Why Your Business Needs Content Marketing?

Traditional marketing is dead.

The average consumer hasn't responded to traditional marketing in years, ignoring television ads and blocking out magazine ads with smartphones. They've mastered “surfing” online sites and quickly gloss right over display ads.

The world of marketing is shifting: Consumers are now looking for more than a simple product or service. They're looking to connect with brands that can provide them with useful information.

And as a result, marketers are turning to content marketing – creating blogs, articles, and even multimedia products that help them build their brand today. But what exactly is content marketing?

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing useful and relevant content with the goal of attracting, acquiring, and engaging a clearly defined and clearly understood target audience. And, in turn, driving profitable customer action.

In simple terms, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. When you deliver information, you are not pitching your products or services, but making your buyer more knowledgeable.

The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if businesses deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately get rewarded with long-term business and loyalty.

Yet many business don’t know whether they should invest in content marketing. CMI research indicates that 32% of marketers are unhappy with their content creation workflows. The only reason marketers get impatient is they expect quick results.

But here’s the silver lining with content marketing – 94% of senior marketers found content marketing to be the catalyst in their growth cycle. (Oracle)

In other words, content marketing is a failure-proof strategy.

Top Reasons Why Companies Should Have a Content Marketing Strategy?

Content marketing is the substance that fuels all other forms of marketing.

But it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Research shows that content marketing takes approximately 6 to 9 months to work. Which is a lot for B2B businesses where you expect quick growth. While traditional or native advertising can get you quick results, content marketing will help your business stay afloat in the long run as 78% of CMOs see custom content as the future of marketing.

So, momentary profit or long-term sustainable brand – the choice is yours!

Let’s take a look at the reasons why most business rate content marketing so high in their marketing arsenal:

1. Ad Costs Are Going Up And People Want Relevant Content

There are two trends in advertising right now: costs are going up, and consumers hate ads. The Internet has made it easier than ever to reach your target audience, but this also means that there are more businesses competing for those eyeballs. As competition increases, so do costs.

At the same time, consumers are getting savvier about avoiding ads. Ad blockers have been downloaded more than 750 million times, and almost half (42.7%) of all U.S. millennials use ad blockers atleast a month.

This means you’ll need to get creative in order to reach your target audience. That’s where digital content marketing comes in.

Today, digital platforms are an excellent way to advertise, even for companies with small marketing budget. Because they're significantly less expensive than traditional types of media. For instance, social media Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions (CPMs) can be as low as $3, while the equivalent for radio is sometimes up to $10 and $28 for television.

What’s more? Besides helping you generate more leads at cheap rates, it also allows you to connect with your target audience on a deeper level by providing them with valuable information about your industry.

2. There’s a very Attractive ROI If You’re Consistent

In today’s ad-resistant consumer landscape, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get prospects’ attention using traditional advertising methods. This is why many companies are cutting back on advertising in favor of content marketing strategies.

1100% ROI – How Fanatics Reeled in Multi Channel Content Strategy to Drive Sales

For example, Fanatics — a retailer of sports-related merchandise — aimed to draw potential customers to their website through their Blog.

They used content marketing to attract sports lovers, increase traffic to the site, and build a reputation.

• To target consumers in Germany, France and Spain, the content for search ads, shopping ads and social media were localized.

• The ad listings were continually updated to ensure that the ads reflected what was actually for sale on the site.

• A multichannel strategy was created in order to extend the reach of existing search and shopping campaigns as well as launch new ones on Facebook.

The result was a 1,100% increase in organic traffic and features on popular websites like USA Today, MSN, and The Score.

So, how can you quantify your ROI like Fanatics? Through optimization. The more consistently you measure your content performance, the better your ROI will be.

And content marketing gives you that luxury of using data to improve your marketing performance. That's why 94% of brands with a documented content strategy are successful, like Fanatics.

3. People Conduct All Their Due Diligence Online

Think about this for a minute: when was the last time you bought something online without reading reviews or doing some research first?

Chances are, it’s been a while. You probably read reviews, visited the company’s blog, watched product videos, or maybe even clicked through their social media profiles to see what other people were saying about them. And if you’re like most people, you did all of this before you ever considered making a purchase.

In fact, according to a recent study, 70% of consumers want to learn about products through content (like blog posts and videos) rather than ads.

Because consumers rely heavily on online information, it is important for businesses to have an effective content marketing strategy in place to encourage purchases. This involve creating content that appeals to target audiences at specific stages along the sales funnel – from initial awareness through consideration then commitment.

As a result, all content becomes part of a larger ecosystem which provides consumers with an always-on resource for information about your products or services.

4. Great Content Builds Great Shareability and Readership

Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't take a lot of effort to make your content shareable. If you offer something that's funny or valuable, people will share it. It's that simple.

In fact, with enough quality content and some good marketing, people will not only share your content a lot, but they'll come back for more!

And what’s better than the popular brands showing how effective, creative and organized content marketing strategy worked wonders for them:

A. GoPro Million Dollar Challenge – User Generated Content

GoPro employs User Generated Content, making it simple for users to share record videos and share. And that’s not all. They organize an annual Million Dollar Challenge, where the best photos and videos are featured in the reel highlights and get a million dollars.

B. ‘Out North’ – Fiverr’s Video To Demonstrate Institutionalized Racism

In 2021, Fiverr created a 17-minute documentary video — Out North—highlighting the ZIP code in Nashville, Tennessee, with the highest incarceration rate in the United States. The video details that one in every three men who live in this community are incarcerated, and it shows how Fiverr aims to create change through storytelling.

C. Ann Handley’s How to Newsletter Ebook – Ebook Content Marketing

In “How to Newsletter,” Handley shares practical advice on writing newsletters, design principles, “weird metrics” she chose to follow that led to a 2000% rise in 3 years. Only 14 pages long, "How to Newsletter" is a digestible read. It also includes a checklist that can help you get started.

5. Your Content Works For You 24/7

Your content works for you 24/7—and that's the most valuable thing you can have. Your client or prospect may not be able to see or hear you, but they can read your words, watch your videos, and listen to your audio. You don't have to wait to be in front of them.

And the best part is — Your content works for them, too. It's all about providing a useful resource for people who need what you have to offer.

An automated marketing campaign is a powerful machine that works around the clock and doesn't just sit around and collect dust. Here’s how successful companies like Mailchimp, Ola, among others have built their own automated campaigns:

A. Welcome Series

Welcome series can inform new customers about your company and your offerings to increase their engagement with you. And anytime someone interacts with your content, you can also send them a ‘Thank You’ email. Interestingly, by using ‘Thank You’ email, you can generate an average ROI of 122% than other types of email campaigns.

B. Behavioral Campaigns

By collecting data about the buying behavior of your customers, you can create a segment list and target each segment with personalized messages. Just like how Amazon does with emails suggesting shopping options based on customer’s activity.

C. Information Update Series (emails, Push Notifications and SMS)

Customers want to know everything that goes on during transactions. That's why brands send transactional information and updates via email and SMS. Ola has an automated email and SMS alert system regarding any refund and pending transactions.

D. Onboarding Campaigns

Most apps lose about 95% of daily active users within 3 months of installation. So, to keep the users in the loop, you can create a sound onboarding campaign.

Mailchimp uses email as a way to illustrate a step-by-step guide to using the product. The guide aims to ease the transtion of a casual visitor to a loyal customer.

E. Limited Time Campaigns

By using scarcity heuristics to rush the customer into buying the product is an age old tactic. Paytm & Flipkart shows how to use this strategy to success with push notifications.

This is how you can use multiple distribution channels to keep your content top-of-mind with the customers. And once you set it up, it can work for you 24/7.

Build Long-Term Viewership and Customer Loyalty Through a Solid Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing works. The proof is in the pudding – the evidence of brands mentioned above investing in content marketing is all around us. And the number is only going up. 72% of brands plan to increase their content marketing budget in 2022. In addition, the customer’s inclination to trust custom content over ads is fueling the demand.

The growth of content marketing comes down to our ability to communicate to others, and make them feel as if we are one of their closest friends. It can be a complex concept, but as long as you understand its fundamentals, there are few barriers to overcome in getting your content distribution strategy up and running.