Content Marketing: What Do Companies Lose By Ignoring It?

If you are a staunch methodology lover and we have to satisfy your thirst for a bookish definition, then we should describe ‘content marketing’ for you in the following manner. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

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To put it simply, instead of pitching for your products or services through a paid medium called advertisement, if you are providing useful and relevant content to your prospects or customers in a less formal way, that will be content marketing.

In today’s dynamic world, where media has also become ‘social’, a marketer should look beyond the traditional channels of marketing and adopt the unconventional means. Did you know that research has shown, prominent organisations such as P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and John Deere have effectively included content marketing as an important part of their marketing strategies? Why?

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Simply because it works like wonders! Researchers have also proved that content marketing actually increases the quality and quantity of marketing leads for almost 75% of companies. And one thing that we should not forget while preaching for content marketing is that it is very much cost effective. Any form of content marketing is much cheap than equivalent marketing campaigns in print, TV and radio. Yes, content marketing costs 62 percent less than outbound marketing while generating three times as many leads.

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Still not game for this line of marketing and want to adopt the conventional way of promoting your business. Well, after all, it’s your decision. But we are going to put forward some points, which may be able to convince you that content marketing is perhaps the best tool, which can be used by a marketer to build up a faithful community of prospects.

Content helps build your brand

Building a strong brand is extremely difficult in today’s over-saturated world. So how can a brand make itself prominent in this competitive world? The answer lies in creating a compelling but consistent brand messaging across all touch points. It’s important that a company’s communication and resources capture the attention of the target audience by trading in the capital of the internet — valuable and engaging information.

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The best way to increase your brand equity and market share is to create content that both informs and nurtures personal connections with prospects so that when they are ready to buy, you’re top of the mind. Today’s buyers want to be reminded of the humanity of a brand. They want to understand your company’s unique goals and values. The best way to ensure you’re making valuable and authentic connections with prospects is by tailoring your content strategy to directly address their needs, desires and values.

Storytelling can influence sales

Yes, it surely can. Mastercard’s ‘Priceless’ campaign was more about enticing human emotions rather than bragging about the product. They have developed the campaign by keeping content as a holistic customer engagement platform, rather than solely approaching it as an advertising platform. Take a homegrown brand VIP for instance. Their ‘Kal bhi aaj bhi…’ was developed on the similar line and had a very subtle connection between the emotions and the product.

A friendly, easy to go approach that captivates the audience with an interesting, authentic story is much more likely to bring in clicks and sales. This naturally leads people to engage further with your brand, learning a bit (or a lot) about your products & services along the way.

Keeping the customers updated

Brand promotion isn’t always the one and only aim of content marketing. It also attracts the target audience and keeps them coming back. Over the time, it also increases profitable actions from customers surrounding the products & services. Though traditionally content marketing meant blog posts, different online materials including video content, infographics and social media posts, it has now gone beyond this periphery.

Content marketing today is actually taking shape according to the needs of the time. We’re also noticing a shift away from ‘static’ content; to content that’s more dynamic and reactive. Therefore a dedicated content marketing team and strategy will help any band move with the time and create content that’s more in-tune with consumer and retail trends.

Creating community through content

Content marketing can be considered as a calculative step towards developing a long-term relationship with the target audience. Use a range of media to tell your brand’s story, and invite customers and potential customers to engage in authentic conversations with your brand. By embracing innovative content, building authority around a niche and standing out from the crowd, a brand can create an impressive following.

Still not satisfied with the pluses of content marketing?

Here are some more reasons to join the 92% of marketers who are using content marketing to complement their other marketing efforts:

• Content marketing gives you greater reach. Quality content strengthens SEO and thus improves the Google search result, you can use your content in email marketing campaigns, and your sales team can use it to educate potential clients.
• A recent study found that about 54% of people don’t trust the sponsored content. This is why introducing non-advertorial content into your marketing campaign is critical.
• Most decision makers have a learning mindset and enjoy educating themselves on how to make the best choices for their company. Very rarely will leaders make an organisation-wide decision based on something they saw on a banner ad. But if your company can educate them, you will likely come out on top.
• If you want some hard stats, then let me tell you, according to demand metric, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing while generating three times as many leads!
• Content marketing also has longer-term positive brand effects than one-off ad runs, creating lasting resources which can be accessed all over the world. It’s a truly global, scalable tactic.

A recent study has revealed that 75% of marketers are increasing investment in content marketing. So if you still choose to be reluctant about it, you will fail to embrace current trends and thus will fall behind your competitors who are making the most of content streams.
Is content marketing an essential part of your marketing strategy? Let’s know in comments.

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