Why Content Marketing is Important for Your Business

Most businesses are aware that they should be doing some form of content marketing. The phrase “content is king” is still just as relevant today!

However, companies may not be aware of the full range of benefits, or how to use it as effectively as possible to boost brand awareness and increase conversions. In this blog, we take a look at some of the reasons why content marketing is important for your business.

Is content marketing important for every business?

Some people might think that content marketing is only necessary in certain industries, but we strongly believe that every business can use content marketing to their advantage. It’s all about producing content that is relevant to your target audience.

Content marketing is used to educate and inform existing and potential leads, which will help improve your conversions. As well as building trust, it also acts to identify potential problems that consumers might experience, and provides them with the answers or solution they need to make an informed purchase.

When it comes to content marketing, you should think about the sales funnel. There are multiple versions of the sales funnel, but if we take Hubspot’s as an example, the key stages to making a sale are: Attract, Convert, Close and Delight.

(Credit: Hubspot)

Content marketing can be used at all stages of the sales funnel but is particularly important when it comes to attracting before a sale and delighting after a sale. 

There may be people out there who don’t know your product or service exists or haven’t yet realised they need it. However, if you can produce blogs or social media posts which outline potential solutions to questions and queries people may have, you will attract new customers.

When it comes to the ‘delight’ stage, this is all about maintaining your relationships with existing customers. By staying active and providing them with interesting and engaging content, you are ensuring that you stay in their minds and this might well lead to a repeat purchase.

Key benefits of content marketing

Build trusting relationships with your customers

One key advantage of content marketing is that it allows you to have a more open relationship with your customers. Through blog content and social media posts, you open up more channels of communication and engage in personal interactions with consumers.

Boost brand awareness

Many consumers use content to get an idea of the ‘vibe’ of a certain brand, whether that’s through their social media feeds, blog content or downloadable e-books. If you can provide valuable insights, and stand out as unique among other players in your field, you’ll generate really positive opinions of your brand.

Improve your SEO efforts

A really important aspect of content marketing is knowing how to ensure your content is visible in search results. If people have a query, their first port of call will most likely be Google. If you can appear on the first page of results by answering their questions, you’ve already got a captive audience.

Regular publication of content on your website will help improve your website’s overall SEO by showing Google that ‘the lights are on’.

Content can also assist with SEO by helping your digital PR efforts. If you are able to create a truly original and valuable piece of content hosted on your website, you will naturally attract a large number of backlinks from other publications. This boosts your website’s fighting chances in the Google search results.

If you’re looking for advice on your SEO strategy, take a look and see how we can help.

Related article: What is Digital PR and How Are Brands Using It?

Inform and educate consumers

People don’t just want sales pitches from company marketing any more, they want industry news and the potential to learn something new. If you can provide something of value to potential customers, they will be more likely to reward you by visiting your site again at a later date.

Establish your company as an industry expert

Similarly, when you’re informing and educating consumers, content provides you with the opportunity to establish your company as an industry leader. This will really help to solidify your relationship as a trustworthy and authoritative brand. It may also increase your presence on other websites as people discuss and link to your content as a valuable resource.

Have a voice on key social issues

Another thing that consumers increasingly want from companies is a sense of social responsibility. Whether it’s genuine care for and action on environmental issues or involvement with charities, having an authentic passion for social issues and broadcasting this in the content you market will help attract and retain a loyal customer base.

Bring in new leads

Whether new leads come across your SEO optimised blog in the Google search results, or find you through a shared post on social media, regular content production only increases your chances of bringing in new leads. These leads may not be at the decision-making part of the sales funnel yet, but they will become aware of your brand and will be finding reasons for engaging with your products or services.

Increase conversions

According to a report by Hubspot, marketers who prioritise blogging efforts are 13x more likely see positive ROI. Another research report by Aberdeen Group found that Conversion rates are nearly 6x higher for content marketing adopters than non-adopters.

By giving consumers more detailed information on what they need to know about a particular solution, they are more able and more likely to make an educated purchase decision.

Ensure you keep a loyal customer base

As we briefly mentioned earlier, the ‘delight’ stage of the sales funnel is all about keeping people interested, and content marketing is perfect for this. Whether you are sending out interesting updates to your mailing lists or posting amusing observations on Twitter, a continual effort to keep people interested will reward you with repeat business.

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We hope you enjoyed this delve into the variety of reasons why content marketing is important. If you’d like to discover how we could help you with content marketing, feel free to drop us an email and say hello.