When you think of marketing, what comes to mind? If you’re used to traditional forms of marketing, then commercials, billboards, radio ads, and magazine spreads likely come to mind.

In a sense, marketing is a lot like advertising.

However, this style of marketing is no longer the breadwinner for brands. If you look closely, you’ll find that digital marketing is now the forefront of brand campaigns.

And the thing that makes these excel is content.

Content comprises of everything from blogs and articles to e-books and videos. Without content, you have no way of reaching out to your core customers, to promote not only your products and services, but also your expertise and dependability.

Being of value to your audience is what helps position your brand as a go-to resource to consumers. And with this type of trust, it’s a lot easier to get a good reaction when you do mention your products or services.

If you’re still doubting the effectivity of content marketing, ask yourself: why else did marketers begin to use content in the first place?

And it’s not just a B2B thing; 60% of B2C marketers have committed to content marketing as well.

Now that you see how popular content is in the field of marketing, you may be wondering why.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons content is essential in marketing.

1. Reach More Prospects for Less

We can’t deny that many businesses are working with a limited budget. In fact, most of the U.S. is made up of small and medium-sized businesses.

This means there needs to be affordable ways to connect with their target customers. One way they’re doing so is with content.

It doesn’t cost anything to start a blog or open social media accounts. And, outsourcing content writing for these channels is a whole lot less financially consuming than billboard or commercial advertisements would be.

Just think of the reach brands get when one of their content pieces goes viral. It’s an instant boost in visibility, and they didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get it.

What’s more is that you can tailor your content to reach a specific audience. You can’t control who sees your billboards, but you can better control who sees your online content. All you need is a quality optimization strategy in place.

2. Better Nurture Your Customers

When it comes to B2B and B2C customers, it takes a lot longer for B2B clients to convert. This means you need a steady flow of quality, relevant content to send to them.

In doing so, you can maintain their attention and their consideration for your product or service. With content marketing, you can develop a strategy that caters to buyers in every stage of their journey.

For example, you can create informational content for the top of the funnel. This will educate your customers about their problem and offer them possible solutions.

Then, those who are already aware of their problem will move to the consideration stage. You can develop content for them, as well. For instance, you can create how-to videos, blog posts, testimonials, and case studies.

Then, once they’re ready to make a decision, you can help seal the deal by offering a discount or free trial.

3. Turn Customers Into Repeat Buyers

Besides converting leads into customers, content is also great for turning customers into repeat buyers. However, that’s only if you have a content plan that targets customers.

After all, the buyer’s journey doesn’t end when they make a purchase. This holds true whether you sell a product or you provide a service.

The next step is to continue building your relationship. You can offer additional content for this group, such as tips for using your product or service.

You can also educate them on other similar products or services they may be interested in. Or, if you offer tiers of services, you can try to upsell them when the time comes for them to upgrade.

For instance, if you offer an email marketing tool that limits the number of contacts they can manage and they’ve almost reached that limit, that would be a great time to upsell to them.

4. Get Found in Google and Other Search Engines

There’s no way to get your website in search engines without content. Sure, you can create a listing in Google My Business, but this isn’t going to entice users to click on your link.

That’s where content comes in. Still, without optimization, your audience won’t be able to find it. With content marketing, you can put together an SEO strategy that pushes your site to the top of the SERPs.

Of course, you’ll need to do careful keyword research to ensure you’re targeting low-competition keywords with a steady amount of monthly searches.

Creating quality and relevant content will also help to keep these visitors on your site and even potentially convert them.

5. Boost Your Presence on Social Media

Social media networks are excellent platforms for starting conversations with your audience. Still, what your prospects are really looking for is great content. They want to learn more about their issues and how to resolve them. And if they can learn how to prevent them in the future, then even better.

Whether you’re selling a product or service, you can use content to teach prospects about how they can benefit from it. And what better way to share this content than on social media?

Adding this into the mix can help grow your social media followers and possibly even catch the attention of influencers.

Speaking of which, you can reach out to these industry movers and shakers to build a content-sharing relationship. For example, you can write guest posts for their blog that suit their audience.

But, remember: this only works if you both have the same customer base.

Implementing Content Into Your Marketing Strategy

It’s time to stop ignoring the obvious; content is critical in creating a successful marketing campaign. People today consume more content than ever before. If your content isn’t in the mix, you’re going to quickly get left behind.

You can guarantee that your competitors are already using (or planning to use) content to drive in what could be your customer base.

If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of creating a content marketing plan and executing it, remember that you can always opt to have a content marketing agency do it for you.

Either way, make sure you have a content strategy that wins – in 2021 and beyond!

If you still have any doubts about your content marketing plan or need help to figure out the best content marketing strategy for your business, reach out to us at [email protected] or drop us a message in the comments section below.