“Content Marketing is a commitment. Not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall
What you do with your business and how you run it in relation to your customers determines its success. When you speak about your business it must be with the aim to not just improve business but also show your dedication and commitment to your customer. Improving business through content marketing is about creating easily understood information that customers find value in – content through which their questions are answered and problems are resolved. Content marketing must be aimed at educating the customer, building and sustaining trust and of course ultimately selling the company’s offerings at the most profitable price margins. Creating great content must be the aim of all companies that wish to enhance their business through content marketing. The content must speak to the customers – tell them the ‘story’ of your company – the passion and culture that you have. Even if your products are not ready to go on sale, content marketing will build relationships and create a space for your company in the minds and lives of customers. The end goal must be clear in your mind so that it can clearly reflect in your strategy for content marketing.
Across industries, the one common is that those companies that can influence the customer to need and use their company’s offerings are the ones who are successful. Content marketing convinces customers about the efficacy and use of a company’s products and makes them want them rather than be coerced into buying them. Being able to convince customers in such a manner leaves them satisfied and feeling that they made a decision based on what they wanted rather your company telling them to buy. So how does content marketing work? Does your company use this effective tool to improve business through more sales?
- Content marketing is not a sales tool. It simply puts the message of your company across in a structured and passionate manner. Customers do not see it as a method to sell to them and therefore are more amenable to listening and even buying.
- Customers expect accurate information with the least amount of confusion and jargon. Content marketing must be aimed at informing and educating the readers without words that will confuse them.
- Original and great content is always invigorating and exciting and nudges people to share it with others. Such interesting content received through friends and peers makes people read them rather than if these pieces were ‘unsolicited’ messages from companies trying to sell.
- Content marketing ensures that your customers remain interested in the happenings in your company and will circle back to look at your website and actually spend time on it since you have got them interested with what you say and how you say it.
- This increased ‘traffic’ and more time spent on a company’s website and or social media pages, are just the impetus required to convert queries and ‘curiosity’ to sales.
- Content marketing has to do with continually updating your website and building matter on it that will let popular search engines pick up your website amongst others and encourage people to look at it. These search engines also provide certain hints to companies about how many people are reading the content on your sites, how many times it is shared, what is shared more often and which portions are gaining more popularity.
- As people view and share the content from your sites, the higher credibility search engines attach to it. As the content becomes popular, the company’s ranking also improves with time.
- Content marketing is not only a powerful promoter of a brand it also helps to make it easier for readers and customers to find it over the large world of the internet. Done well content marketing not only attracts ‘views’ it also changes these views into sales. Effective content establishes the position of the company as an authority on the particular subject or subjects making it even more convincing for customers and prospective ones.
There are different kinds of ways to create content – short crisp educational documentaries, interactive content marketing videos, written content and or a combination of all. The key is finding a format that suits your company and maybe go on to using more than one format as you get better and your company’s content becomes sought after.
There is no doubt that people become customers because they like to buy. But the contrary part is that no one likes to be given a sales pitch – ‘don’t sell to me’. The instant people feel like they are being sold to, they feel pressured, defensive and are wary. Content marketing gives people the relevant information without the feeling of being ‘targeted’ to make a sale. This is the reason that the internet has gained so much popularity – people cannot even think of making a decision without viewing sites and information over the internet. Everything that must be marketed, sold, discussed about must have the relevant words – the content that will keep people fixated on it. With time, people get curious and will want to find out more about your company, its products and the solutions that you offer. Through content marketing you are not only building content but also trust and confidence in your company.
Content marketing, positions your company as an expert not just in your area of operation but also in related areas. There would be some content that would be naturally your area of expertise and for some you might need to use the help of a professional writer who would be good at writing content on a number of subjects. Companies often package their knowledge on a variety of subjects in the form of blogs or their social media sites that carry additional but relevant information.
Websites and pages with informative and updated content are known to receive more views and internet ‘traffic’. According to a study websites that have blogs get at least 55% more views. That is a huge number given the fierce competition and tactics employed by companies to gain more customers and business. The quality and frequency of content and backlinks also affects your company’s search rankings. The more relevant both these aspects are the greater will the visibility of your company and its products will be. Companies are able to build backlinks on their website when their content is found relevant and people share it across a number of channels especially social media. In fact great content is the reason why companies and individuals are ‘followed’ over social media sites. Reports reveal that of the online time people spend at least 23% is spent on social media sites where people are able to find great content and the people who write it. Companies who have leveraged the power of content marketing have been able to gain more visibility and a large flow of ‘visitors’ on their website and also have these visitors share the content on their site with their friends and associates via different channels.
The reports on how content marketing builds trust and customer loyalty are also very significant. At least 60% customers are more confident and find a company more dependable that have great content and at least 70% people become customers based on the articles and content put out by a company than their advertising attempts. This effectively means that content marketing can clearly elucidate who you are as a company – the culture and values and what your customers can expect from you.
Customers we know prefer doing business with people they trust and content marketing builds this trust and makes your company more likeable. This is irrespective of the size of your company and any company can build a sizeable audience and engage them for a longer period of time. Content marketing may seem tough and uphill to start with – but over time as the content becomes more meaningful and people find their issues getting resolved through it, your company’s reputation will soar and your profits will increase.
