Content is king, and here to stay. The proof is in the numbers, to illustrate, CMI, Content Marketing Institute states that 73% of B2B and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing in their strategy. Those stats show that businesses are not only interested in but are also employing content marketing to generate leads and promote sales. With that in mind, it is only obvious that this is a great way to see business growth. In the following sections, we will get into why content marketing is critical to business growth and is still relevant in 2024.
Why is Content Marketing Important for Scaling Your Business?
Running a business and growing it is incomplete without marketing and SEO. Marketing allows you to showcase your products or services, allowing you to attract customers. While SEO is used to help you navigate the digital marketplace. It allows you to target your audience by incorporating keywords that are used by people looking for your products or similar products.
Now, content marketing is the amalgamation of both of these, which is why it is perfect for your business. Before we get into why it is important for business growth, it is important to address- what exactly is content marketing.
1. Definition
Content marketing is the distribution and development of content that aligns with your business and the audience. It refers to the use of informative content in the form of blogs, videos, social media content, white papers and emails to connect with your target audience and spread awareness regarding your brand.
2. How do you use it?
Content marketing focuses on using channels and platforms to talk about products and services. This usually happens on the business website and social media platforms. To consistently drive results, businesses and brands conduct deep market research and then create a marketing strategy.
Now, here are a few reasons why content marketing is important:
- Businesses with blogs generate 67% more leads in comparison to websites with no blogs (source: mailchimp).
- 88% of people decided to buy a product or service after watching a branded video (source: mailchimp).
- Personalized content helps in sales growth, building brand awareness and helps in generating a pool of loyal customers.
What to Know in 2024: Content Marketing and Business Growth
The digital marketplace has been changing by leaps and bounds. In 2023, the advent of AI (artificial intelligence) shook things up. Every brand was getting on the AI bandwagon to get ahead of the curve. At one point, everyone was sure AI would take over everything.
However, in 2024, it is time to put on your thinking hats and use content marketing tactics tailored to your business’s goals with the help of AI. But that also does not mean that AI is dominating every aspect of content and content consumption.
To use content marketing for your business growth in 2024, here are a few things to know:
1. Brings High-quality Leads
Content marketing is an amazing way to generate leads, better ones. The term, high-quality leads is defined as the people who visit your business website who have a higher chance of converting into customers.
These leads fall into three categories, awareness, consideration and decision stage. Here’s what they mean:
- Awareness Stage: The buyer is aware that they have a problem, and are looking for solutions.
- Consideration Stage: At this stage, the buyer is defining their problem, and considering the different options available.
- Decision Stage: The buyer evaluates and decides what solution fits their problem best.
Wondering what the buyer’s journey has to do with content marketing? This ties into your marketing strategy. So, once you know the three different stages, you can tailor your content with SEO to match the buyer’s journey.
Here’s how to do this:
- Check the keywords that your audience is using. This will help you understand at which stage most of your visitors are at.
- Then create a content strategy that uses keywords targeting your audience.
- Monitor the results, and make adjustments as required.
Using keywords in your marketing strategy, whether it is for blog posts, videos or even social media posts, that align with what your audience is looking for will give you high-quality leads.
2. Builds Brand Image and Authority
One of the best ways to have more conversions is to gain the trust of your consumers. Nothing beats that like well-tailored content.
Content marketing primarily focuses on building your brand authority, and relationships with your customers. The marketing strategy focuses on keywords, which will help you craft the content your audience is looking for.
Furthermore, content marketing is not only about your “customers” but also making your content relevant for search engines and crawlers. For that, you need informative content because it ranks better on search engine pages. So, not only are you posting content on your own platform, but also providing useful content that your audience will relate to. These pieces of content will help your customers and audience identify the problem and find solutions.
Content marketing is not only about selling but also about helping your audience. This is what helps you create custom content, which not only showcases your business’s expertise in the domain but also its empathy. So, in short, it helps you find a group of loyal customers.
3. Lowers Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)
Finding a quality customer group is a real challenge. But content marketing reduces that stress and gives your business a pool of high-quality leads at low costs, especially compared to traditional marketing methods.
Content marketing, at its core, is to help your consumers, and is focused on pushing out quality content, which automatically generates leads organically. It not only attracts your customers but also engages with them, which is why content marketing is preferred by marketers. Essentially, content marketing generates 3x leads and costs 62% less than traditional methods (source: Demand Meteric). As per Forbes Advisor, 74% of content marketers have seen a boost in lead generation.
4. Improves Social Media Engagement
Although content marketing is primarily done on your website, you can repurpose the content and use it on social media. This will help you engage your present audience and also tap into a pool of potential customers. Generating content and consistently posting it on social media platforms extends your authority and showcases your expertise.
These platforms help you improve your image by helping your business clarify things with images, and thoughts and showcasing your core values. Consider social media as your direct line of communication with your customers, existing and potential.
As people engage with your social media accounts, they will not only interact with the content but also begin to trust the content, provided you post informational and factual content, which in turn will lead them to trust your brand. This will help you build an authentic relationship with your audience, which can convert into loyal customers.
Using Content Marketing for Business Growth: Tips and Trends
Content marketing has proven benefits for businesses, especially when compared to traditional marketing methods. Although content is easy to generate, there’s a catch. You can mess it up without strategy. With the use of AI and AR, it is still easy to miss the mark.
HubSpot reports that 13% of marketers find creating a marketing strategy as their #1 challenge. In 2024, to leverage content marketing for your business, you will need a solid marketing strategy. It needs to be clear and precise. Here are a few tips for you to leverage content marketing for your brand:
- Start by singling out what makes you special and try to establish your brand as an expert in the domain.
- Make sure that the content you generate is in the format that your audience enjoys and is receptive to.
- Short-form videos are a great way to engage and educate your audience.
- Blogs are here to stay. However, the average length of a blog, these days, should be 1400+ words.
- Ensure that your content is optimised for AI, and voice search.
- High-quality content ranks better and is also good for audience engagement.
- Building a multi-channel presence is key.
- Monitoring success through engagement, conversions and traffic is crucial.
Need a hand? Make My Website to the Rescue
Cracking the content marketing code is a task. You have to look at metrics, consider potential outcomes and then create a strategy that works for you. Our Make My Website team is adept and skilled in doing just that. We are experts in our field, and help you reach your goals. We not only read the market for you but make sure that we develop a strategy that works for you. Our tailored content ticks all the boxes for a successful marketing strategy.
The Make My Website team promises unparalleled services. We offer you tailor-made solutions and create content that aligns with your brand voice. Marketing, blog writing or building a strong social media presence? Trust us to do the job for you. From building a content strategy just for your business and its needs, to regularly marketing content, we bring you results.
