In the world of online marketing content is king. Any business that’s looking to attract a greater audience and grow its customer base needs to create a strong content marketing strategy first.
But why is that?
According to research, about 80% of online customers like to learn about a business through its content and not its advertisements.
On top of that, compared to other marketing means, content marketing is oftentimes significantly more efficient than other forms of digital marketing, which makes it a perfect choice for small businesses that usually don’t have the same luxuries resource-wise as some of their bigger counterpart.
With that in mind, here are nine reasons any small business should rely on content marketing to help them boost their operations. But before we begin listing the reasons, let’s first see what content marketing is.
What is content marketing?
As defined by the Content Marketing Institute, “content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
In other words, content marketing focuses on creating content for your business, content that will resonate well with your audience. By being able to engage and relate to your content, your audience will be more likely to convert.
Aside from them, your existing customers will gain more value from content that’s created well, as they will get a chance to learn more about your business, stay informed of various events and get a chance to explore similar related topics.
While “content marketing” usually makes people think of blog posts, it can be much more than that. Being a part of a solid marketing strategy, content marketing includes things such as research papers, hosting webinars, having a Youtube channel, utilizing email marketing, even building free or paid online courses.
Reasons why small businesses need content marketing
As mentioned earlier, content marketing is great for small businesses that are looking to grow their operations. Here are just some of the reasons why.
- It helps build trust
Creating and publishing creative and quality content will help a small business build trust with its audience. The more you explore and talk about a subject, the more you will establish yourself as an expert in the industry.
Needless to say, this will also boost your authority in the said industry, and you will soon notice people turning to you for various related pieces of information and advice.
Naturally, you need to make sure you know what you’re talking about and do proper research to avoid accidentally speeding misinformation.
- It helps establish your brand identity
According to research, about 96% of marketers believe that content marketing is an effective way for their brand. When building up your brand, you will need to pay special attention to your brand identity. You can hire a top-notch custom web design company to help you achieve this goal. With high-quality content marketing, you can put special emphasis on all of the things that set your business apart from the rest of the crowd.
That way, you’ll get a chance to give your brand a unique tone and voice that will resonate with your customers. Here, you can rely on different types of content marketing, such as blog posts, audio or video content.
- It makes organic search easier
As a business owner, you probably already know just how important it is to play by various SEO trends. The better you optimize your content and your business website, the more traffic you can expect to get.
A great part about content marketing is that it can help you boost your organic searches more easily. Since the majority of modern consumers run online searches when looking for a product or service, you need to make sure they come across your business when doing so.
- It helps boost web traffic
Similarly, content marketing will also help you boost your web traffic.
Any visitors that come across your website – via organic searches or any other means – will be more likely to stick around and explore your website further if there’s quality, informative and engaging content to be found.
Additionally, visitors that come across your content will be likely to share their experiences with others, which will only bring more attention to your business, in general.
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- It’s easy to analyze its performance
Since content marketing is not something you do once, and you’re done. Instead, it requires constant attention. It offers an easy way to see what’s working and what’s not.
Simply analyze which type of content resonates with your audience the most and focus more on producing that particular type of content.
Do keep in mind, however, that trends often change and the audience can potentially grow tired of seeing only the specific type of content, so make sure you still keep things versatile.
- It’s easy to outsource
Small businesses, in general, don’t have the same amount of resources they can devote to marketing as their larger counterparts. That’s why they need to find ways that will enable them to get the best bang for their buck.
Content marketing is something that can easily be outsourced to high-quality marketing agencies or content writing companies. That way, you can ensure that you will get the best possible service without necessarily having to hire an entire in-house content marketing team.
- It brings high ROI
Since content marketing is about 62% cheaper than some other marketing strategies, yet it’s still very effective in generating leads, it becomes quite obvious why it’s a perfect match for small businesses. Ideally, as a small business, you should look for a strategy that will enable you to earn more from it than you’re required to invest in it. So, the better ROI the marketing strategy offers, the more suited it will be for your small business.
- It enables social shares
Content marketing is not only fun to engage with, but it’s also super easy to share across various platforms.
Simply put, people like to share things they enjoy. And by making your content engraining and easily sharable, you can expect it to spread like wildfire.
Needless to say, this will bring more engagement and more attention to your small business, which will only help you to grow it further.
- It helps build reputation
Last but not least, content marketing will help you build up your reputation. Content marketing enables you to tie any statements or claims you’re making back to reputable and relevant sources.
Content marketing also enables you to quote other experts in the field, as well as see if they’d be willing to do the same for you.
Of course, the stronger the reputation you manage to build around your business, the more appealing it will be to a wider audience.
Conclusion
Small businesses usually don’t have the same amount of resources they can spend on marketing as larger organizations do. That’s why they need to find a way to market their business in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Luckily, with content marketing, you’ll be able to create a positive buzz around your brand that will only bring more customers to your virtual door.
So, explore your options, find reputable experts in the field that can help you achieve your goals and start engaging with your audience in a creative and informative way.
The easier you make it for your audience to relate to your brand, the more likely they will be to do so.
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