The Four Benefits of Content Marketing

Over the years, content marketing has continued to evolve and it is now a critical part of the business community. As it continues to grow, it has become one of the most valuable tools for businesses through enhancing customer interaction and helping to build organizational stories. Are you still not convinced that content marketing is worth your business’s time? Below are four benefits that may cause you to reconsider.

Traffic Generation
Content marketing allows your organization to stay fresh in your audience’s eyes through the compilation of interesting and relevant information. According to TMG Custom Media, 90 percent of consumers find custom content useful, therefore, it’s important to listen to your audience’s concerns and tailor to their specific needs. By sharing content that your audience is interested in, it will help you to generate more inbound traffic and your company will come up in searches by the people you’re actually trying to target. The more content your company provides that your target audience sees and is interested in, the more traffic you will see coming to your website. In addition, this content leads to increased engagement with these target audiences, giving your sales team a lead in to connect with potential customers.

Lead Generation
As most businesses (92 percent according to the Content Marketing Institute) have adapted by now and have taken some sort of a content marketing approach, it’s clear it is an important part of marketing in today’s business environment. However, although many businesses utilize content marketing, there are still quite a few organizations that don’t recognize the true value in the practice. In addition to increased traffic, generating effective content and sharing it with your target audience will help your marketing team produce more leads for sales. According to Kapost and Eloqua, per dollar spent, content marketing generates more than three times the number of leads than a paid search does. And, guess what? Content marketing is free! Sure, it takes some work on your end, but after the initial creation, your company can distribute and repurpose content over and over again, avoiding extra costs incurred from paid advertisements.

Brand Awareness Development
Developing relationships with your audience is vital to the success of your organization. Sharing high-quality content helps to support this goal and assists in generating greater awareness for your business. As previously mentioned, creating relevant content will allow your company to show up in search results when your audience is searching for assistance with their pain points or for content that interests them. As your business’s name becomes more prevalent through content creation, people and businesses will begin to recognize your brand and in turn come to you when they need assistance with other things, including when they’re interested in purchasing your products and services. Not only does content help generate awareness, it also portrays your organization as willing and caring when it comes to supporting your audience and delivering timely industry content and information. By building this awareness through your content, you are generating trust and building stronger relationships, both of which are very important for your business’s future success.

Cost Effective
Though content marketing takes some work and time to get started, in the long run, it’s less expensive and more effective than many other forms of outbound marketing. As previously mentioned, one of the many benefits of content marketing is the ability to redistribute and cross promote content throughout different platforms and to different audiences. Start by creating general pieces of relevant industry content, and then take the time to tailor those pieces to different audiences. This will help you attract several target markets and cut your work load in half. Outside of the work provided from your internal marketing team, or maybe some outsourced content if necessary, there are a few hard costs associated with content marketing. Teach your team how to create, distribute, and promote, and you’ll be good to go!

Content marketing is a great way to communicate with your audience and show that you care and listen to their interests without incurring all the costs of traditional outbound marketing methods. Now that you understand why it is so important for the success of your organization, it’s time to get started improving your strategy! Click here to receive "25 Tips for Content Marketing Success" to help enhance your content marketing plan for the rest of 2015 and beyond.