Here at Beacon we’re constantly referring to content marketing strategy and how it’s important to get this right as part of your overall digital marketing activities.
The adage “content is king” so clearly declared by Bill Gates way back in 1996, still holds true more than two decades later.
“If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information that they can explore at will. They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-the-editor pages of print magazines.”
He was right then, and he’s still right now. The internet is such a vast space and there is so much competition for attention (we talked about this in a previous blog) which means you have to capture your audience right away.
If you haven’t invested in a content marketing strategy because you think it’s too complex, then this blog should reassure you that good content doesn’t need to be fussy or fiddly, just clear and concise and focused on the unique selling points of your business.
More Content Means More Visitors
It’s a no brainer really, the more content there is on your website, the more chances you have to not only attract web traffic, but to retain visitors once they hit your landing page.
Customers will have more reasons to surf your site, more opportunities to become familiar with your brand and how you do business, leading to trust in your name and a greater chance of that final sale.
If you want more convincing, have a look at HubSpot’s The Benefits of Blogging for Business and Marketing.
Greater Visibility To Search Engines
Following on from point one, the more pages there are on your website, the more times search engines like Google will find and index them. Now, this doesn’t automatically equal greater visitor numbers, but the chances are – if you have high quality content on your site which is drawing web traffic – Google will increase your SERPs ranking.
Use “long-tail keywords” and topics which you know your customers are searching for and you should find your blog or landing page appearing in Google’s search results more frequently. Long-tail keywords get less search traffic, but will usually have a higher conversion value, as they are more specific to your potential clients.
The term long-tail keyword comes from the book The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, in which he argues that products in low demand, or with low sales volume, can collectively make up a market share which rivals, or exceeds, the few current bestsellers or blockbusters – but only if the store or distribution channel is large enough.
Which ties back to point one – the more content you have, the more chance of distribution.
Tie in articles as part of your overall content marketing strategy and build up an index of linked blog pieces which can be read as a series.
Increase Your Brand Value
The more high quality content you have on your website, the more your brand will increase its value due to people’s perception of your expertise, authority, relevance and trust in your “voice”.
As your domain authority rises, so will your search engine rankings, creating a circle in which the more quality content you produce, the more organic search engine visibility you begin to build up, leading to more visitors and so on.
This can also be tied in to a content marketing strategy which uses referral links from guest blogs you post on reputable sites. When you contribute to an external publication or blog as a guest, you can usually add a link to your own website or to a particular landing page or article you want people to visit.
Working with an authoritative website or a brand which has high volumes of traffic could see an increase of thousands of new visitors to your own platform.
Distribute Your Content
Make sure that you have a cohesive and connected content marketing strategy. If you post a new blog, link to it on your other social media platforms.
Having a connected strategy means you’re increasing the amount of chances for people to see your content, like it and follow you, helping extend your brand reach. Having content on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, if you’re a brand with products you can photograph, also lets people share with their friends, again extending the influence of your business.
Build Brand Loyalty
The higher your brand reputation, the larger your audience size grows, but it also helps to build relationships with not only your existing clients, but with potential new customers.
Using a single person as the “visible” face of your company can help with fostering relationships, engaging content and engaging with visitors to your social media platforms makes people feel welcomed in your brand space.
They can come to rely on your website and social media channels as reliable sources of information for your industry and marketplace and their loyalty will carry over into purchasing and recommending your brand and your company to their friends and family.
In Conclusion
The only thing that improving your content marketing strategy costs is time. Time to go through your existing efforts and see where you might be missing out on a joined-up plan. However, once in place, it’s cost-effective and offers actual returns on investment.
It may take a few months to start to show the results but you will see a slow growth. It’s a safe and relatively painless way of investing in your business for long-term benefits. Whether it’s increased traffic to your website, the potential for higher conversion to sales or new business or whether you just want to increase your brand rating and loyalty with your existing customers, a cohesive content marketing strategy will benefit your business.
Talk to us at Beacon about how to get the digital analytics which really mean something and allow you to track your efforts from social media post through to website and conversion delivery.