The advent of the internet has meant that even markets that seemed specialised or niche are now full of competition. Because of this, bringing attention to your company can be one of the most difficult tasks facing a small business, especially one that is limited to a small budget. After all, it’s not easy being the new person in town. One of the trends that has swept the business industry has been content marketing, though, as it offers a highly useful opportunity for businesses to build a following based on unique, targeted content.
How Does It Work?
Content marketing has become popular with consumers as they prefer to read articles rather than traditional advertisements. The Content Marketing Institute gathered together various surveys on the effects of content marketing and found that 70% of consumers say they feel closer to the sponsoring company while 61% of consumers say they feel better about, and are more likely to buy from, a company that delivers custom content.
In the past, businesses just starting to employ content marketing strategies tended to focus more on keywords and search engine optimization (SEO) than memorable content. This was because it was easier to manipulate Google’s search algorithms by doing this, and meant you were more likely to appear higher in the search results. However, the landscape has since changed and, in an attempt to improve the consumer’s experience, Google is now prioritizing accurate and useful information
What Should Your Business Strive For?
Any business owner’s primary concern will be ensuring that they are seeing a significant return on investment (ROI) for their content marketing strategy. The best way to do this is to focus on selective, quality-controlled content. Whether this is via an in-house marketing team or through outsourcing the issue to a third-party such as Ingenuity Digital, your priority should be to provide useful content that is both accurate and informative for your consumers. This can also help you to improve your business-to-customer relations and develop a more valuable brand identity.
Having accurate information isn’t simply about promoting solid business ethics either. It’s also in your company’s interest in the long-term. Businesses that provide genuinely useful information to their customers are seen as more trustworthy, and a company’s reputation matters to the majority of consumers. Not only are feedback tools now built into all popular ecommerce platforms, like Amazon and eBay, but third-party sites like Trustpilot or Yelp are also popular among consumers shopping from businesses for the first time. Despite the negative press some of these outlets have received for potentially damaging businesses, the Harvard Business School, in a study on the effects that Yelp reviews had on companies, found it to have an overall positive effect and boosted business.
Both the quality of your content and its relevance is key to a successful content marketing strategy. Not only can it immediately affect SEO, but it can also have a real, long-term impact on the way your customers view your business.
