Without a content marketing strategy, your business is going to die.
And quickly.
Grabbing internet users' attention across Google and social media is the leading way to get your brand recognised. People begin to trust and recognise your authenticity, making it much more likely that they'll make a purchasing decision.
How often do you buy something from a website you've never heard of? Practically never, right?
So, content marketing is a sure fire way of getting your messaging out there.
But what happens if you don't know how to do any of it?
The Definition of Content Marketing
The production of content, whether it be written, visual or audio, that follows the 3 E formula:
Educational
Entertaining
Emotional
Unlike traditional marketing, where the primary aim is to increase revenue and grab sales, content marketing seeks to build trust with its audience and the brand community, putting itself as an expert within its industry and providing solutions for its demographics problems.
By the time you come to sell your product, consumers will already have you at the top of their minds as the expert within the field and be more likely to make a purchasing decision.
What type of content is included?
It's anything you see online - and can even be offline print media. But more commonly, content marking includes:
Blogs and articles that go into depth on a topic and answer the public questions
Short-From Videos that seek to entertain customers and humanise your company
Podcasts that explore the industry and its common problems - a lot like blogs - help you go into depth and answer your customers' questions, placing you as a reliable expert and friend.
Social Media Graphics and Infographics - simultaneously entertaining and educating the audience with quick and immediate information.
The Benefits of Creating Valuable Content
Getting content marketing right isn't as simple as whacking out a few blog posts and posting on social media whenever you want. It takes consistency and practice with some experimentation - but the rewards seek a significant return on investment.
Content That Makes You An Expert
By creating a lot of educational content backed up by research and answering your industry's top search queries, people will start to view you as a leading expert in the field.
But if you don't produce any content, whilst you may be good at what you do, how can you prove it?
People want the best of the best. Because if it goes wrong, it's going to be costly. As a brand, you must show people you are the best and most knowledgeable.
This can be blog posts, social media infographics, or quick 'How To' videos on TikTok.
By consistently creating content that matters, is educational and helps your audience understand something they previously hadn't, it helps to increase trust, put you as an expert and increase the likelihood of them buying from you rather than your competition that isn't doing the same thing.
Increasing Brand Awareness
The more content you produce, the better reach you'll get. As you continue to post, more eyes will head to your content. People will begin recommending you, you'll have other experts linking to your educational content, and overall, it puts your brand name out there.
If you've just got a website that sits there, how is anyone meant to find you? How are you going to help them?
Unfortunately, you're going to need to spell it out for people. If you can direct them on a journey on how you will help them specifically, they will buy from you.
But you can't do that if no one knows who you are. Get networking, create some content and get people interacting with your brand. The more they see it, even if they're not directly engaging with it, the more your brand name and logo will subconsciously float in their minds until they need something related to you. At which point, they'll remember you!
Humanising the Business
It's marketing 101: people buy from people. And that's where the emotional impact of your content comes in.
You must show that you're more than just a brand name and a logo. But actual real people seeking. to help others out in a world full of challenges.
Produce content that tells a story and uses real people's experiences; it will lay a foundation of trust and authenticity for your brand.
Content Marketing That Generates Leads and Sales
Larger audiences and consistent, relevant content being pushed out to educate, entertain and emotionally relate to your audience will likely result in more leads. They will want to see more of the content, and it's the perfect time for you to collect emails in return for something. Maybe it's a free ebook, tutorial or simply access to a bespoke newsletter that goes further into topics.
This is known as gated content. To get through the gates, your audience will need to provide some personal details - namely, an email address. Then, you can contact them more personally through email, SMS, or social media.
The Challenges of Going Without
The chances are your company whacks out a few social media posts whenever they find the time. And they're likely not getting many likes, comments or growing your following.
That's because content marketing isn't just about producing content but having a strategy that aligns with your company goals, values and ethos.
But the three main challenges of not doing any content marketing are:
Poor SEO and Google Ranking
Content marketing naturally helps with SEO. As long as you're optimising the content you create through keyword research, linking and relevant tags, you're helping to increase your ranking on Google.
Consistency is critical, though - if you're inactive, then Google and Social Media sites will start to derank you for other businesses helping their audiences with relatable and informational content that helps them.
Lack of Brand Awareness
Put simply, no one will see who you are if you're not creating any content. Well, unless they directly search for your brand name. There will be a lack of SEO progress and no online presence.
People make purchases from companies that they trust will help them solve a problem that they're having, whether through a product or service. If you're not helping your demographic or educating them - they'll distrust you.
So, why should they buy from you?
Limited to Word-of-Mouth Sales
Sure, you could place an Ad or two. Maybe you'll get a few clicks and sales if you have a good product. But you'll never retain that customer.
With a lack of brand awareness, poor SEO ranking and an audience who don't see you as authentic, you're limiting yourself to working with people within your circle and those who recommend you.
That's not to say it isn't a way to operate a business. We know thousands of businesses that produce six figures entirely upon word-of-mouth.
But what happens when that river runs dry?
The Cost of Hiring a Content Expert
Content experts can be really expensive. Some have in-depth SEO knowledge that is invaluable and hard to acquire, while others understand consumer psychology.
Currently, social media managers are making anywhere between £1000 - £10,000 a month, charging clients between £500-£2,000 a month.
And that's just for social media.
At ETDC Digital Media, we look at your high-priority content needs to put you in the best place. We'll provide you with training to continue excelling in the content marketing world for a fraction of the price.
Working with small local businesses, we think it is essential to help those who are just starting on their journey.
We start our prices at £350 a month for our basic package and £1000 a month for our premium package.
But we're offering a 25% discount to new customers. Include the code: 'LOCALBUSINESS' in your email, and we'll apply your discount.
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