategy will not only include content for each target persona, but will also be crafted for specific stages of the buying cycle. Sales representatives can better nurture your business’s leads when they have useful content that can be shared during every phase of the buyer’s journey.
Save Money
As a small business, you probably don’t have a large marketing budget. The good news is, content marketing is cheaper than the majority of outbound marketing tactics. If you can’t afford to hire a full-time, in-house employee, consider working with an external marketing team who can develop content for you.
Get On Board
Content marketing isn’t a new strategy, and with the amount of competition for attention online, it’s certainly here to stay. Implementing a content strategy as a small business will help you compete in search rankings and attract specific subsets of your audience. It can also fuel social media engagement, help build customer relationships, and help your sales team nurture their leads.
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