When you’re trying to attract new customers and grow your business, your first thought is probably investing in traditional marketing. And while paid advertising campaigns can certainly be effective, don’t overlook the power of additional marketing strategies like content marketing.
But why is content marketing important?
Discover the ins and outs of content marketing, including how you can use
small business content marketing strategies to strengthen relationships and drive leads for your brand.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is when businesses share valuable, relevant content that’s designed to appeal to their target customers. The idea is that those customers will be drawn to the content, which then creates an opportunity for the business to sell its products or services.
Many different types of audio, visual, and written content fall under the umbrella of content marketing, including:
- Blog posts
- Short-form videos
- Long videos
- Infographics
- Social content
- Webinars
- Ebooks
- Newsletters
- Podcasts
Unlike traditional advertising, content marketing generally doesn’t require paying a third-party advertiser like Google or Facebook. Instead, businesses create their content and share it on their websites or social media accounts.
Content marketing is organic. You don’t typically pay to get eyes on the content you share. You try to make your content discoverable through tactics like search engine optimization (SEO) and hashtags. Then wait for the audience to find it.
Building your audience takes time and some trial and error as you learn what those customers most want to see from your brand.
Content marketing isn’t just for consumer brands, either. Content marketing is also important for B2B brands — perhaps even more so, given the longer, more complicated buying cycle.
How Content Generates High-Quality Leads
The key to driving real business results with content marketing is publishing content that attracts the right audience. You want to attract customers who have real intent to purchase something and are actively seeking out information related to those topics. Compared to traditional outbound marketing, content marketing delivers customers who are higher-quality leads.
Sharing lead magnets is a great example. A lead magnet is a free resource you share with customers in exchange for them providing their contact information, like an email address. It’s a win-win. They get a valuable resource — like an ebook or checklist — that helps them solve a problem. And you get a high-quality lead.
Make sure to include clear calls to action (CTAs) in your content where appropriate to help turn potential customers into high-quality leads.
Building Trust and Credibility Through Content
Customer relationships are everything to the success of a business, and they start with trust. What better way to build trust than by highlighting your brand’s expertise and consistency through content?
Informational Content
When you share educational content — like blog posts, guides, and infographics — you’re giving the audience information they need or want. At the same time, you’re showcasing how much your team members know about the industry and how your expertise lends itself to solving the customers' problems.
Testimonials and Reviews
Similarly, sharing testimonials from happy customers or case studies will reinforce trust with potential customers by showing them the positive impact your brand has on existing customers. A well-crafted case study can convince someone who was on the fence about your business that shopping with you will go well. After all, it did for other customers.
Try to include light storytelling in your content to help humanize your brand, too. A quick look behind the curtain of your business or a relevant anecdote helps customers feel like they know you, boosting trust.
Why Content Marketing Strengthens SEO
Ranking higher in the Google search engine results will boost your brand’s visibility — and by a lot. The way to achieve higher rankings is through search engine optimization (SEO), and sharing great content is a big part of that.
Google rewards websites that consistently share fresh, valuable content with higher rankings. Other details of your content — such as internal links to other pages on your website, adding strategic keywords, and a high-level approach to the topic — also improve your rankings.
Apply
SEO tips for small businesses to help your content rank higher and make it easier for audiences to discover. If your website consistently shows up in the first few results for related searches, you’ll build long-term authority within your industry.
How Content Supports Every Stage of the Buyer Journey
A strong content marketing strategy involves creating different types of content for each stage of the buyer journey, from awareness to decision. Part of why content marketing is so important is that it allows you to connect with customers, no matter what stage they’re at. Tailor your content based on these guidelines.
Awareness
In the awareness stage, the customer realizes they have a problem that needs fixing, but they’re not actively seeking a solution yet. The best content for customers in this stage is short, searchable content — like blog posts, short-form videos, and guides.
Consideration
In the consideration stage, the buyer has a better understanding of their problem and begins researching solutions. Your content for buyers in this stage should be focused on potential solutions, such as:
- Webinars
- Product comparisons
- Shopping guides
- Expert roundups
Decision
The final stage is the decision stage. At this point, the customer is evaluating specific businesses and products to find the best solution to their problem.
Your content for this stage should focus on differentiating your business from competitors. Try sharing case studies, demonstration videos or pictures, and detailed product pages.
At each stage, your content should help position your business as a trustworthy source for useful information. Don’t neglect customers in the awareness and consideration stages. With the right content, you can form a connection that gets them to come back to your brand when they’re ready to make a purchase.
Measuring Content Marketing Success
Like any marketing strategy, content marketing requires some trial and error. You need to start sharing content, then analyze the content performance to better understand what works and what doesn’t.
Even if you think the content is super valuable, look at what your metrics are telling you. It may simply not resonate with your audience for some reason.
Focus on core metrics like:
- Organic traffic: How many people discover your content (other than through paid ads).
- Engagement: When the audience likes, shares, and comments on your content.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of your content’s visitors who take a desired action, such as signing up for your newsletter or joining a webinar.
Periodically revisit your content marketing strategy to see if there’s room for improvement based on your performance data. It’s often worth incorporating new content marketing trends into your strategy, like the growing emphasis on
user-generated content.
Consider using attribution tools to help you understand the avenues customers take to arrive at your content and potentially make purchases. These tools can help you see which channels have the greatest impact so you can invest in them more.
Strengthen Your Content Strategy With Optimize Digital Marketing
The right content marketing strategy can be what your business needs to build trust with potential customers, strengthen your brand authority, and generate high-quality leads. Of course, then you need to execute that strategy, which can be the tricky part.
Luckily, Optimize Digital Marketing is here to help with content marketing and
social media management. Our team will create a customized content plan for your business to make sure you have a consistent stream of valuable content that resonates with your target customers.
Contact us today to get started.
