When you hear the term ‘content marketing, what comes to mind? I bet it’s blogs, viral YouTube videos, Facebook etc. But, in fact, content marketing has existed since long before all of these. Before we discuss why content marketing is essential for any business, let’s understand what is it.
Content marketing is all about telling stories, and our attention always turns to the one who’s a good storyteller. The better story you tell about your business, the stronger the relationship you make with your target audience.
The Content Marketing Institute defines it as-
… a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
It is a long-standing strategy that centers on building a durable relationship with your focus audience by giving them high-quality content that is relevant to them on a consistent basis.
Why is content marketing essential in the early stage, for any business?
The world is a noisy place and oftentimes people find themselves feeling alone, struggling to find their way. In today’s date, attention is all we seek! Content marketing shows that you actually care about your customers. This emotion is a powerful tool while promoting your new business.
The essential roles of content marketing boil down to the following:
📷 Builds trust that in turn strengthens your brand reputation-
One of the chief benefits of content marketing is the reputation-building potentials of good content. It’s important to build trust with your customers and leads, the brand reputation of your business depends on it. And content marketing has got your back there! Opinions are formed on the basis of the content you put up. If it’s engaging, informative, helpful, that’s the opinion your customers will have about your business. During the early stage of any business, word of mouth plays a huge role. And that’s where you use content marketing to reel in your target audience.
📷 A cost-effective way to bring in new leads- Lead generation is extremely important in any new business. That’s how you get constant traffic that directs to sales boost and growth. ‘Though content marketing costs about 62% less than traditional marketing tactics, it generates about 3 times as many leads, according to Demand Metric.’ It’s affordable and that’s what makes it a valuable asset to any new business.
📷 Influence conversion through content marketing- It gives customers the information they need to make a calculated purchase, in the process helping improve conversion. It allows you to bond with your target customers and edify them. Here are some conversion stats to understand the importance of content marketing in the early stage of a business:
Content marketing provides conversion rates about 6 times higher than other digital marketing methods. (ABG Essentials)
After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of online consumers in the U.S. decided to make a purchase. (Content Marketing Institute)
According to 74% of companies surveyed, content marketing has increased their marketing leads, both in quantity and quality. (Curate)
📷 Enhance your SEO efforts- The importance of content marketing becomes clearer when you understand the role it plays in helping your business improve its Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Optimized content enhances SEO, which in turn helps with the visibility of your business online. According to Tech Client, content creation is the most effective SEO technique. The more content you provide on your site, the more pages the search engine has to show the users in their results. This leads to higher on-site time and Google takes time spent on a site as a gauge that you provide worthful content. This will positively affect your SEO.
📷 Flaunt your expertise on the subject matter- We have already established that content marketing help customers make an educated purchasing decision. What this aspect of content marketing also does is it make the customers feel that they are dealing with people who know the nuts and bolts of their business. Every time you put up content, you let the customers know that you are aware of the nitty-gritty of the industry, which in turn helps you build trust.
📷 Set yourself apart from your competitors- It is important to distinguish yourself and stand out in this busy digital marketplace. Your content has the power to influence the consumer to choose your brand over your competitor’s. It will help you develop your own voice and be unique. A new business needs that hint of uniqueness if it wants to remain in the game for the long haul! Content marketing is the key here. Play with words set the tone of your brand through it, captivate your customers’ curiosity. This brand personality can help you connect with your target buyers and show them what makes your business special and why should they choose you over your competitors.
📷 Build your marketing funnel- Imagine a funnel with lots of opportunities going in at the wide mouth end of it, and a lower number of sales coming out the bottom end. That’s what a marketing funnel is. How is content marketing helpful in that?
Top-of-Funnel: At the top of the funnel, your prospective customers are starting to become aware of their problems and the fact that solutions are available. During this stage, content can help educate and get them the information needed to decide which type of solution might help.
Middle-of-Funnel: Here, leads are assessing their options for products or solutions. During this stage, content is there to educate the leads on what options are there for them to narrow their choices from, and reach closer to an informed purchasing decision.
Bottom-of-Funnel: Once leads reach this part, this means that they are ready to convert. Content, during this stage, is meant to give a final nudge to the buyer and embolden them to make an informed purchasing decision.
With all the benefits of content marketing, it’s easy to see why it’s important for the early stage of a business.