Have you ever wondered how some companies seem to “own” certain keywords, which allow them to vault up the search engines to kick their competitors’ collective butts?
Most assuredly, their keyword dominance has a lot to do with content marketing.
Over the past few years, content marketing has become one of the defining forces for increasing web visibility, traffic, and sales. You’ll find content marketing under a variety of banners: corporate publishing, corporate journalism, customer publishing, custom media, customer media, private media and branded media. Regardless of what you call it, it’s all about creating and distributing valuable, relevant content. Most content marketing items like white papers, articles, blogs, videos, and other types of content posts are tailored around carefully researched keywords. Including (and marketing) these keywords makes sure the right people find your information. Once your specific target audience finds you, your content marketing then needs to engage them to do something.
In social media parlance, the name of the game is getting people to “like you” which really means they’re open to buying your product or service.
The key to super-effective content marketing is simple. You need to tempt your potential buyers to buy without overly engaging in the act of selling.
Not actively engage in selling? Then, what’s the point?
The point is to deliver quality information that informs, not sells.
Instead of approaching potential customers with a methodical (boring!) sales pitch, you woo them with the information they’re actively seeking to make a good decision. People like to make good decisions. It makes them feel good. They like to tell others when they’ve made a good decision. If they happen to make a good decision because you helped them to make that good decision, well, it’s good for them…and it can be really good for you as well. In fact, studies show that connected consumers are 50% more likely to recommend their favorite retailers.
Not convinced? Well, here are some more eye-opening facts and figures about content marketing.
According to Roper Public Affairs, approximately 80% of buyers favor receiving a company’s information in a series of articles versus a traditional advertisement. Over 70% say content marketing makes them feel more inclined to trust a company, while 60% say that company content enables them make more sound product decisions.
Why does content marketing work?
- It is inbound marketing. You are not intruding or interrupting! Your customers are finding you…not the other way around.
- It breeds customer loyalty and keeps your existing customers coming back.
- It can easily create marketing advocates…people who “like” you. These people are willing to let their friends, families and co-workers know about the great information you’ve provided by forwarding, retweeting, or reposting your tidbits of knowledge. (This is one of the coolest things about content marketing. We’ll be talking about it in depth in an upcoming post.)
- It can easily pinpoint a targeted message to appeal to a wide range of audiences. Content marketing levels the playing field. You don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad budgets to compete with the bigger boys. You have something new to say? Write it, market the content, and reap the rewards.
If you are willing to continuously engage your target consumer, content marketing is a fantastic way to build customer loyalty and retention. It can also open new doors to prospecting opportunities, which can ultimately generate more sales dollars.
If you would like to explore adding content marketing to your online arsenal, give A3K Advertising a call. We can help you create thoughtful, relevant content campaigns…the type of information your customers will look forward to finding, receiving…and sharing!
