The Importance of Content Marketing

The Importance of Content Marketing

With an astonishing 89% of B2B and 86% of B2C marketers using a content marketing strategy, it’s no wonder that customers and clients along with prospective customers and clients, respond more positively to content than they do to advertisements and observable selling tactics.

According to the latest research carried out, 82% of consumers feel more confident about a company after reading custom content with a further 70% feeling closer to the company, thanks to their content marketing.

So what is it about content marketing that makes it a winning formula? Here are just a few of the main reasons for using content marketing:

• Generates approximately 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing
• Increases direct sales
• Costs 62% less than traditional marketing
• Captures the readers attention and keeps them engaged
• Improves brand loyalty and awareness

Convinced that content marketing needs to be at the top of your company’s marketing strategy? Then read on to learn about creating a content marketing strategy for your business. Some of the key steps include:

• Identifying objectives (competitor analysis and establishing your business aims and objectives)
• Understanding your target audience
• Identifying key messages (what are your main USP’s)
• Building content (creating ideas, outlining standards for quality etc.)
• Organising content distribution (channels, tactics, social media etc.)
• Measuring your ROI (track performance, observe your audience and analyse its progress)

Still not completely convinced about content marketing? Here are a few more of the latest statistics about the current state of content marketing:

• 90% of organisations market with content
• On average, marketers spend over 25% of their budget on content marketing
• 80% of people prefer learning about a company through custom content
• Going forward, video is likely going to comprise 82% of internet traffic by 2021.

Here are some more key reasons why you need content marketing:

• 90% of people skip TV adverts
• 44% ignore direct mail
• 70% of people prefer to learn about a company or product through articles rather than an advert
• 90% of people find custom content useful and informative
• One of the main reasons people follow brands on social media is interesting content
• Relevant, high quality and valuable content encourages people to take action
• Blogs are responsible for 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links within search engines
• On average, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month

Content marketing isn’t reinventing the wheel, however, the industry has seen a huge spike in its growth over the last few years.