In 1996, Bill Gates gates made the statement “Content is King”. This has become extremely relevant in today’s digital era. In the thriving space of inbound marketing strategies, the central role of content marketing has become obvious. So there must be some perks of content marketing, then? Let’s start with what it is.

Content marketing refers to the process of creating and sharing online material in a multitude of forms, to increase awareness about your brand. Blogs, infographics, videos, social media posts and podcasts are few of the most common avatars that content takes online. 

Being king, including a content strategy to your digital marketing portfolio comes with special benefits. These are the perks of content marketing that you should know. 

1. Make Genuine Connections With Meaningful Content

Content marketing has positive implications for brand awareness and your online reputation. You can foster genuine connections with your audience through the content you produce.

More than 70% of consumers prefer to learn about a company and its products or services through online content rather than traditional advertisements. Content marketing, as an inbound strategy, is not meant to explicitly promote your business. Rather, it is a means of stimulating interest in your products and services through sustainable engagement. 

While ads may improve your visibility in the short run, they don’t capture the entirety of your brand’s story. Meaningful content enables you to establish long lasting bonds with potential customers; and strengthen relationships with your existing clients.

2. Reliable Content Builds Trust 

Most people on the internet are looking for reliable answers to make tough decisions. By developing reliable content to answer people’s questions, you generate value without expecting anything in return. Whether it is in the form of a blog post, an article or an instructional video, answering people’s questions without an ulterior motive makes them trust your business.

Similarly, by creating engaging content on relevant topics of your field you show existing and potential customers your mastery of domain knowledge. This motivates them to trust your advice and recommendations, when it comes to making decisions.

If people trust your business to provide them with accurate and reliable information, they will definitely come back for more. Furthermore, they may also recommend your products or services to others in their network. Content marketing is an effective wait to develop customer loyalty and advocacy.  

3. Engaging Content Boosts Conversions

A strong content marketing strategy can drive your conversion rates up by almost 6 times more than you would’ve had without it. When people’s views align with the content you publish, they are more likely to subscribe to your products and services. 

You can further improve your potential for conversion by including a Call To Action (CTA) in the content you publish. A clearly placed and well defined CTA informs your audience of the next steps they can take. This could be subscribing to a newsletter, purchasing a product, availing your service or even just getting in touch with you.

4. Content Marketing Enables Cost-effective Lead Generation

Lead generation is an integral part of growing your business. Content marketing is a powerful tool when it comes to lead generation. While it costs approximately 62% less than other marketing strategies, it is capable of generating 3 times as many leads.

Placing a CTA in the content you create can provide significant information about potential customers and generate new leads efficiently. By tracking people’s interactions with your content, you will be able to understand your target audience better and identify the areas for growth.

5. Well Designed Content Enhances Other Marketing Strategies

The final one among perks of content marketing.

Apart from being a competent strategy in itself, content marketing enhances the effectiveness of your other digital marketing strategies as well. Whether it is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Social Media Marketing (SMM), well designed content can be harnessed by other forms of marketing to improve your business’ visibility.

Setting up a blog on your website is a great way to improve your search engine ranking. Using keyword implementation and other SEO best practices, you will be able to increase your visibility on Google and other search engines. Routinely publishing blog posts and optimizing your content for particular keywords gives you a chance of connecting with your target audience faster.

You should make use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to publish your content. This creates a space for people to interact with your brand and share your posts with their network. A content marketing strategy which uses social media channels for distribution builds brand awareness and expands the reach of your business. 

Takeaway

There you have it. The perks of content marketing. Creating and publishing high quality content is an important part of running a business in today’s world. Devising a content marketing strategy for your business comes with a slew of benefits. 

The content you produce distinguishes you from your competitors, builds trust among your customers and expands your scope for growth. It also enhances other strategies of digital marketing, produces reliable leads and improves your potential for conversion. 

So don’t wait any longer! Develop a content marketing strategy for your business and start creating engaging content that captures people’s attention.